Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 181, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1916 — IS REAL PRODIGY IN MATHEMATICS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

IS REAL PRODIGY IN MATHEMATICS

William Stong Solves Most Intricate Problems Quickly and Without Effort. ANSWERS APPEAL INSTANTLY Has Declined Many Offers to Travel and Demonstrate His Gift In Public—Enjoys ' Amazement He Evokes. Bloomington, 11l. —Illinois possesses a mathematical prodigy in William Stong, twenty-eight years old of Tazewell county. He has been able to solve any problem in arithmetic that has been given to him. He reels off millions and billions with equal precision and promptness. One of his feats is to wander down to the railway station when a freight train dashes away and add up the numbers on the sides of the cars. By the time the last car has passed he has the total. People who are skeptical concerning his powers come long distances to test them. They are primed with brain-racking problems, but all prove easy for Stong. One of the most common questions relates to the number of seconds in a lifetime, given the date of birth. One who propounded this problem gave him the date January 26, 1873. Right off the reel came this re-

ply: “15,873 days, 378.392 hours, 22,703,540 minutes, 1,362,211,000 seconds.” Another problem was: “It is 155 miles to Chicago. How many pounds of rails in the track at 80 pounds to the yard.” Without hesitation came the reply: “436,380,000.” Some of His Feats. Another one was: “An automobile wheel is 30 Inches in diameter. How many .revolutions will this wheel make In traveling the 100 miles to Chicago?” Strong came back with this answer: “104,476 revolutions." A nail problem came next. He was told that 32 nails were to be driven. One cent would be paid for the first, 2 cents'-for the second and double the sum for each succeeding nail. He was asked how much he would be paid for the thirty>second nail. Almost instantly the answer given: “21,474,000.48. One skeptic propounded:' “With 25,000 miles around the earth and silver dollars at an inch and a quarter

In diameter, how many will it take to girdle it?” Stong answered: “1,267,200,000.” “The Illinois river flows at the rate of 400 cubic feet an hour. If a reservoir was constructed one mile long, one mile wide and half a mile deep, how long would it take to fill it If the water from the river was diverted?” Strong hesitated for a few moments and then gave the answer: “183,997,440 hours.” One man tested Strong with this railroad problem: “There are 750,000 miles of steam railroads in the world. There are 352 rails to every mile. To every pair of rails there are 18 ties with 4 spikes per tie. There are 5 bolts to every rail and 2 steel plates per tie. How many rails, ties, spikes, etc.” Within a few moments Stong told his audience to put down the following answer: “There are 264,000,000 rails, 2,367,000,000 ties, 528,000,000 flanges, 950,504,000,000 spikes, 1,302,000,000 bolts and 4,752,000,000 plates. At 85 pounds to the yard there are 224,400,000,000 pounds of steel in the rails. At 50 tons per carload, there would be 2,244,000 cars or 44,880 trains of 50 carp , per train.” Was Despair of Teachers. He was asked to give the total of all the numbers .from one up to 9,600, adding them together. His answer was 46,084,800. The total of the numbers from one up to 78,000 was 3,042,939,000. Stong was asked how many bricks would be required to lay a pavement from New York to San Francisco, 3,578 miles, the pavement to be 60 feet wide and the brick 8 inches long and 2 inches wide. He figured that it would require Just 10,201,377,600 bricks. Asked to divide 68,719,476,736 by 32,768, he answered instantly: “2,097,165.” Stong says this peculiar talent has been with him since early youth. He was the despair of the teachers and the envy of the other children when he solved problems in a moment that required hours for the others. He says there is ho particularly severe mental strain when working out the problems, that the answers stand out in front of him, so promptly is the response of his extraordinary brain to the demands that are put upon it. Stong never grows Impatient when there are undue demands made upon him for answers to their problems. He treats all courteously and enjoys the look of amazement he evokes. Stong has had many opportunities to travel with a circus and exhibit his extraordinary mental gift, but has declined all offers.

William Stong.