New Britain herald., 1927-09-03
MEMORY WIZARD i HAS CAMERA MIND
StartleS Luncheon Club Members s With His FeatS

Guests and members at civic club meetings in New Britain this week marveled al the ability Of 2 stranger in their midst to remember names and faces of men who were perfect strangers 10 him a few minutes be- fore.
 The young man was Bernard Smith of Durham, N. C., At present he is stopping in Hartford but he has been spending some time in New Britain and expects to be here for a few more weeks.
 He was first introduced to a New Britain gathering at a meeting of the Lions club. As he sat at the speakers table the men in the room weer pointed out to him and their names and business explained. After the regular speaker, Mir. Smith in five minutes pointed out every man in the room. told him his name and his business. The fact that these men sometimes moved from one seat to another made no difference.
 The next day at the Kiwanis club he astounded the members by re- beating the same stunt there. Last Thursday he named every man at the meeting of the Rotary club and told his business. He even told one or two of the men their hobbies. called Alderman William H. Judd's attention to the fact that he had moved across the room, and named one or two Hartford men he re- membered having seen in their home city some time ago.
 How does he do it?' was the question everyone wanted to know. !" He's very unfortunate if he cannot forget anything was the univrsal opinion. T wish I could remember things like that many of the men were heard to say.
 Anyone can do it" said MT. Smith when interviewed at the Bur ritt hotel by Herald representa- tive. Its not gift, it's d system. it's really nothing but applied psychology"
 Mir. Smith, has been acknowledged to be one of the leading practical psychologists in the United States. He is a native of North Carolina, is a graduate of North Carolina unl- yersty and is 25 years of age.
 He willingly submitted to test by the newspaperman. Fifteen thoughts or ideas with their cor responding numbers were Written on a paper. the interviewer calling them out with their number as he wrote them. MT. Smith never saw the paper The ideas were as discon- nected as they could be and were as follows: Hotel clerk, electric To- comotive, rainy day, cigarette, dog parade, upholstered chair, automo- bile, picnic in the woods, trip to New York. Telephone conversation, new dress for the wife, house and lot, submarine, coal mine and electric refrigerator"
 If the newSpaperman mentioned any one of these objects, MT. Smith immediately recalled the number. II a number was mentioned he recalled the idea to which it correSpondcd. Now" said the memory expert after a number Of them had been finished, you have mentioned Nos. l, ?, 5. 4 and 6. You have not mentioned No. which is a dog parade. You have
 btI+ n WDlc n is a trip to New York, or 10 which IS a telephone conversation. You have mentioned II. 12, l4 and 15. You skipped 13. which is a sub marine. Now I'll repeat the list backwards, beginning with Is, while you check them off.
 The test was 100 per cent cor rect
 T use the visualizing system, or association Of ideas" explained Mr. Smith. For instance, when l am told mans name, ] immediately associate 1t with Q picture that comes up in my mind.
 The fault with most people is not that they fail to retain names, but they fail to recall them. You may meet 8 man on the street whose face Is familiar, btu you cant think Of his name, Later his name comes to you in flash. That proves that somewhere in your suhconsclous mind you knew his name, but recol- lection vas not on the job.
 "Dr. Franks, one Of the most prominent psychologists in the rorld, says The average person uses less than 10 per cent Of his mental strength and less than 25 per cent of his physical strength Every man can remember some time in his life when he has done something he thought was impossible, simply by what he called superhuman effort.
 Foremost psychologists tell us that 5g 10 ao per cent of what we know Is stored in our memory through our visible faculties. Less than E per cent is stored through our auditory faculties or ear. This accounts for the fact that we re- member faces more easily than names.
 Another theory Of mine that believe is more or less the case is that 1t is almost impossible for any person to show marked improve nent from a memory standpoint by