The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1899-03-18
Wonderful Memorial.

ocd1Ser, the ph1lOlOg1St of the six
teenth century, who edited several of
the classics, was so certain of his men,
DRY, says a writer in the London Stand
ara, that he undertook to repeat long
passages from Latin works with dag
ger at his breast, which was to be used
against him in the event of his memory
falling; while Seneca, the tutor of Ne
70, could repeat two thousand words
exactly as he heard them. Pope could
turn at once to any passage which had
struck him when reading; and Leyden,
the Scottish poet, who died in the early
part OF the century, was also remarka-
bic Tor his memory. When congratu-
lated on one occasion upon his aptitude
for remembering things Dryden replied
that he often found his memory a
source of inconvenience. Surprise was
expressed at this, whereupon the poet
replied that he often wished to recall
a. particular passage, but could not do
: so until he had repeated the whole
poem, from the beginning to where the
passage occurred which he wished to
recall.
'Leyden is also credited with having
been able to repeat an act of Parlia-
ment or a lengthy legal document. aft
er having heard it once. The news
papers Of January, 1920, contain fire.
quent illusions to the case of a man
named Thomson, who drew plans of a
dozen London parishes. including every
church, chapel, yard, court, monument,
,lamp-post, and innumerable trees and
pumps without reference to''a single
book, and, without, asking a. single
question: and an English, clergyman
mentions man Of weak intellect who
lived about thes same time, who could
remember the. names and ages of
every mar, ~ woman and child who shad
been buried in the parish during thir-
ty-five years, together with the dates
of burial and the names Of the mourn
ers present at the funeral. That great
memories are not the product of civil
zatio1H is proved by an instance record
ed by Or. Moffatt, the, great African
missionary. Dr. Moffatt once preached
a sermon to q group of negroes, and
was shortly afterward attracted by the
gesticu1ations Of a. young savage adj
dressing, a mum Der Of, blacks. On going
up to the group he was amazed to hear
the savage reproducing his OVID ser
mon word for word go go ) $SS|'1
An E1traaordinarry& volcanic Y Eruption.
A writer, in McClure's Magazine gives
the fullest and most interesting account
Of the great Krakatoa eruption that
has yet been printed in popular form.
This extraordinary convulsion occurred
on thatalittle island in the Straits of
.Sunda, between Java and Sumatra, on
Aug. rs and s27, 1883. The island was
not inhabited and its highest peak was
OILY 5000 feet, while nearby there are
mountains Of 10000 feet. The volcano
had been quiescent for two hundred
years. In May, 1883, it began to show
signs Of uneasiness, and by the last of
August the walls Of the craters had so
crumbled away that the ocean began to
flow IN, and a tremendous warfare be-
tween water and fire began. On the
9th came the blow-up, the greatest ex-
plosipn the world has known since rec
ords were made. The noise was heard
at, the island of Rodriguez, which is
1858 miles distant. That is equal to
a noise at Philade iphia being heard at
San Francisco! Mapping out the area
over which the noise was heard. It is
found to be one-t rteenth OF the sur
face Of the globe. The sea waves that
resulted were felt at the Cape Of Good
Hope, distant 1000 miles. Their aver
age speed was $50 miles an hour, and
nearby they were terrible. The lives
lost are figured with remarkable pre-
Scisfon at 36 $3.50. The explosion set air
waves II motion that went three timass