The Progress., 1889-02-16
MEN WITH QUICK MINDS.
They Find It Pays to Possess a
Good Memory.

They Find It Pays to Possess a
Good Memory.
Women Who Are just as Keen Minded
as Men = Training the Memory
Notable Instances That Are
ON Record.
q don't remember!''
! There are few exclamations more
often made by ordinary persons than
this one.
The business of calculating and of
training the memory is now being
carried on in New York by a large
number of persons, who are positively
coming money from their profession.
There are several professors in New
York overrun with pupils who wish to
improve defective memories and who
are willing to pay the person who will
supply the method. Each of these
professors has a system of his own,
and each OF them savagely insist that
his is the only sure system.
Phil Armour, the great Chicago pork
packer, is said to have remarked that
a good memory is necessary to one
who wishes 10 succeed. This is, per-
haps, trifle strong and yet there is
no lack OF evidence to support the
statement. Armour, himself, is an ex-
ample of what a good memory can do.
He is as wonderful in his time ais Car
dinal Mezzofanti was in his. He is
said to carry the smallest detail of his
immense business in his head. He
can remember the date as well as the
sum of small business transactions,
he knows the names Of pretty nearly
all of his army of employees. After the
building Of the addition to his great
establishment in Chicago he aston
lshed circle of friends by rattling off
hand the number of bricks, carloads
OF sand, feet of timber, etc, ETC., that
were used in the construction. Ar
mour's gift is q natural one He has
never cultivated it, but the demands
OF his business have unquestionablv
kept his powers of memory in active
training.
"Old Hutch" as the imperturbable
Chicago wheat manipulation is called,
is another man gifted with an extraor-
dinary memory. He needs no books
to carry his transactions in, although,
OF course, he uses them. With him,
too, retentiveness is a natural gift. He
remembers every thing that he wants
to remember, but says frankly he
doesn't know how he does it. He also
possesses the gift of not remembering
things he does not wish to remember.
But then that gift is not rare.
In another line Of business is John
btetson, the famous theatrical man
ager Many funny stories are told at
the expense of the bluff Bostonian.
but that he is one Of the most success
ful men in his line of business can not
be disputed. He runs a newspaper.
and always has a few theaters or the
atrIcal companies on his hands, and
there IS no one who can quicker tell a
good thing when he sees it, or make
better use of it than John Stetson. If
is said that if he were to burn his
books he could carry on his business
without them. This is too much to be-
Il lleve, OF course, but certainly it is true
that pretty nearly every detail Of his
business is carried in his memory, and
that he is able to carry it is sometimes
OF vast assistance to him.
The professional memory men saw
that among public men and speakers
for good all-round retentiveness Hon.
James 6. Blaine leads all the rest, for
ne can not only remember dates
figures and authorities when debatina.
but in addition he has a faculty for re-
membering names and faces that is
little short OF marvellous, and many
are the stories told OF his. exploits in
this line.
In the domain Of figures Samuel j.
Randall, when we'll, stood almost pro-
mlnent. His long service on those
ommltteos in Congress that con ntrolled
the finances of the nation gave him an
immense knowledge Of such matters,
which he retained without an effort,
1t was was no uncommon thing for him to
3 8 make long speeches without using
notes. He handled figures running at
one time into millions of dollars and
then into fractions of cent without
tripping. as most men, however able,
would have done. It was the same
saculty that made Gladstone so sue
sess:sil y Chancellor Of the Engl
Aachequer. =S
Roscos Conlsling was man OF won.
delsul lnonory Whsther dealing in.