Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-06
Remembers 1000 Eaess

How would you like to have a mem
DRY capable of retaining the names al
over 1000 persons, memory so de.
veloped that once hearing the name
of a person pointed out to Won vor
could identify that person among 1000
other persons who filed past YOU and
could correctly write down his name
IN record book, a memory so read,
that you never have to stop to ask
one of the 1000 to repeat his name
To make the matter more complicated
suppose ten of these persons should
pass you together, five going in one
direction and five in the other, do you
think you could instantly recall the
names of the ten and record correctly
TIE direction in which each was GO
irg?
The * 1T lcast one man in the
city who can do this. He has been
d ing it for twenty years He is
Frank Nugent, Jr., the man at the
gate of the Twenty-siXth street en-
trance to Bellevue Hospital.
The employees of Bellevue. from the
doctors TO the porters, are all aware
of Nugents wonderful memory and
! they admire him for it. They admire
him still more for the kindness with
which he treats all those coming to
the gate seeking medical assistance.
The people who apply to him for
relief are poor for the most part, 9TH
erwise they would not resort to Bel
levue. To listen to their troubles re-
quires unfailing sympathy and pa
thence and Nugent has these qualities
Once convinced that an applicant
needs assistance he takes the short
est route to get it. He has been nick
named the Custodian of Misery
Lane" as Twenty-siXth street from
First avenue TO the river is called
If Nugent's duty was simply to at
tend to persons applying at the gate
for relief it would be arduous enough:
but that is only one item in his rou-
tine. His principal duty is to record
the coming and going of the doctors,
nurses and employees of the institu-
ton, and there are over 1000 of them.
When Nugent comes on duty at p.
NJ. he places the record on the desk
before him and prepares for the
nights work. An employee of the in
stitution enters after being off duty
for the day, bows to Nugent and
walks on. 1t is not necessary for him
to stop and give his name. Nugent
has the name in his mind and jots it
down in the record book, together
with the department in which the per-
son is employed and the time of ar
rival.
Another duty of Nugent's is to pre-
vent the escape of patients from the
institution. Therefore it is necessary
for Nugent carefully to observe the
faces of all persons departing from
the hospital. 1t is stated that not
patient has succeeded in slipping past
him while he has been on the gate.
Probably you have heard of the
wonderful memory of the elevator
starters said an employee of Bellevue
the other evening. Because they are
able to tell the location of hundreds
of tenants in the building they are
praised for their remarkable mental
capacity. But in my opinion there
isn't another person in the city who
can retain so many names in his
head at one time as Frank Nugent,
Jr''
1t was in January, 1898, that Nugent
first assumed the duties of gateman.
He has remained there ever since,
one of the reasons being that it is al
most an impossibility to get another
man to fill his position satisfactorily.
He is So years old, lives in East
Thirty-third street and is the young
est of family of four boys and
girl.-New York Sun.