Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-14
A LIGHTNING CALCULATOR.
A Fall River Man Who Found He
Was a Marvel.

From tn. Providence Journal
Daniel ]. Sullivan of Fall River. Mass,
is lightning calculator.
To great many people "A lightning CAL
culator is a weird-looking individual with
an egg-shaped head who appears on
vaudeville circuit ii dress SUIT ana does
figuring stunts with piece OF chalk anu
a blackboard on the stage. To othefs'
expert accountants. bank clerks, CASHIERS
men who are lightning calculators them-
selves as compared with ordinary NOR
tails, the real thing in such calculations Is
an object of envy and admiration. Ana
to those for whom the addition OF SIN
gle long column of figures is hopeless
puzzle and creeping horror the feals
of Mr.. Sullivan appear as Wlzardiy, ieaN-
ing the beholder with pop eyes ana m
aching head.
an infant prodigy which lisps In numbers.
He was a healthy, hearty. normal irish
lad who showed in his early school days
only a surprising aptitude for that form
of torture to the average child KNOWN DIS
mental arithmetic.
While the other children sat with their
faces screwed into knots and with beads
of Precipitation besRanSling their DroWs'
young Sullivan's hand was raised IN an
agony of impatience for he had the an
swer And when he got on his feet at
the teachers nod he shot of the reply
so fast that it taxed the ability OF the
instructor to follow him.
He did not discover his exceptional si1t
until three years ago and then 1t hap
pened by chance
1T was three years ago." said Mr.. Sui
Ivan, ION a stormy night in Fall River.
1 was waiting in the doorway of Rogers
and Aliens Business College for some
friends whom / expected to meet. When
they came one of them said to me. It's
inspection night at the school here; why
don't you go up and take it in?'
Il decided to do so, and 1t happened
that F. G. Allen. the mathematical in
structor, was the one who showed me
around. After the inspection of the vari-
went to a blackboard and hogan to dem
onstrate short methods and cuts used in
calculating. AS l watched him it sud
denly flashed across me how much more
was doing and ! laughed. In that mo-
ment it came to me that had one of the
rarest gifts that anybody ever possessed.
and since then l have been all over the
country exhibiting.
Mr. Sullivan emphasized this statement
by repeating his observation, saying that
re had not only the rarest faculty ever
possessed. but the rarest ever possessed. in
the history of the world. Then he pro-
ceeded to demonstrate his ability. remark
ing that it was easy enough to claim a
gift Of that sort, but people had to be
shown.
mere Is ali lIuStIdllOn VI Oiie VI his
feats, which to the man of unmathemat-
ical mind Is truly startling. And it may
be said In passing that whoever can prop
ertly read the figures presented in the
the billions. Mr. sullisann takes. for
example, the following trifing sum-
Observation-Disclosures and multi
plies 1t by any number under 100. doing
two minutes Any thirty figures chosen
at random, multiplied by any number
from one up to 90, done mentally I'm two
minutes time.
into a calculation of that Sort" said Mr..
Sullivan. retaining the original figures,
applying the multiplier to the multiple
cand, retaining the partial product and
determining the results
In his regular exhibitions, most of which
are given before societies of accountants
of one sort OF another. Mr.. Sullivan oc-
eupies an hour, is mentally prepared by
period of rest and quiet, and absolute
silence prevails while the work is going
on, except for the figures. all of which
are given at random by any one In the
audience who chooses to make sugGes-
lions. THERE'S no possibility of taking or
eollusion between the demonstration and
the audience The applause is also omit
But it seems to make little difference
whether the lightning calculator takes
this time for preparation or not On a
recent Wat to this city he gave several
illustrations Of his powers while sitting
in an office
''one of the things do In my regular
exhibition said he, lis to add fifteen
columns of figures at one time. fifteen
across and fifteen deep; those. of course,
I look at. Write FIVE columns of figures.
i've across and five deep, and I'll add
them as quick as I cam
The figures were written out where he
was unable to see them. The paper was
handed to him and apparently without
taking the trouble to do amy computing
he scrubbed the answer at the foot of the
column. That and all the other figuring
he did was. at his request, proven and
found TO be absolutely correct in every
case.