A CALCULATING PORTER

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1941, 11 September 1888, Page 3

A CALCULATING PORTER

A. marvellous mental calculator has baen discoverad in tne person of a railway porter at Stratbpeffer, on tbe Highland Railway. A correspondent supplies the following fasti :— " While waiting »t the railwsjr station for the arrival of the Dtogwall tf atn, I noticed about half a dcsen gentlemen standing round a railway porter, watching with keen eyes the mental workings of • mind absorbed In the following arithmetical mental oaleola* tlon. A gentleman had prepared and read cut this question :— ' Bay that In a line of * daily newspaoer there were 42 letters. In each column W0 lines, In eaoh page 7 eotamni, and eight pages In eaoh paper, how many letters for a year, taking 313 lawful days ¥ In the conrse of a few —not more than from two to three minutes — the answer was given out —139,873,440, This, I was told, bai been since tested. I asked the figurei to be divided by 25, and In a fen •eoondi be colled off the figures at 6,634,937 15 25ths. He corrected me k taking down one figure, and the extraordinary way in which his mind acts h his calculations Beams unknown to himself his lips may be seen moving when hli mind is absorbed in calculation, ant before 1m Is done his forehead and neol become wet with perspiration. Whei delivering ■ bis answer he speaks ont thi figsues as if he was reading from off i board. A question snob, as tha abov fatjgoai bim, and he refases to enter Int eaat!»r for an interval. He himself call It 'fcaetlee.* He had beeivthreatene with the loss of eyesight, and be ha praottaed In this way fortoa past 14 yean Sooh a marvellous performance appeal to ou to be something more than men practice— something that taipeaks a Inward vision of a most peculiar kind, am which is worthy of being publicly mid inowu." .