Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 100, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 April 1911 — Michigan Man Is a Marvel in Figures [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Michigan Man Is a Marvel in Figures

BATTLE CREEK, Mich—The village of Vicksburg is the home of a man who is a “marvel in figures”— C. E, Manigold, the "lightning calculator.” ■ In instantaneous calculation he is a prodigy. Recently he was tested by a party of gentlemen. One gave Manigold the figures 4,898 to be multiplied by 67. The answer was instantaneous, 328,166. The man gave his age as thirty-two. Manigold as quickly gave the number of seconds In his life as 995,328,000. The man laboriously reduced thirty-two years to 11,520 days and down to 995,328,000 seconds. “Suppose I were ninety-nine years old?” Almost before the man had ceased speaking. Manigold said 3,079,296 and three ciphers. If thirtytwo years and six months old? In a second he replied 101,088 and four ciphers. Mr. Manigold is conscious of per-

forming these lightning calculations. He always closes his eyes when figuring, but the answer Is announced so quickly that it seems impossible for him to have done any calculating. Manlgold's mind works with Incredible swiftness and in one second he says that his mind can travel back over the events of a long time. When numbers are given him he can see every figure on his mental blackboard.' Numbers to him are just a succession of figures, as will he noticed above. Thus 256.534 is not two hundred and eighty-six thousand five hundred and thirty-four, but simply 28, 65, 34. Any number given him he first mentally points off in groups, commencing at the right-hand side, but he works from the left-hand side in all operations. He adds six columns of figures Instantly. He uses only addition and multiplication. To subtract he adds enough to the subtrahend to make it equal the minuend, the amount, divided, being the remainder. To divide he multiplier the divisor by a succession of num ; bers until he hits upon the product nearest the dividend, then the multiplier with the remainder, is the quotient.