Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1891-02-12
MARVELLOUS POWER.
A AHALF-wITTED MISSoURIAN'S
GIFT FOR MATHEMATICS.
Does the Work of Ten Bookkeepers
IN One Tenth of the Time, and
Uses No Paper or Pencil.

oth VI Len ooohhOSPSAS
IN One Tenth of the Time, and
Uses No Paper or Pencil.
Rube Field is the kingpin of Missouri
| freaks. As long as he retains a residence
| in that town, Warrensburg will be en-
titled to place on the map. In gene
| raj way Field is not burdened with in
telligence, inherent or acquired. He is
| absolutely devoid of information and
| possesses fewer social graces than Dig
| ger Indian.
Were 1t not for his peculiar faculty or
gift, as he terms it, he would be cata-
logued among idiots, and no more said.
In arithmetic, however, he is a lightning
striker. There is no problem so difficult
| that he cannot solve it the instant he
| comprehends the terms. If a series of
| numbers, no matter how great or small.
are called to him, he gives the amount as
soon as the last number is given bv the
experimenter. Physicians have counseled
over him and the wise men of the neigh
horhood have caucused on his case for
the past twenty five years or more, but
no conclusion has been reached in their
premises.
Field first burst on Kansas CITY ten
years ago. A large dry goods store had
changed hands and the purchasers de-
sired to take possession at once, but with
ordinary methods of invoicing, the stock
could not have been valued in ten days
time. An envoy was sent to Warrens-
burg, and after much persuasion, induced
statistical Reuben to come to this city.
The different clerks stood in their de-
partments and called to Field the mer-
chandise and prices in their respective
stocks, and Field gave the amount to Il
rapid accountant, who had difficulty in
Keeping the pace set by the calculator.
When all the items had been made, they
were read off to Field as rapidly as the
accountant could articulate, and the sum
total given by the arithmetician without
turning rule. He had, with the aid of
SIX or eight men, performed in three
hours of Sunday morning the task that
the men who assisted him could not have
accomplished in ten days.
The foregoing and subsequent state
ments touching Fields properties NAV
seem to partake somewhat OF the proper
ties of the spectrum, but they are true
nevertheless, and can be attested by
thousands of citizens of jackson County
and Western Missouri.
The man can neither write his name nor
recognize it after another has produced
1t. He cannot in figures express the
numbers he so readily handles with his
mouth, for the Arabic numbers are as
meaningless to him as the Inscriptions on
the pyramids were to Spalding's string
of baseball tourists
GLOW do you do it?" was the natural
| inquiry
81 jist does" was Fields brief re-
mark. Upon being pressed for another
and fuller explanation, he said; Yo'
alls begins at the wrong end to figger.
begins at the tail end whar the answer
is"
When +. G. Farr lived in Warrens-
burg, previous to going to jefferson as
Governor Crittenden's Secretary, he took
a lively interest in Rube's mental and
moral welfare, and frequently had the
freak in his law office to attempt to in-
still working knowledge of godliness
into him, but without any result that is
. yet apparent. Mr.. Farr spent months in
the aggregate endeavoring to explain
the principles of rotation and point out
, the blessings of ebriety to the man, but
to no avail. Rube cannot make a figure
'Or relusc urlnk 10 lnlS uay.
Where he obtained even speaking
knowledge of the numerals is unknown.
He was queer from his birth, the result
of prenatal influences, his mother having
been seriously i'll for some time prior to
his advent. Instead of repairing to the
: local temple of learning he would wan
der off into the woods, and here was an
other singular trait brought out. Birds
and squirrels do not avoid him as they
do Others, and reptiles of the earth show
a strong affection for him.
In summer he usually has an assort-
ment of reptiles concealed about him,
and cannot be looked upon as cheerful
company for those of nervous tempera.
ment. Rube could make large money il
he could be prevailed upon to leave home,
but he docs not care to get far away from
Warrensburg. Here and at neighboring
towns, whenever an invoice of stock IS
received at store, or when the annual
accounts are taken, he is employed.
When in Kansas City on the occasion
above referred to he earned 5000 in three
days, several firms employing him. ~
Another miraculous power with which
Field is endowed is his ability to tell
time. He usually carries watch, but as
he doesn't know the characters on the
dial plate, and winds it only when the
inspiration seizes him, the machine may
be considered rather in the light Of q
fashionable vanity. He is his own chro-
nometer. Atauy period of the day or
night he can give the exact meridian
time, not alone in hours and minutes
but in seconds. He is absolutely correct
In common with all geniuses he has his
frailty. 1t is a fondness for the rosy Tor
which Field is most to be reproached.
He gets drunk whenever and wherever
the opportunity offers and is in no wise
particular about his bottle companions.
Hundreds of times after he has been ut
erly oblivious to the flight of time he
has been awakened from drunken
stupor by those who doubted the COM
plete possession by him of his peculiar
powers and the hour asked. Invariably
have his responses been correct to the
last tick of the watch. Kansas City
News.