The Washington herald., 1909-01-10
JAIL BIRD AN EXPERT
Prisoner in Missouri Prison
a Fine Mathematician.
NUMERICAL EQUATION SOLVED
NJ A. McGInnis Evolves Theory fer
AIgebratc Work that Goes Beyond
Once Professor in Kansas College.
whisky Proves His Downfall.

Jefferson City. No. Jan Ain Ms
sourIs great prison house IN this city,
the largest penftentiaTy IN the world.
containing convicts from every State IN
the American Union and thirteen foreign
countries besides. there is prisoner who
the guards say has no sense-a thin.
frsiI man OF more than fifty years. slight
" stopped, whose betting brors are 81
ways drawn together above pair OF
steel-grav eyes with focus fixed upon
some object far away. He Is wholly IN
fitted for the ordinary isbors Of prison
life and is employed IN odd Jobs about
the State binder twiae plant. None OF
the convict labor manufacturing con-
Germs is willing 10 accept him ct the
States wage OF 50 cents a day.
This useless man, with the prison pal
Tor IN his face and the strange light IN
his eyes, who can hardly perform tbs
simplest duties Of prison life. IS known
as No 600 in the Missouri Penitentiary.
but abroad men OF science are graphing
with his theories OF mathematics.
His name Is NJ A MeGInniS Dr.. J. II
Greenwood. superintendent OF the Kan
sas City schools and himself q mathe-
matician. says:
7 first became acquainted with McGin-
MS some eight OF ten years ago through
his algebraic solutions Of numerical equa-
tons of the higher degree In handling
such numerical equations he Is the most
skillfuI algebraist I have ever read Of
McGinnis has evolved q theory for the
solution Of numerical equations which is
said 10 go beyond anything previously
devised. But he has gone further IN the
solitude OF his prison cell. and now an
nOUnCes that he has discovered a formu-
Ia for the solution Of literal equations as
Ear as the twelfth degree Mathemati-
clans have declared that Il was impos-
sible 70 90 what McG!nnis says he can do
His Hope for Freedom.
But McGInnis does not regard this dis
cOvery as his greatest achievement Re
claims 20 have perfected a solution OF nu-
merical equations by logarithms.
So thoroughly in earnest Is the prison
e. and so fully is he convinced OF the
correctness OF his theory THAI he IS will
ing 70 stake all MS hopes OF freedom
upon its acceptance BY the world OF
mathematics. He is an old man and has
served only eighteen months OF q ten
years sentence. but he asks that Gov
Folk. OF Missouri, submit MS theory O.
the logarithmic solution o. equations 10 q
j1ry OF mathematician OF national repu-
tation.
II the Jury shall fan 20 sustain his the
ory. McGinnis says, he is willing to serve
the remainder Of his sentence, which.
z 90 - ~
means death in the prison But II the
jury Of mathematician shall sustain his
views. he asks that the governor sign
his pardon upon the ground that he has
made z discovery OF such value 70 civil
zation as 20 cancel the debt which so
ciety now holds against him
Gov. Folk IS himself an algehrsist. and
although the fact Is known 70 but few.
algebra for years has been his favorirs
method OF mental recreation and relaxa-
ton. and he finds il much more interest
ing and mentally invigorating than
chess. for instance GOV. Folk IS now
giving some Of his spare tine 70 the Nc
Ginnis theories. but has not vet an
.nounced a conclusion as 70 their value.
Once a Professor
NcGinnis was formerly professor o;
-
years ago he published simultaneously n
the United States and Great Britain a
mathematical work entitled Algebra the
Universal Solution for Numerical and
Literal Equations"
Whisky has been the downfall Of Nc
Ginnis When under the influence Of in
toxicants he Is easily Influenced. and
while IN that condition a few years ago
We was drawn into real estate traRsac-
ton in which a forged deed came 10 light.
and for his connection with the matter
he Is now serving ten-year sentence.
7 never tasted intoxicating liquor or
entered q saloon until I was thirty-six-''
said McGinnis. but when I had been AZ
work for nearly seven years upon a great
mathematical problem began 10 iOSe
sleep. and finding the problem With me
day and night. I went 20 a physician and
told him that I could not get the prob
lem out OF my mind and was afraid OF
insanity. He prescribed whisky-and here
am"
McGinnis was born in Appleton. Wis,
and before he took up mathematics as a
life work he was a newspaper publisher
in the West. having at one time owned
several small newspapers in Colorado
He has q wife and one son The son IS