The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-18
HANS HAS MORE HORSE SENSE THAN
SOME HUMANS AND IS PROUD OF 1T
Berlin Spells Correctly
Willing to Mat Time 1t Is

is marvel indeed. He is Of Russian
pedigree, nine years old and of fine
build. His master and teacher Herr
Won Osten, is what the Germans call
"Sonderling" quaint, old, withered
long-haired little man. with the looks
of a professor and the garb of a men,
dIcant. A large gray SLOUGH hat COW
ers his grizzly locks, and a well-worn
coat of an undefinable color and trous-
ers to match, both sew ral sizes too
large, Hap around his thin physique.
He speaks and behaves with the OBJ
st1nacy of man Of firm convictions
whose work and aims have been un-
appreciated and even misconstrued
And such in fact has been his fate
For many months his arduous en-
deavors to draw the attention Of scien-
tif1c people and men of influence to
his work have been without avail. He
is confirmed idealist; he believes
not only in the progress of the human
race. but also in the faculty of some
animal species to attain human
achievements If properly educated. He
claims that mental faculties of higher
order are latent in some animals which
may be brought out by means similar
to the methods of the school education
of children.
What are Hans achievements? A
dry enumeration of his feats would
fail to convey a perfect notion of his
intellectual capacity. His intelligence
is shown in his look, no less than in
his feats. His glance seems to say:
Il know exactly what am doing; do
your He is asked by some one among
the bystanders, .How many people in
this crowd wear straw hats?" And
Hans looks about and gives, with his
hoof, the exact number. How many
persons do you see here?" Another
glance of almost human understand
ing. and again he "hoofs' the right
number. How many children are
here?" How many ladies 2" Cor rather,
females; for even Smart Johnny would
be at loss to discern outwardly
woman who is a lady from a woman
who is not). How much is times Is
plus so" How much is S8k plus
1897" (The fractions are indicated by
Hans in two parts: first he "hoofs"
the denomination, then the numerator.)
How much is half or 26?" 1.-The. third
part of "a; the fifth part of As; how
much is 2, 3, 5, 6, raised to the square !?
Through how many numbers can "a,
%, SO, SO, ETC., be divided? Give us
the third. fourth, fifth, etc., of these
Numbers"
One of the onlookers asked Hans:
Il have eight plums in a bag. Two
children come along. and I make them
How much did each of them get p"
Look here, Hans" I have a certain
number in my mind. I deduct from 1t
9, and / retain 3. Which was my num-
her?' And Hans answers all and
every question in his self-reliant way,
as if it were the most natural thing.
for horse to take lesson in higher
arithmetics every morning together
with his breakfast hay.
But Hans can do aUan hpttor Ho
can read. You put down your question
in writing and Hans will answer it
just as correctly after having thrown
knowing look at the paper. You press
the button of your automatic pencil
and Hans does the rest. Again from
his look, and from his auickness in
answering questions it is easily to be
seen that the rows of letters produce
in his brain Cor whatever you may
call his thinking apparatus) the same
mental functions as in the brain of a
bright boy of twelve or thirteen. The
Identical conclusion must be reached
from the fact that Hans is capable Of
spelling-after a system invented by