The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-10-26

hard and last rules. Rubbinp elbows
with the unorthodox brethren TINS clas-
sified, the reverend gentleman MIGHT
have added, was a race of geniuses de-
stined to leave their imprint on the
history of the nation That the Green
mountains Graded men in whose fertile
brains originated the first ideas of work
able electric motor and a steamboat
that was practical are matters of com
mon knowledge. Given a man an inpen-
ius turn OF mind and the tools to work
with and some mighty momentous
things are apt to happen in Vermont
Yankee s workshop en- a rainy day. So
it has been proven.
Genius of kind not wholly akin to
the inventive bent of Captain Morey
OF steamboat fame and Thomas Dayen-
pert, originator of the electric moror
both of them Nermonters, was the her
ltage of Ierah Colburn, Vermont s ia
nous mathematical prodigy, whose
birth occurred IN Cabot September l.
1894. At the age OF six years he was
described as being surprisingly Gift
ed as an arithmeticai calculator ;,
Having been widely exhibited in Yer
mont, his precocity attracted attention
elsewhere and he was taken ON an ex-
could answer problems sooner. much
sooner, than they could be done on
paper. On short notice and without nan.
ell or paper he found the number of
seconds in 1000 years. Observers said
he computed the number of seconds in
II years in less than four seconds.
Square and cube roots he extracted
with uneXplainable ease. Skeptics failed
to dumfound him and wherever he
went he found that his reputation had
preceded him.
Carrying letters of introduction. the
boy went to England, Scotland and
| Ireland. Learned professors received
him with acclaim. When asked to
square SSS,SSS, he gave the correct re
suit i'll l. figures and then multiplied
the product by 10. Colburn appears to
| have had strange hold on FACTORING
| He could give all the factors on many
| large numbers. Prominent mathematic-
| ians, baffied by his consistency in re.
| plying t. rapid fire questions in arith-
metic, gave him 81 certain number of
| 10 figures. Mentally and with little loss
of time he found the only two factors
which it had. It was said of him that
hls marvellous powers combined rapi-
duty. remarkable accuracy and unfail-
ing memory. Unconsciouslv, sometimes,
while doing his most difficult tasks. he
would 90 into bodily contortions. a
circumstance to which his observers at
taehed great Importance.
That he should have turned his gen
JUS to financial account was not I'M
characteristic of human nature. Money
and fame came to him at his beckon-
ing and he lived to accomplish good
many things that were worth while.
but students of this wonderful calcula-
tor love best to read of his earlier
years before his public demonstrations
We're made for gain. In one way or
| another and AT divers times in an
eventful career he received the foun-
dation for broad education at tho
Westminster school in England, the
Royal college in Paris and at the Uni
yersity OF Vermont. lie became a min.
lister and preached in Vermont towns
for nine years. Death overlook him in
1899, while he was a professor of Ian
guagcs at Norwich university, then 10
Gated in the town of Norwich.-Barre
Times.