Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-01-03
STRONG ON FIGURES.
WERE LIGHTNING CALCULATORS EY A
GIFT OF NATURE.
Two Eoys Whose Peculiar Talents Attract
ed General Attention-Some Of the DIN.
cult Tests Through Which They Passed
Successfully.

-
ed General Attention-Some Of the Din.
cult Tests Through Which They Passed
Successfully.
George Parker Bidder was born in
1906 at Morton Hampstead, in Devon
shire, where his father carried on a
small business as stonemason. At the
early age Of 4 he showed most ex-
traordinary ability for calculation, which
with slight assistance from an elder
brother assumed quite phenomenal pro-
portions. His peculiar talents soon at
tracted general attention, and his father
found it much more profitable employ
ment to carry his son about the country
and exhibit him as the Calculating
Phenomenon" than following his trade
In this way young Bidder visited many
parts Of England. astonishing the differ
ent people who came TO question him
by the wonderful rapidity with which
lie was able to answer, without external
aid Of any description. the most difficult
questions. OF these the following are o
few Of the most extraordinary examples
II flea spring . feet and 3 inches
in every hop, how many hops must it
take to go around the world, the circum.
| ference being 5000 miles, and how
long would it be performing the journey
allowing it to take 60 hops every minute
without intermission? Answer, IS, 49,.
600 hops and l year, 314 days, ID hours
and 90 minutes.
The following question was solved by
h i'm de-. l. IL I'D
the top CT st. Paul's cathedral to be G
feet in diameter, what did the gliding
cost at 3 I'D. per square inch? Answer,
| f237 los. Id.
| The following in minute and &c
seconds: Suppose a city to be illumipat.
ed with $3.50 lamps, each lamp to con
sumo one pint Of oil every four hours
in succession, how many gallons would
they consume in 40 years? Answer
100, 4S9, $50 gallons.
Another curious question was: Sup
pose the earth to consist of 97l, ZOO, zoo
inhabitants and suppose they die in sc
years and 4 months, how many have re
turned to dust since the time of Adam
computing it to be $3.50 years? Multi
ply the answer by 80.
During one of his exhibition tours
fortunately for the lad, his performance
attracted the attention of eminent schol
ars, who after making inquiries subse
quently undertook his education. H,
was attached to the ordnance surve,
for short time and afterward was as
ISOLATED with Stephenson, the great en-
gineer.
Some years after, he entered parlia
ment, and numerous stories are eXtan
of his wonderful skill in detecting
flaw in some elaborate sets of calcula
tions, whereby he was often enabled t,
upset an opponents case. Or, at othe
times, he would establish his own cas-
by arguments based upon mathematical
data, possibly only at the momen
placed before him. 1t is said that OF
one occasion an opposing counsel asket
that he might not he allowed to remain
i'll the committee room Oh the groun,
that mature had endowed him witt
qualities that did not place his oppo
nents ON fair footing
After taking a leading part in man,
important engineering works. he died a
Dartmouth, Sept. 20, 1878.
Another Of these extraordinary chill
dren, between whom and Bidder honor
were almost equally divided, wa
Zerah Colburn, born at Cabot, VT
Sept. J., 1904. Signs of his wonder
full power appeared at very tende
age. The discovery was accidentally
made by his father, who was much sur
prised che day to hear him repeatin,
the product Of several numbers, al
though at the time ne had received IL
other instruction than such rs could b
obtained at small country schoo
whose curriculum did not include writ
ing or ciphering. He thereupon propose,
q variety of arithmetical questions t
his son. all of which the child answers
with remarkable facility and correct
ness. At the age of s the boy was abb
to solve most difficult questions by tn
mere operation of his mind. Many pei
sons of the first eminence for thei
knowledge in mathematics made poin
of seeing and conversiug with him, an
they proposed to him great variety G
questions to test his marvellous power.
Among them We're the following:
WV tLc stiudlt lOOt VI JpJ,J'O al
er hesitating little he replied 500, 999
000,0 and observed that he produce
this result by multiplying the square {
Ss,031 by the square of p. He wa
: then asked to multiply the answer twic
by 40 and once by %, task which b
accomplished successfully, though tn
answer consists Of II figures.
Name the cube root of 41S, 993, 34S
ca. To this he gave the correct answe
in five seconds. How many times woul
a coach wheel IL feet in circumference
turn round in 256 miles, and how man
minutes in As years. To the first he +,
piled in two seconds liz, $40, and to I'll
second, before the question could 1
: written down. %, 22S, 500, and adde
e that the number of seconds in the SAN
period was l,5lS,72s What are the ia,
: tors of Pause: To this he replied 81
and 263. which are the only factors. =
Strand Magazine.
S. F. Fritz, of 677 Sedgwick street
Chicago, says: 81 had severe coug
which settled on nv lunus trie