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ptoKderfol boyTof . . mm 1 m I All Except Macaniay snowe ematics-lDStances of Boys When, a few days ago, young William James Sidis, of Harvard, aged eleven, lecturcd to a select circle of mathematicians on the fourth dimension everybody gasped open-mouthed. "Did you ever hear of anything like that?" and privately looked up what the fourth dimension was. Taking this ejaculation not as a mere expression of a state of stupefaction, but literaly as a request for information the answer is that such a feat has very seldom, if ever, been equaled. There is no doubt that the boy Sidis stands very near the top of the list of prodigies. For he is not a mere mathematical prodigy, specimens of which occur in every century. His mind is marvelously developed on every side, and that is what does not often happen. h The majority of children who are i gifted with extraordinary precocity run to mathematics. And it is noticeable that even if they are not confined to mathematics, they shine in I that subject. Macauley is perhaps the only case 01 a precocious child who nad no gift for figures, and he yent so far as to fail in his examinations on that account. Curiously enough, Sidis, although he is at present more remarkable in mathematics than in any other subjects, was backward in it for a number of years, although "backward," in connection with this wonderful boy, is meant only that he must have been all of seven or eight before be had got up to the point most men attain just before leaving college. So he stands not with the class of child prodigies like Zerah Colburn. who early mastered mathematics and never ranked higher than an interim esting freak of nature, but with that 3 limited group of wonder children to whom by some strange law scholarly genius flowers in babyhood ? men like Pascal, Sir William Rowan, Hamilton, Ampere, Gauss, and Macauley. The list does not take long to tell. F Nature is not often in a mood as generous as that which must fill her when she sends those creatures from ' another world to let us have a glimpse of how things may be if we are good and are allowed to go to a higher planet before we die. Blaise Pascal is. of course, the bright and shining example of a marvelous boy. Like Sidis, an only son, educated by his talented father, he was purposely kept from developing the evident bent of his mind toward mathematics and turned as far as possible to languages and literature. He made remarkable progress, but figures continued to interest him more than declensions. He asked for a definition of geometry, and was told that it consisted of drawing lines and defining their ' relation to one another. He got a bit of chalk and descended to the cellar, where he worked in secret for a o v u*hon tho hnv I 1U1J& U1UC. VUC UU/, "UV4X VUV was twelve years old, his father went i to the cellar and found him deep in chalk circles and triangles, and what J not. He showed, when questioned, that he had evolved for himself the whole theory of geometry and had worked out its principles as far as the thirty-third proposition oi Euclid. He was at that moment seeking to prove that the sum of the angles of a triangle equaled two right angles. All this, with absolutely no help of any kind, and so little knowledge of the vocabulary of mathematics that he called circles "rounds" and lines "bars." Not ever Sidis* lecture on the fourth dimension can equal this working out by a child of twelve of the theory of mathematics as the world's greatest minds had painstakingly put it together with centuries of effort. At the age of twelve, too, the young Pascal wrote a treatise on acoustics, sueeested bv the fact that when a pewter dish was struck with a knife the resulting sound could be stopped by pressing the finger against the dish. A little later he made elaborate calculating machines. At sixteen he wrote a treatise on conic sections which Descartes declared the work of a master. Ampere, who left his name to the science of electricity, was another child genius. At the age of three he ?..had taught himself to count with the ai:J -?f pebbles and had found out for him&elf a good many theories of arithmetic. At this age he became very 111 and was for three days denied food. !At the end of the fast he was given a biscuit, but instead of eating it he broke it up into pieces to count with, an operation he considered nore interesting. He read everything: with avidity. His mind did not run in one channel and he welcomed every volume that came in his way. When he was ten or twelve years old he went to a library to ask for the works of a certain author. The librarian told him, in amazement, that the books were in Latin. The boy went home chagrined, for he did not know Latin, being a sickly child, and held back from books as far as possible, but after six weeks he appeared again and told the librarian he had learned to read the books now. Ampere is one of the few child prodigies who seems to have been sickly. He had fits from time to time, while most child wonders appear to have been physically normal in every respect. Sir William Rowan Hamilton road Hebrew at seven, and at twelve knew ^ Latin and Greek, spoke French, Ger& man, Italian, Spanish, and had a fair& I? thorough knowledge of Persia?. H Syriac, Arabic, Hindustani, Sanskrit and Malay. This rather singular choice of tongues arose from the fact that he was destined by his family |K for the East Indian service. Sra| At twelve, too, he had mastered j most of the higher mathematics, have|H ing taught himself. At seventeen the boy found an error in reasoning in ffljg Laplace's "Mecanique Celeste," which brought his wcVk lo the attention of j W astronomers. At nineteen he had HISTORY COMPARED1 id Special Ability in MathRavind "Hnivprsa! Mns" UUliLI^ UU11V1 UU1 UV1UUUI written a paper which, according to an authority of the day, "made a new science of optics." These three men represent the high water mark of child genius, unless young Sidis is to rank with them. They were gifted not in any one subject to the exclusion of others, but in every domain of thought they chose to enter. And their genius did not die with maturity. They went on from good to better and made each his indelible mark on the world's history. In the same class, though less famous, was the late Professor of Astronomy at Williams College, Truman Henry Stafford, who died in 1901. He had an extraordinary gift for mental calculation, which first showed itself at the age of three years. At seven he was studying algebra and geometry, and at eight higher mathematics and astronomy. Wanting logarithms he found them for himself at thi3 age by a theory of his own. At ten he computed almanacs and a year after brought out an almanac of his own, which had a large sale, and in which the calculations in regard to the moon were made by a hew and labor-saving device. At ten he squared in his head the neat sum of 365, 365, 365, 365, 365, 365 in not more than one minute. But he was not only mathematical. He was interested in history, the natural sciences and philosophy. He took his Harvard degree at the age of eighteen and specialized on astronomy, which he taught for many years. Carl Frederich Gauss, the famous German mathematician, when he was three years old, overheard his father making a calculation in regard to the wages of some workmen. Young Carl suddenly looked up and called his father's attention to the fact that he had made an error in his figures in one place. This boy entered the gymnasium at the age of eleven and mastered all studies with the greatest rapidity, so that at fourteen he was thoroughly well informed in literature, science and philosophy. His mathematical faculty increased rather than diminished with years, and much of modern mathematical science is due to his labor. George Parker Biddle, another celebrated boy mathematician, was taught, when six years old, to count up to 100. This was all the teaching in mathematics he ever received, but four years later he had evolved a system to take the place of logarithms. He did not show any remarkable aptitude for other studies, but ranked well and became an excellent engineer, with his mathematical faculty unimpaired throughout life. Zerah Colburn, the Vermont farmer boy who startled the world a hundred years ago, lost his strange faculty in later life, and though he had a fair education and did well enough he never distinguished himself in any way after reaching maturity. He made extraordinary calculations at six, and at seven he had raised, in his head, the number eight to the sixteenth power For the benefit of those who do not care to figure for half an hour the answer to this little sum is 281, 474, 975, 710, 656. He was considered a backward child before his unusual gift was discovered, but he was not, apparently, deficient in other ways. The trouble had been only that he had been secretly devoting himself to reasoning out mathematical problems, and had not given thought to other matters. He stands high among mathematical prodigies pur* and simple, even though he falls below the standard of several others. These wonders at figures are not infrequently of the type of Jedediah Buxton, a worthy Englishman born some 200 years ago with a remarkable mathematical sense. He devoted himself from the age of twelve to keeping in his head an itemized account of all the free beer ever given him, and found this edifying occupation so absorbing that he never had mind to attend to minor matters of a scientific nature. Thomas Babington Macaulay should perhaps have been ranked with the universal geniuses, but it is true that his precocious gift was largely in the direction of literature. He read innpccantlv frnm tho orra nf Vivacx A + seven he had composed a very fair compendium of universal history from the creation to the year 1800. At eight he had written a treatise destined to convert the natives of Malabar to Christianity. As a recreation from this weighty work he wrote in the same year a romance in the style of Scott in three cantos entitled "The Eattle of Cheviot." A little later came a long poem on the history of Olaf Magnus and a vast pile of blank verse entitled "Fingal, a Poem in Twelve Books." But he disliked mathematics, and did not pass his examination in that subject?thus standing out among all child prodigies. His memory was such that he literally never could forget anything, and after twenty years could repeat bits of poetry read only once. Horace Greeley would undoubtedly have been numbered among those prodigies if he bad been born in a different environment. Before he was three years old, and before he could speak plainly, he had learned to read, and would have acquired a Macaulavlike fund of information at an early age if the information had been there to acquire. But unfortunately one cannot be a prodigy of learning without something to learn, and Greeley chose his birthplace indiscreetly so far as making a reputation along those lines is concerned. A universal genius can come only from a cultured family. A mathematical wonder may spring up anyivlinrp tint mn) homn (irs was Tint tli*> strongest point of the budding journalist Greeley. Mozart is classed high among wonders. though he was prococious only in regard to music. He began to take lessons at three. At four he com * posed and wrote a part of a concerto so difficult, his father said, that no one could play it. At five he played in public; at six he toured Europe, petted at every court. At seven he played the harpsichord, the organ, the violin, and had published two sets of sonatas. At ten he had written an oratorio and had played at Haarlem on the then largest organ in the world. At fourteen he heard the Miserere in the Sistine Chapel at Rome, and going home transcribed every note of it. This feat created a great sensation, for it was forbidden by severe penalties to take down a pote of the music as it was being sung in the chape], and any mortal less a wonder than Mozart would have been accused of breaking the law. Handel, too, was by way of being a child prodigy. He taught himself music on an old harpsichord in the attic, for his father wanted him to be a doctor and would not encourage the child's evident inclination for another profession. He was discovered playng a great organ one day when his father and he were at the court of Saxe Weissenfels, and the Duke forced the unmusical old gentleman to promise net to thwart his son's genius. But of all stories the most touching is that told by Sir John Evelyn in his diary when he records in his quaint, dignified style the death of his wonderful little boy. "Died my deare son Richard, to our inexpressible griefe and affliction. 5 yeares and three days onely, but at that tender age a prodigy for witt and learning. * * * To give only a < little taste of them, and thereby glory ' to God, sense of God. * * * at two and a halfe old he could perfect- i ly reade any of ye English Latine or < French or Gothic letters, pronouncing < the first three languages exactly. Ho '< had before the 5th yeare or in tha". 1 yeare * * * got by heart almost the ] entire vocabularieof Latin and French ' primitives and words, culd make congruous syntax, turne English into Latine, and vice versa, construe and prove what he read, and did the government and use of relatives, verbes, substantives, elipses, and many figures and tropes and made considerable progress in Comenius* Janua; began for himself to write legibly ? J * s ~ t\qcefnn for O-rpp . ailU una CL bliuugc [JHgu.wu - w. * * * As to his piety astonishing were his applications of Scripture to the occasion. ? ? ? He dpclaim'd I against ye vanities of the world before he had seene any. * * * So early knowledge, so much piety and perfection! Such a child I never saw and for such a child I blesse God in whose bosom he is." ? New York Times. London has a trackless trolley. One-third of the poorest families of New York that manage to exist in an underfed condition spend about twenty-two cents a day for food. New York City is now producing 4,682,000 barrels of beer each month, tut New Yorkers don't drink it all. It is planned to extend the New York Central electrification to North White Plains. I The 6ity Council of Cincinnati is planning a subway to connect the business section of the city with the outlying residential sections. The Standard Oil Company's real estate holding in Bayonne, N. J., where its largest oil refining plant in the East is situated, have been increased from $7,360,000, the value fixed upon them in 190S for taxation, to $13,000,000. In Paris, owing to the increasing length of women's hatpins and th? list of accidents, such as eyes put out, ears, noses and cheeks torn, the police officials propose to place some restriction on wearing hatpins in omnibuses, railway cars, theatres and other pub- ' 1 lie places. j More than fifty thousanG children I were enabled by the authorities of , Berlin to spend this summer on land ( within easy reach of the city limits. 3 They were assigned plots where they . could play and cultivate gardens pro- , fitably with the help of their families j and the advice of public instructors. | 1 1 Edward B. Sterling, of Trenton, N. j ] J., has discovered in the outskirts of j the town the largest specimen of poly- ' 1 porous on record. This mushroom , weigh:? forty-three pounds, is thir- . teen inches in height and measures j 105 inches in circumference. | < ? I < Forty years ago the stretch be- 1 tween El Monte, in Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino was known as the "Forty-Mile Desert," and was somewhat dreaded by teamsters. To-day. thanks to irrigation, there are to be found in that section some of the finest vineyards and ^ orange groves of California. When the llama is too heavily loaded, about 125 pounds, the wise beast lies down right then and there I and goes on strike and refuses to j budge a peg despite any amount ci1 I coaxing, beating or swearing?actual- i 1? fho tt'oiVhf hie: hfirilor ( should be almost to an ounce, or i that's what they all say in the Andes. < I During the last eight years Cana- J dian immigration has been 1,336,650. Of this number 540,621 came from ! the United Kingdom. 425,412 from I the United States and 400,(117 from other countries. The total population < of Canada is now estimated to be i about seven millions. |^|jSmart Frills Nc.w York City.?Shirt waists made In tailor style, but finished with a frill at the left of the front, are new and smart. This one is so made that the frill is removable and can be used or amitted as liked and can be renewed without renewing the entire waist. The tucks over the shoulders are arranged close to the armhole seams in conformity with the latest style and >n exceedingly becoming lines. There ire two tucks at each side of the box pleat at the front, and when the frill s used it is attached to an additional Dand, which is buttoned into place. Linen -with the frill of handkerchief lawn makes the waist illustrated, but Ihere are a great many fashionable waisting materials this season. Shirt waists of thin materials made in tailDred style are greatly liked, the fa miliar madras and fabrics or tne sort ire more beautiful than ever, and such a waist as this one is equally appropriate for silk and flannel. The waist is made with fronts and sack. The tucks are laid on indicated lines, and a neck-band finishes the neck. The collar is of the high turned-over sort, attached by means Df buttonholes and studs. The sleeves ire of regulation fulness, but are finished with bands and rolled over luffs that are held in place by means Df links. The frill is of graduated width and can be pleated or gathered. The quantity of material required for the medium size is three and oneFourth yards twenty-one or twentyFour} two and three-fourth yards thirty-two or two yards forty-four inches iviflo with fhrpp-fiip-hth vard twcntv Dne or twenty-four, one-fourth yard thirty-two, one-eighth yard forty-four inches wide or one and three-eighth pp.rds of ribbon four inches wide for 'rill. Chenille Trimmings. If, as fashion-makers forecast, this season is to be one of sumptuous and ligniGed beauty rather than any showiness of clothes, the arrival of chenille is most opportune. It is extremely soft and elegant, and comes is a smart relief from lloss silk and i ? - T- - suuicicne. I Scant Skirt?. In spite of the many rumors to thoj contrary, the newest skirts still give i .he scant cffect about the foet. of Fashioir||||v Roumanian Embroidery. Roumanian embroidery appears oc many hats, blouses, frocks and coat suits. Neck Ornaments. Neck chains and pendants have seldom been more to the fore than at the present time, and they are by no means confined to evening wear, though they are pernaps seen at ineir best with a decollete dress. Saede Gloves in Fashion. Smart women seem to have laid aside the white glace glove in camphor. Suede is the thing. It is worn for street in its heavy texture, with wide stitching on the back, and is worn in the evening in the pale golden tones that are very becoming to the arm and hands. Large Muffs Favored. Muffs will be larger than ever, according to the best authorities. Immense pillow and rug muffs will be on sale and the sizes will run as high as twenty-eight and thirty inches. There seems to be a sort of rivalry between the milliners and the furriers, and the latter are trying to produce a muff that will compete' with the gigantic hats that have for some time been the fashion. It looks as if they would succeed. Circular Knickerbockers. Knickerbockers are always in aemand during the cold weather. They mean perfect protection against searching winds and are thoroughly comfortable and satisfactory to wear. They are well liked for the exercise suits that have become general and are, in fact, generally desirable. They > U w n ^ can be made to take the place of petticoats for skating, tramping and any out-door sports. These are circular, which means that they are smooth over the hips, while they are comfortably full about the knees. They are closed at the sides and are easily adjusted. Serge is much liked for their making, flannel is used by a great many women, and those who do not care for so much warmth like pongee, sateen or silk, and often they are made with removable linings of * ? x 5 V. /m" r> rr mo/4o flYQ/*tlv ItlWLl, LliU uciiig iiiauu like the outside, but finished separately. The bloomers are circular, the leg portions being joined at front and back, and they are fitted by means of short hip darts. The front and back portions nrp ioined to separate bands and the openings aro finished with over-laps. The quantity of material required for the medium size is four yards twenty-four, three yards thirty-two or two yards forty-four inches wide. flat More Modest. Many hats l)?dn? sent to private customers direct from the French milliners of Paris do not show the exaggeration that advance models here demonstrate ^ ^ Pleasant Ije/resfi Syrup of Figs and Elixir of Senna appeals to the cultured and the well-informed and the healthy because its component parts are simple and wholesome and because it acts without disturbing the natural functions, as it is wholly free from A every objectionable quality or /substance. In its production a pleasant and refreshing syrup of the figs of California is united with the laxative and car- jfk minative properties of certain /^J plants known to act most bene- /\ ficially, on the human system, when its gentle cleansing is de- ^ sired. To get its beneficial ef tects, always Duy tne genuine, (f'^m for sale by all reputable drug- Wafc gists; one size only, price fifty cents a bottle. The name pf of the company ? California '/ < Fig Syrup Co.?is always plainly printed upon the front of every package of the-genuine. @i/ori\ia| LOUISVILLE. KY. SAN FRANCISC \ JHhL ff V 1>3^W55 The KAYO LAMP Is i w ^Kp5^*J3^^\ There are lamps thi f at any price. The I it 11 are vital thinan LAMP are pert* ^known in the ar ^agar value of the RA gam any room in ftruv ^r\ If not at your*, r|nt Agency of the gA Stand ever the p poisoz comjx A^l^RA^ED 5th ] -8??- HpJxootk jjjj) } ^^IB ?" Xflkjclroi fn Ur111 5al?e ^ I Ph*'yneltJs<CtU^^ ll ? 12th ^ H "* GIeet.^^P ?f| Siga 13th "i g 11 14th 1 CwibeiSiSf,D0eT17?lc^?HfHfor fa: | || St A Common Weakness. " Landlady?"Yes, I must confess, I V have a weakness for coffee." i Boarder?"It must be sympathetic. Tfee coffee has the same quality."? o] Meggendorfer Blaetter. N. Y.?5 .. fo Piles Cured in 0 to 14 Days. St: r&ZO VJIIlLIIieill. 13 Kuauuicni w vu>v ?wJ caseof Itching, Blind, Bleeding or Protruding CC Piles in 6 to 14 days or money refunded. 50c. -j. Great Britain owns more than one-half _1 of the world's ocean shipping. Many Children Are Sickly. Mother Gray's Sweet Powders for Children, used by Mother Gray, a nurse in Children's Home, New York, cure Summer Complaint, Feverishness, Headache. Stomach Troubles. ~ Teething Disorders and Destroy Worms. At A all Druggists', 25c. Sample mailed free, m. Address Allen S. Olmsted. Le Roy, N. Y. I' A white tigress eight feet eight ^ inches in length has been shot in Dhenfcanai state, urissa. me giuuuu color was pure white and the stripes CI we*e of a deep reddish black. The B skin has been presented to the Rajah of Dhenkanal, who has had it mount- tren ed and placed in his palace. ii IN CONSTANT TORTURE. How a Severe Case of Kidney Disease ^6 Was Conquered. Mrs. Sherman Youngs, Schoharie. N. Y., says: "Doan's Kidney Pills k saved my life after years of suffering I that ran me down to such a degree I -rtfg&i. ?* weakness that i | could do no work, i J and the pains I suf- 1 fered would throw me into spasms. I i was dizzy, worn and sleepless, my back ^ Y, \4 ! ached terribly, I had ^ rheumatism and was nervous and all unstrung. I thought d I tried every known medicine, but it was not until I began using Doan's v Kidney Pills that I began to get help. ? The pains slowly disappeared, the _ kidney secretions cleared up and in a ' few weeks my strength returned so ; that I could work about the house \ again. It is three years since then HP and Doan's Kidney Pills have kepr Brme well." Sa Remember the name?Doan's. ScliJ ! by all dealers. 00 cents a box. Fes- R l ter-Milbnrn Co., Buffalo, N. Y. j I I imX Dama^iai<\ I ^ !?, DWJW, 5 ''' i high grade tamp epld at a loir prfafr V-ffiBl it cost more bat thera is mo better lamp Burner, the Wick, the CTiiinney^ktorw^lMI i in a lamp; these parts of the KAYO .-vfJKj jctly constructed And there is nothiatf t or lamp-making that could add to the TAJ? TO as a light-riving device. Suitable for -:?j5999 the house. Every dealer em i mhettu. HS JB write tor descriptive circular to tin seirst. , ?runino 1 is very remarkable preparation i? , is the greatest Constitutional mown (or Brood Mares- Colts, SuDmMWI 1) other horsesalso Distemper amonat ;l ana aneep. rou compcuna is miafww urest ingrcdienU and not an atom of' loua or injurious nature enters into its. isition. Many persons are now uJdak BHB EN'S for La Grippe, Colds, CougbsTtoiP^ggB Vouble, etc., and it ia always safe. i the Disease Germs from the body; ly on the Blood and Glands. 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MflH iregorySi iproved Yellow obe Onion Seed est rust-roslstlng onion seed ever Wll/,fc on the market. Thoroughly tcs- yufarfRitr jy the largest onion growers. A IflHHPm lendous croppcr. No onion equals nmfm> \\iM HBI ir storage. Our customers In 1903 wliliilV//7lv rested over 800 bushels per acre. .75 per pound, prepaid. CRECORY'S NEW SEED CATALOCUfc GHK jripBk. la tbe baDdaomratcatalocna trtrfao<^^HJ| f4>cCGCR>vl^ llcooUfajohotCflCoJlectlouo/lWwAi^^H^EH -tTnvrriia vrfrublc K?d> and ia full of pnaUa^^^^HK liOIiriST^PP Information for furroer ?cd fardaocr. Writ* for a copy?H'? ft*. HH9 ^TKr*^ J.J.H. Gkgut A Sou. MuuLaua.lbi^HHM Vhen curve pitching wn introduced I ^ Vho holds tbe louc-distaiice throwing record! low many years tbe National League hM HH been in eiittence 1 Pho pitched forthn Coaton team In 187it low many clubs have been members of tM HHW National and American Leagues since their organization Vhlch toad ha? won the National League |HR pennant Uie grentest tiumbvr of times 1 Vho were the pluyera iu the World's Series from 1SS4 to 190t# 1 'he answers to above questions and a great HHB eal of oth? r Interesting base ball information contaiuad in the new, illustrated >PALDING S officialMB 3ASEBALL RECORDBM OR 1910. PRICE 10 CENTS.^^H Catalogne of base ball goods mailed free. IMfcUJM.IIJM I MM *?> CJl* tjm rua4i.itat ft. U?-S Cum) CO7 wswucswii &?v? *? ??* K^-? ?rJ*FW iMuumi11 I 7TUTO Watfon n.roleman,W?^^^KM I I ff" nj S ^ liiston. D.C. BoOlis free. "1