Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1889-01-23
VALUE oE A eoop MeMoax.


~" oHo never hptset Tale or Fact.
Wonderful Memorizine.
Phil Armour, the great Chicago pork
packer, Is said to have remarked that good
memory IS necessary to one who wishes &c
succeed. There is no lack Of evidence to s,n-
port the statement. Armour himself is an
example of what a good memory can do
He is as wonderful in his line as Cardinal
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 Of small business transactions. He knows
the names of pretty nearly all of his army of
employees. After the building of the addi-
ton to his great establishment in Chicago he
astonished circle of friends by rattlino off
hand the number of bricks, car loads of sand
feet OF timber, ETC., that were used in the
construction. Armour's gift is a natural
one. He has never cultivated il. but the de-
mands Of his business have unquestionably
Kept his powers of memory in active training
"Old Hutch, rs the imperturbable Chicago
wheat manipulation is called, is another man
Gifted with an extraordinary 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 everything that he wants 10 re-
member, but says frankly he doesn't know
how he does It. He also possesses the gift of
not remembering things he docs not wish TO
remember. But then that gift is not rare.
The professional memory men say that
among public men and speakers for good all
around retentiveness James G. Blaine leads
NIL the rest, for he can not only remember
dates, figures and authorities when debating.
but in addition he has faculty for remem-
bcring names and faces that is little short of
the marvellous, and many are the stories told
Of his exploits in this line
In the domain Of figures Samuel ]. Ran
DALI when well, stood almost pre-cminent.
His long service ON those committees in CON
gress that controlled the finances Of the nation
gave him an immense knowledge of such mat
tiers, which he retained without an effort. 1t
was no uncommon thing for him TO make
long speeches without using notes He Jug
gled figures running az one timo into millions
Of dollars and then into fractions Of q cent
without tripping as most men, however able,
would have done. 1t was the same faculty
that made Gladstone SO successful a chancei-
Tor Of the English exchequer.
Roscoe Conkling was man of wonderful
memory. Whether dealing in figures in
legal argument or quoting from the early
English poets, he called forth, seemingly with
out effort and without previous thought, the
right thing at the right time.
Congressman Sam Cox has elso a remarka-
bic memory, especially for things literary,
and this has stood him in good stead in de-
bate in congress, for his opponents never
know when the genial jester is not about to
double them up with something from Shake
speare, the Koran, Burns, tho Bible or some
old hymn book. It is TO his memory alone it
is due, and Of course his wise study, that he
is able to do this in a running impromptu de
bate
Among actors a retentive memory, or a
good study is, Of course, important But
10 is not so necessary now in the time Of com
bination, when the same company plays the
same piece for a season. In the old days Of
stock companies it was common to present a
farce, comedy and tragedy all in one
night, and to change the bill nightly A good
memory was an absolute necessity No actor
can succeed without it, for it was no uncom-
mon thing for play to be put on at a few
hours notice. Lester Wallack, in his recol-
lections Of the stage, attributes much Of his
success to the fact that he possessed remark
able memory.
Edwin Forrest was a wonder in his prime
He would read over page of book and at
once recite il off hand. He did it frequently
for amusement as well as practice. In his
later years he lost this faculty to some extent.
Tho elder Booth studied everything and re-
menbered everything that he studied. The
only language that he was unable to conquer
was Russian. The great actor did learn
French well enough to play In tho French
tragedy "Oresii, ~ In Now Orleans some time
In 1881, and TO do it in French, too.-Phila-
delphia Times