Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-12-03
A SWIFT AT FIGURES.
EDUCATIONAL CIRCLES EXCITED OVER
LIGHTNING ARITHMETIC.

An Ohio Man Has a System Which He
Thinks Should Be Taught In the Schools.
He Gives Newspaper Man Some Illus
trations Of His Method.
Educational circles are in q pitch of
excitement over the introduction in the
public schools Of Chicago of q system of
instruction in what may be termed
lightning arithmetic. Many of those
interested maintain that the proposition
is impracticable on the theory that only
such persons as have natural arithmet-
ical genius can be able to use to advan-.
tage any sort of rapid calculation. The
incident and the attending interest led
representative to make some inquiry
into whether or not there is any move
ment to introduce the new system in
the schools of this city. Although it is
the subject Of not little discussion
among the teachers of the city, no steps
have as yet been taken.
One Of the most interested in this city
is Mr.. o. d. Hinkle, who is connected
with the M. G. Lilley company. Mr..
Hinkle has been in the mercantile bust
ness for a number of years, much Of
which time has been spent in this city,
and has been regarded as one of the
most rapid calculators in the state. His
work has not been ON the fancy order,
but straightforward use of rapid meth
DDS in practical business. Having seen
Mr.. Hinkle add, subtract, divide and
multiply long lists of figures in billing
out goods of all sorts as fast ais his as
sistant could call them off to him, and
in 500 pages of ledger accounts having
made not one single mistake, The Dis
patch was interested to know whether
tie system mentioned in Chicago was
related in any way to that which be
used.
Mr. Hinkle was found most enthusi-
astically interested in the method, and
quickly remarked, upon being asked,
that the supposed new system was iden-
tically the same that he has been using
for 25 years. Indeed, Mr.. Hinkle has
been for number of years thinking Sc
riously Of making an effort to have
some of the schools take it up as a part
of their course of instruction. Speaking
Of the new method, Mr.. Hinkle said:
lis the system sound? Isit practical?
Yes, most emphatically to both ques-
tions. 1t is natural computation, and it
is just as easy to teach child or grown
person the relationship of numbers as it
is to teach them the relationship be-
tween persons. Use 100 for the head Of
the geological tree of the family Of fig
ures, and it is just as easy and natural
to teach q child that 25 per cent of any
amount is one-fourth of it, because 25
is one-fourth of 100, as it is to teach
him that that old gentleman is his
grandfather because he is his mothers
father, or that 12a per cent is one
eighth of any amount, because it is one
eighth of 100, as it is to teach him that
the curly head over there is his cousin
because he is his fathers brother'schild.
"rll give you some examples in short
mental arithmetic for a change. Say
you buy 80 yards of carpet at 6sh
cents; 621a cents is five-eighths Of 100;
five-eighths of so is $50. Easy number,
yes. Take an odd one. Say S3 yards at
621S cents; five-eighths of SOis $50; add
three times 50 u cents, which is 81. .S7H;
total, $61.871a. Say you buy 167 yards
of dress goods at 3315 cents; 3315 cents
is one-third Of 100; one-third of 1877 is
$55. 6625. Say you sell $50 pounds of
wool at 1614 cents; 1614 is one-sixth Of
100; one-sixth of $50 is $58. 3S1a. Say
you buy 100 bushels Of potatoes at 80
cents, $50. Easy, isn'tit? But if it were
80 bushels at 40 centsyou couldn't do it
so easily, and yet it is no harder, if you
only knew it. Say 90 times 80 is $40. 50,
less once SO, which is $46.51, and it is
no more difficult than 100 times So
almost every child can do multipli-
cation up to IL, but how many older
people can 20 higher than IL easily?
Yet it is easy to go to 500 if he is a
quick adder. think my rule for squar-
ing large numbers is simpler than Mr..
Speers' way of doing it. For example,
start at IL. Twelve times IL is IA. To
get the square Of IS, add 13 ana 10 to
square Of IL: 13 and 10 make %: 25
In 1899 Mr.. A. L. Goldwater, who
owns three retail drug stores in New