Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-12-30
A MATHEMATICAL GENIUS.
Arthur Griffith, Indiana's Wonderful
LIGHTNING Calculator.

Arthur Griffith, lndiana's Wonderful
Lightning Calculator.
Multiplying one number of nine
| figures by another of the same num-
! Der of figures more quickly than the
i figures which compose the product can
be written is one of the latest achieve
ments Of Arthur Griffith, the Indiana
mathematical wonder In number
OF tests, answers were written in from
nine to ten seconds, and, while Griffith
used the pencil as rapidly as he could,
it was evident to those who were
watching the tests that the mind of
this remarkable man of figures was
working more rapidly than his hand
Since Griffith came into prominence
a little more than a year ago his
growth along the line of his favorite
study has been wonderful. The
schoolboy who was given only seven
years of schooling in the graded
schools of a small town has gathered
many ideas from people of education
with whom he has been associated.
He is keenly alive to some Of the pos
sibilities of the great power which he
has developed, and spends hours each
day working out new problems and
methods and delving deeper into the
mysteries of some Of the departments
OF mathematics which have only re-
Gently been revealed to him.
When problem is placed before
him Griffith is able to see the pos
s1bllitie5 Of that particular problem as
1t relates to his methods, and almost
before the unframed mind can grasp
the problem itself the answer is forth
coming from the mind of this juggler
of figures. He has the power to dis
sect the elements of the problem and
IN his own way rearrange them sc
that the solution is given with the
accuracy of machine in an in
credibly short time.
Still more remarkable is Griffith
memory. Once he has solved q
problem the answer and the elements
of the problem are fixed for all time
and can be recalled as often as neces
sary. On his third birthday he FED
the chickens a certain number OF
grains Of corn and he can recall that
number instantly. He is now able &c
call off as rapidly as he can talk q
number of 60 figures which represents
the number of combinations which
can be made with a deck Of 50 playing
cards. Griffith says that the most
difficult feat he is called upon to PEI.
form III memory work is to watch a
SO or more cars of a freight
train pass him and then recall in the
order Of passing the number of each
car and the name Of the road to which
it belongs. Such a trifie as carrying
the siXty-fourth power of two in his
head is no task at ALL Many people
were quite content to stop with the
twelves when learning the multiplied
ton table. Griffith has mastered the
table up to 200 and is now working to
reach the 300 mark. He has a mum
Der of the products up to 1000 fixed
in his mind, and this is a great help
in making rapid calculations.
Griffith has number of ways of
keeping his faculty to remember
keen. He has memorized the names
Of all the railways in the United
States and can tell the mileage Of
each system as it is given in the rail
way guide books.
Griffith is faster in his addition
that the machines used in banks and
counting rooms. In an actual test in
which the youths mind was pitted
against a machine in the hands Of an
as the machine, and both obtained the
same result. He adds long columns
of figures of three places as quickly
: as the eye can take in all the figures.
In a test Griffith added ten numbers
of three figures each in seven
seconds.
! The largest numbers which Griffith
has multiplied mentally were billions
by sextillions, which produced
decilliOns. One demonstration which
always astonishes those who have
seen Griffith working is the wonder
full rapidity with which he multiplies
each of a series of numbers by itself
and by each of the others and takes
the sum of the product. In a test he
squared each Of six numbers ard
multiplied each by the other and OBJ
tanned the sum Of the products in 10
seconds. The numbers were 70, q,
SO, "a, 81 and sc, and the sum of the
products was 145,121. Thirty-six Op-
erations in multiplication are neces-
sary for such q problem.
Griffith does all his problems in
division by short division. He can