Smyrna times., 1889-02-20
EQUAL TO BLIND TOM.
A Little Negro Boy Who Possesses a Mar
veIOus Memory.

velOus Memory.
A couple of dozen gentlemen assembled
in PaTlor L of the Astor house to wit
ness the remarkable performances Of a
! little blind negro boy from Texas, who
has attracted a 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 a little over
years of age and has, it is said, 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
that the African race should have pro-
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 a little
taller than the seat of an ordinary chair,
and can walk under a table without
STOPPING. 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
the south. He dresses in short skirts,
makes mud pies for amusement and can
make as much noise as an able bodied
man.
In order to bring this midget into sight
Il. P. N. Hammel, of Austin, Tex, who
has him i'll charge, yesterday placed him
on a chair in the middle of a large table.
erybody 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.
Mr.. Hammel explained that Oscar was
born on farm seven miles from Waco,
Tex, Aug. 10, 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 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 worldY'
1.-TWO thousand seven hundred and
fifty" came the answer promptly, and
then the little fellow clapped his hands
and laugh Il to himself to think how
smart he vas.
"Where is the largest bell in the world
and how much does it weigh?' asked
another.
Moscow, Russia. How much does it
weigh? 432, 900 pounds"
(Which is the highest mountain in the
United States?"
"MOunt st. Elias, in the Rocky mount
aims"
GLOW high is it?''
Seventeen thousand eight hundred
and fifty feet"
"Now, Oscar, sing a song," said Mr..
Hammel. Then the little fellow asked
what kind Of a song and Mr.. Hammel
said the gentleman wanted a song about
himself. Thereupon he climbed down
from his seat and sang a 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 FIVE
hundred words, and was fully as good as
many of those delivered in congress over
the Mills bill.-New York World.