The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-05-16
A MOST MARVELLOUS MEMORY.
z Man Who Could Remember Every
Meal He Ate for Forty Years.
From the Scientific American.

Daniel Mccartney was born in West
moreland county, Pennsylvania, Sept. 10
1917 His father was of Irish descent and
his mother German.
first met him in Delaware, O., in 1871.
Notice of his coming and what he would do
was given in the papers several days before
he arrived
The nesting was in public hall. The
President and several professors and many
students of the Ohio Wesleyan University,
and also few citizens were present. Mr..
o. G. Brown, of Cardington, O., stated
what he could do, and introduced him and
conducted the examination.
Mr.. S. Moore, of the First National Bank
was prepared with calendars and other doc
uments to test his claims. Other gentlemen
were also prepared in various ways to de-
eide the truth of Mr.. Browns statement.
Mr.. Mccartney was then "a years old
medium height rather heavy set, with
rather large, well formed head square
large, high forehead; complexion pale.
COuntenance sober, dignifed, benevolent.
Eyes defective, not being able to see clearly,
and not yet entirely blind
His speech was deliberate and confident,
using but few words. His dress was cheap,
but decent.
The audience was requested to ask any
questions they chose. AS the examination
went on, we soon found that everything
that had passed before his mind for forty
years was remembered. l can only refer
to few things that occurred in the two
hours of most varied questioning He
could tell the day of the week 10y having
the year and day of the monthly back for
forty years, and tell it instantly. He could
tell the dates of most important events
from his boyhood. Could give the state of
the weather, forenoon and afternoon, for
forty years without mistake.
One gentleman asked for the day of the
week about fifteen or sixteen years before.
Mr.. Mccartney replied Friday. No, said
the gentleman, that is wrong. That was
my wedding day, and it was Thursday.
Now, said Mr.. Brown, can any gentleman
in the hall tell who is right9 Yes, said Mr..
Moore, and in a minute or two from his old
calendar he found that Mccartney was
right During the evening one or two other
questions were raised as to the day of the
week, but by the old calendar Mr.. Mozart
ney was right every time.
He was a complete concordance of the
New Testament and most of the Old Testa-
ment. Prof. Hoyt (Hebrew professor) read
a large number of passages from the Scrip
lures, till the audience were entirely satisfied
that he knew where every passage was
day from his boyhood. President Merrick
having prepared himself on several dates,
asked him what he was doing on certain
day, naming the time, several years before.
Looking at the eclipse said he.
His multiplication table went up into
Millions He could give the cube root of
numbers up to millions almost instantly.
One of the numbers given was ten figures
deep, another was eleven figures deep.
He could raise any number under forty
to the sixth power instantly. He could
raise any number under 100 to the sixth
power in ten or fifteen minutes.
He was given the number 50, which is a
prime number and more difficult, but he
raised it in few minutes (496, 1881, 300, 96D
He could instantly give the minutes and
seconds of periods of time from the Mosaic
creation, and could give the feet or inches
of sidereal distances Prof H. NJ. Perkins
professor of Astronomy asked him ques-
ton. Mccartney said he had never been
given such question, but he would see.
What was very remarkable was he never
asked the Professor to state it again, al
though it was very complicated. In about
three minutes he said it came out with a
fraction, and the fraction was one-eighth
In few minutes more he told off the long
line of figures.
A gentleman wrote five or six columns of
figures, seven or eight deep, on the black
bard and read them to him. He could i'm
mediately repeat them backward or for
ward and being asked the next day if he
still remembered them, he told them off
again without mistake.
At the close of the examination several
questions of another nature were asked.
Some of them were of nature not needing
any test, for we were perfectly satisfied of
Of oil or re &c
powers of memory were noticed when 5 or
years old, and he could remember great
number of events from that early age.
His full power of memory was attained
at the age of about 16. He knew 200 hymns
and could sing $50 tunes. He could remem-
Der what he ate for breakfast, dinner and
supper for more than forty years. He
learned nothing by reading but by hearing.
His sight was so defective, especially in
early life, that he could not read, except
very coarse print, and that very slowly and
with great difficulty. He was always poor
and his relatives with whom he lived we're
poor. The question has often been raised
why man with such prodigious memory
did not prosper in some business. Doubt
less the principal cause of this was his def
Gent eyesight. Several attempts were made
to bring him before the public, but with
very little success. At one time, in 1871,
he appeared in the Opera House. Columbus,
O., when members of the Legislature, teach
ers and professional men we're present. At
that meeting he answered questions similar
to those above stated, and gave entire salts
faction.
He retained his memory to the time of his
death. He was in possession OF most all
these vast powers for about sixty years
When answering questions about certain
things, President Merck asked him how he
did it, or if he had any particular mental
process or rule. He said: II just know it. "
The answers to some questions, however,
showed that it was not all entire memory,
for they required some reasoning powers.
This was particularly so in the question
given by Prof. Perkins.
1t has been considered that the invention
of logarithms by Napier stands among the
greatest works of intellectual power in the
world, and will be a monument to his
name and fame forever. But Mccartney
would not need these tables. He was him
self living table of logarithms. These de-
auctions, that cost Napier long and tedious
hours of figuring Mccartney could solve
at once without pencil orpaper and without
mistake
Daniel Mccartney was supported for the
last few years of his life at the county farm
near Muscatine. Ia, and died in that place
November Is, 1887, aged little over 70
years.
The Boisterous Atlantic