The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-03-15
MEN WITH QUICK MINDS.
They Find It Pays to Possess a
Good Memory.
Women Who Are just as Keen Minded
Men Training the Memory-
Notable Instances That Are
on Record.

. There are few eNclamations more
often made by ordinary persons than
this one. .s.z.
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 win
supply the method Each of these
professors has a system OF his own,
and each of them savagely insist that
his l. the only sure system
Phil Armour, the great Chicago pork
packer. is said to have remarked that
u good memory is necessary to one
who wishes to succeed. This is, per
hsps, a trihe strong and yet there is
no lnck of evidence TO support the
statement Armour, himself, is an ex-
ample of what good memory can do.
He is as wonderful in his time as Car
dinal MeZzofanti was In his. He is
said to carry the smallest detail of his
immense business in his head. He
NktAl ttfAltIliDtE INC Isilc dS McAl Us l4lC
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
ished u circle of friends by rattf.Ig of
hand the number of bricks, carloads
of sand, feet of timber, etc, etc, that
were used in the construction. Ar
mour's gift is natural one. He has
never cultivated it, but the demands
of his business have unquestionably
kept his powers of memory in active
"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 4 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 IL John
Stetson, 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 theatcrs or the
atricaI 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 Stctson. 1t
is said that if he were to burn his
books he could carry on his business
without them. This is too much to be-
Heve, 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 say
that among public men and speakers
for good all-round rctentiveness Hon.
james g. Blaine leads all the rest, for
he can not only remember dates,
figures and authorities when debating,
but in addition he has faculty for re-
mcmbering 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 well, stood almost pro-
minent- His long service on those
committees in Congress that controlled
the finances of the nation gave him an
immense knowledge of such matters,
which he retained without an effort
It was no uncommon thing for him to
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. 1t was the same
faculty that made Gladstone so sue
cessful Chancellor of the English
Exchequer.
Roscoe Conkling was a man of Won
derful memory Whether dealing in
figures, in legal argument, or quoting
from the early English poets, he called
forth seemingly without effort and
without previous thought the right
thing at the right time.
Congressman Sam Cox has also a
remarkable memory, especially for
things literary, and Inis has stood him
In good stead in debate in Congress.
for his opponents never know when
the genial jester is about to double
them up with something from
Shakespeare, the Koran, Bobby Burns,
the Bible or some old hymn-book 1t
Is his memory and his wise study that
enable him to successfully compete in
a running impromptu debate. II is