The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-11-07

The Remarkable Requirements of a Ger
man Revolutionist in I849.

The Remarkable Requirements OF a Ger
man Revolutionist in 1849.
An old man with long white hair and
beard and an anxious look was seen by
a Pittsburg Dispatch reporter porting
over a directory. When he was asked
what he was hunting for he said: I'm
trying to find the only man who l a
count on as a friend. He was living
here forty years ago, but his name is
not in the directory now"
AS he was talking a lady approached
to ask a question. The old nan stopped
suddenly and with a beg your par
don" DOTTED his hat and stood aside at
a respectful distance in a Chesterfield
manner. Continuing, after the lady
had left. he said: you are correct in
thinking that I have seen better days
My name is Carl Maier, and l was one
of the revolutionists in Germany in
1849, being secretary of the Democratic
party and civil commissary at Buchen
in the grand duchy of Baden. [ am an
example of a shattered ambition, 1t be
ing my one aim in life to do something
for the good of the public. After the
failure of our cause l was forced to flee
to America, and went to the house of
Frederic Hecker, chief of the German
revolution, who had also come to
America and located in Illinois. Here
I resumed my old calling as a profes
sor and taught his children. When I
look back upon my seventy years of
life l can say that the only friend l
have in the world is myself"
Did you eve e a person begin writ
ing a letter at the last period and then
write backwards and finish up at the
beginning9 That's what Carl Maier can
do without the least exertion. It seems
just as easy for him to remember the
words and letters Of a sentence in re
versed order as it is for the ordinary
person to remember them in their reg
ular order. 1t is an easy matter for
him to think backward, and, what is
more astonishing, he writes upside
down. The letters are all inverted as
he looks at them when writing. And,
again, performing this feat, which one
thinks would require all the power and
attention Of his brain, he is not dis
turbed by carrying on a conversation
with you, no matter how foreign the
subject may be. Maier's performance
would almost make one believe the
theory promulgated by a scientist that
we have double barreled brains" If
you repeat a sentence to Maier, no
matter how long it may be, after hear
ing it once he will commence and write
the sentence verbatim, starting at the
last letter of the last word and finish
ing it through the first letter of the first
word.
1t seems to be natural to him to in.
vert his mind in his work, for he never
falters or stops to think, but writes as
rapidly as a person writing in an ordi-
nary way. II acquired this in a pecu-
liar manner" said Maier. while I
was clerk in a grocery store in Saxony
L was du dHOItIOuS SOEG VI d DOy anu |
always wanted to do everything differ
emily from every person else. When
the customers came to me for their bill
I would place the bill head in an in
verified position in front of me and make
the bill out backward, as l have writ
ten for you.
81 came very nearly being prosecuted
for p~racticing witchcraft. Many peo-
pie assigned this power to the witches.
Then the Spiritualists came to me and
told me I was controlled by a wonder.
full mind. Although 1 couldn't explain
it by any other theory than that it was
a concentration of my mind, I at last
persuaded them that there was nothing
supernatural in it. l am not able to
perform the feats / used to when I was
younger. 1 am getting old and nv
memory is not as it used to be-. Nv
eyesight is pretty near gone. l can't
see very much. In looking at YOU /
see that it is a form and know that YOU
are a human being, because you speak
to me, but l could not see my writing
If | did not use a blue pencil. 1t seems
to be the only color I can see."