The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-05-06
RUDE FIELDS GET.
tE HAS WONDERFUL ABILITIES AS A
MATHEMATICIAN.


est mathematical wonder OF the world.
His name Is Rubo Fields. lilo Is familiar
figure on the streets of warrensburg,
where, at odd intervals, he may be seen
wandering around OF standing quietly on
corner, staring vaoantly into space. His
powers have been abundantly tested and
are doubted by no one here. He has the
peculiar gift" OF solving, without a
knowledge OF accepted rules or the use OF
written figures, any arithmetical problem
propounded to him. 1t Is asserted by some
who have experimental with him that he
Is not accurate, but II Is safe to say that
where he can DO made to fully understand
the proposition his intuitive answers have
been correct.
The boyhood OF this strange character
was that OF an overgrown country lout,
with boorish manners and silly mind. He
did not and would not go to school, and
he asserts now that II he had done SO he
would have become rs big fool as other
people" Rube Fields IL between 40 and
45 years Of age. AS he stands upon the
street corner, with hands I'm pockets, his
slouchy dress indicates poverty both In
purse and pride. He cares perhaps as lit
tie for money rs for personal appearance.
His clothes, faded to dull brownish vel
low, have served him for many seasons.
His trousers are thrust into heavy, high
topped boots. His hat Is small and Is
placed carelessly back on his head, having
long ago lost semhlanco OF style or shape.
Weighing about $50 pounds, Fields Is OF
medium height, large boned, with figure
heavy and ungraceful denoting his slug
gish temperament. Swarthy of face, with
high cheek bones, thin, unkempt beard
high, bulging forehead, small eyes and
large head, he has little expression OF
countennnce.e As he walks or talks he has
a furtive way OF looking upward, turning
his head To the right or left.
He rarely speaks unless spoken to, and
his replies are erratic. II he slips inside a
storerooil, or office, he stands stolidly gaz-
Ing into vacancy IL unnoticed he some
times opens n conversation, but II address
cd replies most often curtly and recklessly.
Give Rube Fields the distance by rail
between any two points and the dmen-
sions of carwhcel, and almost M soon as
the statement has left your lips he will tell
you the number Of revolutions the wheel
will make in travelling over the track.
Call four ar five or any number OF col
unins Of figures down a page, and when
you have reached the bottom ho will an
nounce tho sum. Give the number OF
yards or pounds Of articles and the price,
and at once no will return the total cost,
and this he will do all day long, without
effort or fatigue.
gentleman relates an instance OF
Fields knowledge Of figures. After hav-
ing called several columns Of figures for
addition he went hack to tho first column,
saying IL was wrong, and repeating II,
purposely miscaliing tho next to tho last
figure. At once Fields threw up his hand,
exolaiming, "You didn't call it that way
before.''
Fields answers come quick and sharp,
seemingly by intuition. Calculations
which would require hours To perform are
made In less timo than 1t takes ~ state the
quest ion Tho size of the computations
seem To offer no bar TO their rapid solu-
lions, and answers in which long lines of
figures are reeled off come with perfect
ease. In watching the effort put forth In
reaching an answer there would seem to
DO some process going onin the mind. and
an incoherent mumbling Is often INDUCED
in, but IL Is highly probable that Fields
does not himself know how he derives his
answers. Certain IL is that he Is unable to
explain the process, nor has any one ever
been able 10 draw from him anything con-
corning IL. Almost the only thing he
knows about tho power Is that he possesses
IL, and, while no Is not altogether averse
tn receiving money for his work, he has
steadily refused Ia allow himself tn be ex
hibited..
His only appearance on any stage was
many years ago Great preparations had
leon made, and n largo audience was as
scmbled. Rube's manager, I'm his an.
nouncoment, stated (unwittingly, as IL
proved) that In all other things save his
wondrous mastery Ut numbers Fields was
little more than fool. AT this the eccen,
trio character took umbrage and exclaimed
In a very decided way: "You are id
fool yourself! I'm no foolv' Ho rushed
Off tho stage and could not bc induced to
return. IA lff
A bout the only use To which his mathe-
NAUTICAL ability has ever been put has
been by merchants In making invoices.
He often makes queer offers In this regard.
One day he wandered into the office of
quarry near here and announced that he
had come to take stock
In, addltionsto his mathematical gift,
this man possesses the power of telling the
exact time - 1t In positively asserted that
though he be awakened from "a deep sleep
he can Immediately tell the hour and min.
ute OF the night. This has been tested so
often In. the daytime that IL has become
common for people. To ask him for the
time. Often n very uncercmonious an
swer Is returned, for to doubt the reality
Of his power arouses resentment. Some
times he will answer, ''Time to set 'em
up,i' or again, pointing, There's the
clock" After telling the time, II he Is
told what your watch indicates, he will,
on tho next day, tell you the time, and
also the timeas shown by your watch
How this featlis performed Is as much a
mystery as the process by which he solves
a problem In arithmetic. He answers no
Of study who, by intense application and
short methods. have become experts, have
sought to probe these two mysteries, but
without results Indeed the mans intel
ligence IL of Nd low an order rs To prevent
him from aiding those who seek tn know
With age, too, he grows more surly.
As to poor Fields himself, no cxcites
only sympathy. Homeless, unkempt and
uncouth, travelling aimlessly on n journey
which he does not understand, he hugs to
his heart marvellous power, which he de-
,larcs to he gift from God To his weak
mind IL lifts him above his fellow men,
and yet 10 Is rs useless 10 the world rs
diamond In dead mans hand Chicago
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