The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-12
STORIES OF FoRGETFULNEss. Some Lapses of Memory That Had Odd
 ResulfH.

| Wichita Eagle.
 To old soldiers 1t will seem incred. | ible that a veteran could forget the company and regiment he served in during the Civil War, but that such a thing can happen can be amply veri- fled in the bureau of pensions. Con- | gressman Victor Murdock has two mo- table cases of that kind. One of them ! is Nicholas Haminond--known to j nearly everybody in Wichita. That he served in the army during the war there is very good reason to believe. but he cannot remeber . single inct~ dent or feature of his service, not knowing where he was enlisted or l discharged or what company or regi- ment he served in. Some thirty odd years ago he was struck by lightning and does not remeber a thing be- | hind that event.
 l Former Commissioner of Pensions l Eugene Ware knew that such forget ! fulness was possible, for he once re- lated this story: He and James Whit comb Riley, the Hoosier poet. were l giving readings in Colorado, Riley | was to recite one of his own pieces. one he had composed and written himself. and one he had already re- cited over 100 times that season. When he went upon the stage he forgot 1t | utterly.
 One of the most peculiar cases of amnesia in history is recorded in rem- amnesia in history is recorded in rem- iniscences of Bishop Munster. He went out for walk one day, and for the information of some Nvisit0rs he | expected he had this written on his door: The master of the house is not at home" When he returned from his walk he noticed the sign on his door. and forgetting that he was the master of the house he sat down on z&o ax,A hfxS1aa
 I met a prominent citizen opposite where the National Bank of Commerce now stands who was actually wait ing for himself. He said that the man who was his actual self had promis- ed to meet him there, and was very much surprised why he did not Keep his engagement. He has laughed many times at the queer incident.
 do not propose to show that every time a man forgets to pay back bor- rowed money his cells are on a strike, but I know of one very notable case in which it was true. A prominent citizen got $4O0 from another man and actually forgot it. Until this day he cannot remember getting the money but fortunately his bank account pro- we'd that he did get it, and he paid il back promptly.
 A preacher who had a congregation in a well-to-do central Kansas town
 
 and tied her in front of the church until he was ready to go home. When he came to the church to hold servi- ces the following morning he saw the COW suffering for food and water. He ldlscarded his well prepared sermon and preached powerfully on the text 'The merciful man is merciful to his beast" He gave a very severe roaPt- ling to the 'bruttsh" person who had allowed the COW to suffer, and it Inever dawned upon his mind that he himself was the owner of the COW un- til after he had dismissed his congre- gation.
 Since I am talking of this pastor am reminded of the fact that the word minister as applied to pastors was associated with q very peculiar case of forgetfulness. Calvin first applied the word to the pastors of his follow ing in consequence of the fact that one of his disip1es was educated in hall of the School of Equity of Poitiers, which was known as La Ministerie. lone of the graduates of that hall had to deliver an essay, and, as graduates are wont to do even now. he selected a fine garden of big cabbages to prac- tice in. When the day came and he stood before his audience he entirely forgot that he was not talking to cab lbages until he arrived nearly at the lend of his address, when he complete ly broke down, saying: Gentlemen, now clearly see that you are not cab Ibages, as 1 supposed" La Fontaine does not say what the students did to him.