Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-12-27

Samuel ]. Tilden had such a memory
and his use of it on one occasion was
! heralded far and wide in the news
| papers. 1t was at Horace Greeley's
funeral. Greeley and Tilden were de-
feated candidates for the presidency
and this n,oved Tiiden to speak of the
| circumstances attending the death OF
the presidents. Beginning with Wash
| ington he gave the date of each, with
all the accompanying incidents.
Mr.. Tilden's chronological memory
was not marker, though. TO that OF
Daniel Mccartney. His memory
reached its full power when he was
about 16 and lasted till his death at
20. He could tell what happened to
him on any given day Of the entire
elapsed period of 81 years. He re-
membered what the weather had been,
what he had eaten at each meal. and
many other things most of us forget
Statements concerning his own per-
sonal life could not be verified, Of
course, but other statements could.
He could tell what day of the week
any given date in any year fell on
Yet Mccartney, whose mathematical
powers were as phenomenal as his
memory, was not a success in life.
The most important work he ever was
able to do was to turn the crank of a
hand press in a New England country
newspaper office. He couldn't read,
even, though that was mainly because
of defective eyesight.
Almost as wonderful as Mozart
ney's chronological memory was that
of Mrs. Susan Brady of Richmond.
Ind. At &C she was able to give the
weather details of every year for
more than a half century, besides
many other circumstances. Her
statements were found to be correct
by reference to newspaper files. I'm
like Mccartney, Mrs. Brady was
clever in many ways, but generally
the person with the phenomenal
chronological memory has no special
ability along other lines.
1t has been said in explanation of
this that the person who dwells
sufficiently in the past to charge his
mind with the details is not fit to cope
with the present. This is the view
held in his period of greatest activity
by the venerable John l. Blair, who
built the first line of railroad west Of
the Mississippi, and who once, when
asked about some recent transaction
referred to the records, saying that
whenever he got the facts concerning
anything down in black and white, he
dismissed them Immediately, having
no room for them in his mind.
1t was largely so with Jay Could
but Gould more perfectly than almost
any one else remembered exactly
where the records bearing upon any
given translation were filed. Once
when the conduct of the Western
Union, or some other of his properties,
was being examined into by a Con-
gfess committee he failed utterly to
recall the details concerning transac-
lions of vast Importance. 1t was as
sumed by the newspapers and the
public, at first, that Gould. only sham
med fOrgetfulness, but time showed
otherwise. Soon after he had told the
committee he couldn't remember"
the Gould clerks were set to getting
out old records. Mr. Gould was able
not only to state in what book each
record required could be found, but
also on what page of the book, yet,
curiously enough, he couldn't give any
details worth mentioning. His mem
ory, it will be observed. had been
trained no doubt unconsciously, to
hold exactly what would be needed
most in an emergency. Asked about
the size Of a certain check which
changed hands when the Western
Union company was created by con-
solidation, he said he really couldn't
remember whether it was for $4,000
coo or $10,000,000, and it was assumed
that he didn't wish to tell, it being
absurd, apparently, for him really to
forget such an important detail
Later, from the records, he secured
the information and presented it to
the committee. The check was only
signed, but not afterWard.
The late Cornelius Vanderbilt may
have had a first-class, all-round mem
DRY; certainly he excelled surprisingly
in one direction. He was interested
in more organizations managed by
boards of directors, probably, than
any other man in New York. At all
events the coporations-bus
religious and philanthropic-to which
he belonged were so numerous that it
would have taxed most men to keep
track Of them. But that was an easy
thing for him. Apparently he never
kept any memoranda of the meeting
time of any organization with which
he was connected. but he never forgot,
and, though his duties as head of the
Vanderbilt system were enough to
warrant his remaining away from
many of the directors meetings, he
made it point to be present at every
one-New York Press.