Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 December 1887 — HE KNOWS FIGURES. [ARTICLE]

HE KNOWS FIGURES.

But is Unable to Write His Name—A Mathematical Prodigy. Owingsville, Ky,. special. Riuben Fields, a moat extraordinary individual,has just returned to his home near this place from a trip through the West, where he excited the greatest curiosity of all he met. This miraculously endowed man is known ; ar and wide as the Mathematical Prodigy. Perfectly illiterate, being unab!e to telP one letter br 'figure from another, hebears the same relation to mathematics that Blind Tom bears music. Now about twenty-eight-fears of age, his ability to make calculations Was discovered when he was eight years ojjFfge. This peculiar faculty contmjwST to develop until he could solvit he most-intricate problems of simple or compound fractions, and mastering to perfection all the higher branches of mathematics. In short, his application of this difficult science is perfect,and he is ever ready and willing to demonstrate his ability in this direc tion, holding, as he does, that it is a direct gif t from God. . _ Present him with any problem that you may, and the invariable correct answer comes quicker than ’ thought. A grain of corn is of a certain length, and it is so many miles from the earth to the moon; how many grains would it take to connect the two points? This, and all kindred problems, he regards as very trifling and easy to solve. He can also tell to the fraction of a second the time of day or night. This marvelously endowed man has been tested by the most expert mathernajicians, who pronounce himperfect in his way, and scientists pronounce his wonderful power a profound . mystery. He knows little else than this one thing. He never went to school a dqy in his life, and has never worked except to occasionally aid merchants in invoicing. In that business he has been known to keep a half a score of clerks busy footing up, and he says it is impossible to make a mistake in his calculations. He is a very large man and has a look the reverse of intelligent. Having no occupation he lives around among his acquaintances, putting up wherever night overtakes him. Fields gave an exhibition of his powers before ex-Governor Crittenden and other distinguished men of Missouri, who’unhesitatingly pronounce him one of the wonders of the century. He is very proud of his gift and frequently compares himself to Samson.