The Washington weekly post., 1900-09-18

| thought, or an association Of thing and
/ ideas, or mental habit, or a manifesto
tion Of interest In a particular subject.
Any quantity Of examples are cited In
support of this view. A housekeeper
sends her young son to the grocery to
order a dozen different articles. The boy
/ orders eight or nine Of them, forgetting
the other three or four. The mother ac-
cuses him of having a poor memory. Yet
! that same boy can give you the record
and whereabouts OF every prominent
baseball player in the country. His men,
ory in that respect is good. while that OF
his mother is almost non-existent. 1t is
easy to account for the difference The
mother has her scheme OF housekeeping
and each of the dozen articles which she
told the boy to order has some definite
relation to that scheme. 1t is not pure
memory that tells her what she wants;
neither is it pure memory that enables
the boy to keep track of the ball-players
Each one of them, in his mind has an in
dividuality, and is part OF historical
chain connected with the game Of which
he Is an enthusiastic deyotee. An old
turfman can tell you the names and rec
ords of a hundred different horses. and
all the great and small incidents of the
contests in which they have been engag-
ed. Why can't he name in alphabetical or
geographical order all the counties of his
State, and why can't he give the electoral
votes received by all candidates for the
Presidency for the past thirty years. as
many an old campaigner can? The ex-
planation is simple Each follows his
habit Of thought and retains the impress
bas haUa fpfarAGfGd and EnfeP-
ed into his activities"
How PiIisbury Plays Chess,
what you say has a certain amount
of plausibility," remarked the reasonable
member, but your Illustrations are rudi-
mentary. and touch only one small corner
of a very large subject"
THAT is true" replied the argumenta-
tive member. "but we will try 10 cover a
little broader ground. Let US consider
what have been termed colossal feats Of
memory In three different directions
chess, history, and music. taking Pills
bury, Macsulay, and Paderewsk, as act
ors in these intellectual arenas.
when PiIIsbury makes a move on the
chessboard he takes one of the steps in
certain plan Of campaign which is def
niteiy mapped out In his mind. The move
HAS q iCSiCGl lNtoAAyA " AADfFa ANal nave
been made and are yet to be d. Pills.
bury knows the replying moves which are
al the disposal OF his opponent, and as
soon as the reply is announced Pillsbury
peTeeives It's effect on his scheme, and
shapes his own plans accordingly. The
game Is a growing structure, having log
&c, harmony, and sequence, and PIilsbgry
has the mental gift Of compreheadi1g 4
In scope and detail. Let es suppose that
instead OF thirty-two chessmen. thirty
two numbered books are placed ca eacG
Of the twenty boards, each board hfNias
sixty-four squares suppose the 3 ocks
are moved az random, each move being
called or 20 Pillsbury thus: Block s on
square % block a on square g. block
Is on square g. &c. this going en-, With
out system or design. on the twenty
Is played. the moves being purely arbi-
trary, and forty Of them made on each
board Is II probable that Pii sDury Soi.id
remember them al, or even small
part OF themg II he could, II would
be an exercise Of memory pure and sim
pie. Bur IL Is lnconeeivabie that he eou.d
His memory would be unequal 70 the
task, because 10 move would be asso-
slated with any other move. and taers
would be no chain OF events OF ioeas as
proceeding TO the next example. yoa
canEot Tead an essay or chapter of hls-
tory by Macaulay WITHOUT being Impressed
xlth what you may thsak is Aseag.aY's
wonderful memory. His pages bfistls with
names. dates and events. His illusions
come 50 thick and fast that. unless you
also arr an exceptionally wsli-informed
E!sforiafl you vii need Z library % cyei0-
pedias and statistical works 20 keep pace
With his references and TO : ldeFstsnd
their bearing On the subject IN hand. one
Of his remarkable mans contemporaries
said:
The Case Of Padssswski.
II wish knew as much about anything
IS Tom Macaulay does about everything
meaning. OF course. everything hislos-
teal. Yet 1t Is not to be supposed that