Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1889-03-08
A WONDERFUL COLORED BOY.
HERE IS A PRIGHTFUL INFANT
WHO NEVER FoRGETs WHAT
HE HEARS.

HERE is A PRIGHTFUL INFANT
WHO NEVER FoRGETs WHAT
HE HEARS.
A little mite of . blind cOlored
boy stood on a table IN one OF the
Astor house parlOrs yesterday
afternoon and put to the blush the
learning of lot of gentlemen by q
very meager sample of what he
knows. The boy is only 8 years
and 4 months old. His name 10
Oscar Moore and he was born on q
farm 10 Waco, Tex. His parents
are laboring people, who have one
other boy and two girls. One
evening when Oscar was only Q
year Old be sat in a chair listening
to his brother aud sisters who we're
studying tho multiplication table
One of them said:
"Four times twelve are ATTY
eight"
"Forty.elght,' corrected Oscar
His mother had never hearl him
speak before, aud she began ques'
tioning him. Imagine her sur
price when she found that Oscar
W as able to repeat lot of state
ments he had heard at odd times,
and was literally supplied with a
store OF various kinds of informa'
ton. His fame spread, and re.
Gently Oscar was turned over to
MIR. II. =. y. CANNED, Of Austin,
who will be his guardian until he
is 20 years old.
It soon became clear that the
only remarkable thing about Oscar
is b is memory, which is capable OF
retaining every thing the boy hears.
He IS a we'll built, manly little
fellow with a childish voice, aud is
as full of mischief and fun as boys
of his age naturally are. He en-
loyed himself hugely yesterday
and anxious to know if the table
he stood upon was stage, and il
he was really having a reception
Then everybody took turns in ask
ing Oscar questions. Here is a
sample of them, and of the replies,
which were given instantly;
"How fast does a rife ball
mover
"One thousand miles an hour. Is
this really a hall 7"
"Where is the largest bell in the
worldf"
"In Moscow, Russia"
"When was SLAYER abolished ~
"In 1922
III said abolished"
"Oh, in 1865. l thought you
said when was it begun"
"W hat is the population of HOl-
land and the Netherlands
"Fo' million twelve thousand six
hundred n nlnety-three."
" What is the capital of Vene-
zuels z"
"Caracas. l like crackers,
though
allow many languages in the
world 7"
1.-TWO thousand seven hundred
and nfty."
Chow many bones in a man q
bOdyr
"Three hundred and eight. l
kno VI how many there are IN wo.
man-309."
How many square feet IN an
acre 7"
ain a niger? Two
"In su acrei'
"Forty. three thousand five hun.
dred'n sixty. Rats"
"Whst ls the population Of The
United StstesT
"Oh, I've got the hickups.'
"Wbst city has a population OF
3,1S5p
"CbIcago."
"Who was the second president
of the United States 7"
"JOhn Adams"
1.-THE fifth 7"
"James Monroe"
"Tbe Thirteenth 7"
"Millard Fillmore"
"The twenty.third 7"
"Oscar Moore. HO! ha =! hee y
Little Oscar grew sarcastic, and
asked
"You are sure that's the right
answer, are you Z" Or being as.
sured that it was, he would reply :
"WeIl, guess So.'
Oscar counted from one to ten in
Chinese, Spanish, Latin. French
and Welsh.
"Count from one to ten in Dam
isb."
81 can't" he answered. "pll
count from one to twenty; there is
no ten 10 Danish
Then Oscar sang several songs
10 English aud one ID German. lie
is strong on dates, the names and
population of all the cities in the
world, the light of any given
quantity of corn. -four, wheat,
copper, silver, gold and iron, aud
hundreds of other things that not
one man in 10000 knows. He en-
joys answering questions. 1t seems
to require no mental effort at ALL
Mr.. CANNED does not yet know
what he will dOWith Oscar, but 10 is