The morning call., 1895-02-10
A WONDERFUL MEMORY.
This EngIishman Reads a Paper Once
Then Repeats 1t Verbatim.

Then Repeats 1t Verbatim.
There are some feats of human lnteill-
gence so extraordinary and inexplicable
that even when we ourselves witness them
they appear incredible. Chief among these
are feats of memory, for many share more
or less in the gift, and are therefore better
enabled to judge of the exceeding difficulty
of their performance. One might be able
to repeat GLOW the Waters Come Down at
Lodore." or even "Marmion,' without an
error, but that only made Mr.. Brandram s
performances the more astonishing. 1t
hear him recite "Twelfth Night" with its
short sentences and frequent changes
OF speakers, lest he should confuse one
with the other; and though he never did
so l was conscious that similar perfec-
ton was utterly out of my reach. But
what was Brandram, as regards feats of
memory, com pared with a man who can
take newspaper of to-day, and, after
once perusing it, repeat every word of it
from start to finish. Yet this marvel has
been accomplished by a Mr.. Crawford in
the case of the Globe, the whole contents
|. of which for that day he repeated without
mistake. The more one thinks about it
the more incredible it appears. Does the
poor man forget it all afterward, or does
cruel Idte compel ulIn 10 remember
for ever and ever the contents of a
newspaper? If SO, where in the pigeon-holes
of his memory does he find room for it ?
Not the British Museum itself has such
an extent of accommodation. The miracle,
indeed, has been wrought before. Lord
Macaulay is said to have accomplished
something of the same kind in private, but
such amateur performances are not to be
judged by the same standard as those
IA how -,.f
the audience is on the qui yive for an
error. Years ago there was a stroliing
player at Edinburgh of the name of VIII
liam Lyon, who had an astonishing mem
DRY. He one evening made bet of bowl
of punch that at the rehearsal next morn
ing he would repeat the whole of the
Daily Advertiser from beginning to
end. This task, the record says, he
accomplished without making the slightest
error, through all the varieties of adver-
tisements, price of stocks, domestic and
foreign news, accidents offenses and law
intelligence. 1t is probable, however, that
the Daily Advertiser of that date was a
much less voluminous paper than the
Globe of to-day, nor is it stated that Lyon
only had one perusal of it. DR.. Macklin
reports of another man who performed
similar feat, that on being complimented
on his success he replied: ooh, that's
nothing; wait till you hear me repeat it
backwardr' and he accordingly did so,
beginning at the imprint and ending
at the title" As regards his second as
sertion, poor DIR. Macklin was not
believed, but for my part do not see why
a man with the ability to repeat the con-
tents of newspaper should not be able to
repeat it backward. The difference, when
such magical powers exist at all, seems to
be only in degree. 1t must be remembered
that almost all so-to-speak amateur per-
formances in memories are in verse, in
which the memory is aided both by the
meter and the rhyme. To repeat notices
and advertisements demands much greater
effort, if, indeed there be any effort re-
quired at all. The feat seems beyond
preparation of any kind.-London special
to st. Louis Globe-Democrat.