A Wonderful Calculator.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 22, 13 April 1870, Page 7

A Wonderful Calculator.

John Alexander, post-runner between Hairri and Cawdor' Scotland, has proved himself to be one the most astonishing mental calculators, perhaps, in the kingdom. As a specimen of his powers he gave the correct answers to the five following questions in less than a minute :— <• Two chests tea, each BUlbs, at 3s G|d; twelve bars brown soap, each 3|lbs, at 4£d; 17 bars white soap, each 4lbs, at 5-|; three bags sago, each 271bs, at 4|-d; and seven bags barley, each 19Ibs, at i|ci” He answered the following questions correctly without noting down a single figure : “ Find the amount of £5 )0 from March 1 to January 9, both days inclusive, at 4| per cent. 1 Answer; £319 19s l£d — G6-73rd.” He was asked how many letters there would be in a year’s file of a daily newspaper of eight pages, each page containing seven columns, each column 190 lines, and each line 42 letters ? The answer, 139,837,440, was given in a few seconds.