Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-02-06
EQUAL TO BLIND TOM.
Little Negro Boy Who Possesses . Mar
 vicious Memory.

vicious Memory.
 A couple of dozen gentlemen assembled in Parlor l. of the Astor house to wit ness the remarkable performances of little blind negro boy from Texas, who has attracted great deal of attention in the southern states by reason of his mar velous quickness in learning words and their uses and performing many remark able mental feats. He is 8 little over years of age and has, it is said, a com mand of over five thousand words. For an hour or more the little fellow amazed his visitors, answering without an instant's hesitation and apparently de- irving the keenest enjoyment from the wonder which his replies aroused. He takes rank with and even surpasses Blind Tom as an untaught wonder, and duced two such prodigies was a subject of comment among those who heard the boy.
 The name of this wonder is Oscar Moore, called Professor Moore" by those having him in charge. He Is little taller than the seat of an ordinary chair, and can walk under table without stepping. Save that his head is remark ably large and he has no nose, he does not differ in appearance from hundreds of "pickaninnies' to be met throughout l ll0 oOuUA x1o AC6SCo HI oAOAO oAAA CcS makes mud pies for amusement and can l make as much noise as an able bodied man.
 In order to bring this midget into sight | H. P. N. Hammel, of Austin, Tex, who has him in charge, yesterday placed him on a chair in the middle of a large table. Everybody present was handed a little book containing some thousand or more difficult questions, pieces of poetry and arithmetical tests, which Oscar could rattle off, together with speeches on the tariff, chapters out of the Bible and other things at will.
 MT. Hammel explained that Oscar was born on farm seven miles from Waco, Tex, Aug, 19, 1885; that both of his parents are uneducated negroes who had been slaves before the war, and that when hardly 1 year of age he learned whole sentences which were spoken In his presence, and first manifested a de- sire to talk by doing g sum in mental arithmetic which one of his sisters was unable to perform correctly. The boy is said to be perfectly healthy. One of the gentlemen present asked the question:
 "How many languages are spoken in the worldp'
 "Two thousand seven hundred and ffty," came the answer promptly, and then the little fellow clapped his hands and laughed to himself to think how smart he was.
 "Where is the largest bell in the world and how much does 1t weigh?" asked another.
 Moscow, Russia. How much does 1t weigh? 482, ,000 pounds"
 (Which is the highest mountain in the United States?"
 -"Mount St. Elias, in the Rocky mount ains."
 "How high is it?"
 Seventeen thousand eight hundred and fifty feet"
 "Now, Oscar, sing a song," said Mir. Hammel. Then the little fellow asked what kind of song and MT. Hammel said the gentleman wanted song about himself. Thereupon he climbed down from his seat and sang little song de. scriptive of himself. Oscar joined in the applause which greeted this performance and then made his great speech upon the tariff, which consisted of about Ave hundred words, and was fully as good as many of those delivered in congress over the Mills bill.-New York World.