Telegram-herald., 1890-02-20
A NUMERICAL NOMAD.
katns's Earnan Algebra enc Arata-
naSJ1o Wonder.
a ous<x Gsza@s sAs Ter Aazy yeazs a.
Iva % stSsdy Dies Of rssurss al
Esa4srs~r1e Laro&as a. EAs sci
cDo< Of HztAenaNtso~

q Ea1lkt~rs- alS-t NNft tc fs14lcLk ~ she
New York Herald, has boen the steady
diet Of one Ran IA Maine. year ia and
year oct, Tor tie past quarter of cent
ury. lie = PROT. George : McInure.
Aaa 10 one Is bsgtsr known - the citi-
tens - South western Maine than this
oft-eneountered person, with his little
t1n pal sn1 bis z-mful 0f books Al
naosG any day, be the weather What IL
nav. he may DO seen ssuntering leisurely
along the main thoroughfares or
croashed IL some hallway upon \ door
step absorbed Ia the one great work of
hts life, mathematics. He Is not exactly
a. Intellectual tramp but, perhaps,
more strictly, = numerical Eomad. His
is lie wrapt Up IA figures dry,
abstract things, 80 cold, pslpable and
undenAble. Only when delying IN
them is his CUP Of happiness filed -
the brlnA
PROF" George :. Mcintire was born
In the little settlement OF North Ken
nebunkport. Ne, on January 81, 1s9o.
He sprang from good, hardy, Anglo
Saxon stock, and had DO not inherited
constitution OF iron he would never
have been able % Withstand the ordeal
through which he has passed; for in his
aimless ranbles be has undergone
enough exposures and privstions 10
knock the underpinning out Of dozen
human frames. When quito young Nc
Intire was put At work upon the farm,
aud at the age Of sixteen was sent 10
the village school. The curriculum Of
the school, which was kept open only
during six weeks in winior, did not soar
higher than the rudimentary elements
Of mental arithmetic, and the teacher
was Moses Wilson, long since passed 10
the other shore.
Pedagogue Wilson determined 20 be-
como physician, and on the last day Of
his administration IS teacher presented
young McIntire with an old leather
covered algebra. The presentation OF
the old algebra, yellow with age, yet
glowing with truths, marked the turn
ing point in McIntire's life. II became
the key TO all the mans future idiosyn-
orasies. Never before had George seen
book called an algebra, and when he
took 1t home he found his parents IN
equal ignorance. It was beyond them.
Nevertheless, young McIntire was
soon knee deep among the KS, VS. and
rs. 1t seemed strange to him that any
thing tangible could bo resolved out OF
those fragmentary characters, but the
more be thought of it the moro it inter
ested him, and ere long he became
deeply infatuated with the study. His
parents tried to dissuade him from his
task, but unmindful OF their sugges-
tions, be absorbed chapter after chapter
OF the wonderful book, and neglected
farm work as often as he could steal
away into the more sequestered hooks
Of the forest.
McIntire remained on the farm, doing
little else than figuring, until he was
well along in years. Once he ran away
from home and secured Job il mill in
SSco. but he did not earn much, and
soon gave up the undertaking in order
10 accept a Job at painting in q big
machine shop in Biddeford. The paint
had an ill-effect upon his system, and
he wandered up 20 Buxton, where he
pushed the shovel and hoe for one Benja-
min Grant. After a month of this
Grudgery-for any thing was drudgery
outside Of mathematics for him-he re-
turned to the old homestead, where he
remained series Of years until his par
ents died. Then he removed to Bidde-
ford, some time in the early sixties"
Soon after McIntire came TO Bidde-
ford he went to New York and took
steerage passage by the Nicaragua route
10 San Francisco. On the passage out
he fell in with a French General who
happened to be on board, and was q coli
lege graduate. The man Of Mars ex-
pressed much surprise as Georges TO-
markable inrosds upon the science Of
mathematics, and on one occasion dur
ing protractod discussion Of the sub
ject, many Of the ships passengers and
crew gathered about the pair with
mingled feelings Of pity and awe.
While IN San Francisco McIntire
sawed wood and did other odd jobs, but
he found il difficult 20 obtain a liveli-
hood. Nevertheless, on every pleasant
Sabbath he went to the Lone Mountain
brrial-ground TO decipher the characters
on the grave-stones there, and, by way
OF diversion, 20 rehearse his mathe-
matical studies McIntire returned
from California by way of the isthmus
IN 1866.
Professor" was the tisle he now went
By IN Maine. So thoroughly absorbed
had be become in the one study OF his
life thstit had taken on = form OF mon
omania- And to-day, outside the realm
Of figures, all the world il blank 70
him. he declares that he likes the study
we'll enough 10 g without his natural
food and this he has freq uently done He
has seldom eaten warm meal or slept
in bod during many years pas Much
OF the time be has slept sn barns. some
times In old carts and not infrequent-
IL be has remained out OF G -s al
night Al the present time he e ooca-
pying = small room over store this
city. but nothing IN the shape q bod
steAd sdorns the room. the occupant Sc
curing repose upon An old blanket
thrown upon tho aoor. For years NcIn-
tire has subsisted upon milk. bread and
fruit which be purchases OF begs IN
small Quantities AZ tiDe. going iu 70
q doorway or hvery stable - enjoy
the frassi meal
n-a - rf.~-rss yassr~ H..