The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1869-02-19
Social Artfhssstic.

Two Drothcrs, began the professor
impressivcly, addressing the hostess,
''werc walking together down tho street,
and one Of them, stopping at certain
house, knocked at the door, observing: u
have a niece here, who Is NJ THANK
heaven observed the other, Il have got
no nicce;' and he walked away. Now,
how could that ber' f.... .l..-...
"why It's a riddle" exclaimed Mr..
Funnidog, delIghtedly. '- .t''
sand one that you will not guess In a
hurry, simple as It Is" observed the pro-
fessor confidently. ''COme ladies and
gentlemen, solve the problem" ."r
~ sce"-ejaculated Mrs. House
wife. -..... "a. .-,. ri,
"Hush! whisper In my ear, cried Puz-
zleton, with all the excitement Of child
with toy. Don't let 'em hear it-'Nlecc
by marriags,-Stuff and nonsense. The
thing Is not any foolish kind Of catch at
all"-and once more he glanced with hos
tillty at FunnIdog. rs much rs TO say,
"such as he would ask YOU" "Nothlng
can be simpler than my question. I've
got niece, that's NJ says one brother
THANK heaven, Ihavc not got niece,
says the other. How can that bc?--You
all give It ups Well, the invalid was his
daughter" P. s..'' .' '......'.
"Oh, I see," said Mrs. Housewife, de-
spondingly. "How very stupid In US not
to find out!" r-. .r. ,s.'
"Yes, indeed, ma'am," asscnted the re-
morselcss savant. "Thc failure only
shows how difficult 1t Is for ordinary
minds to grasp more than one Idea ut the
same time. The attention Is solely fixed
on the different varieties Of nlcces."
Sand also," observed Mr.. Alocs (who
was much dlspleased at being classed
i among "ordinary ds')-''and also,
the attention is naturally distracted from
the point at issue by the brutality Of the
fathers remark. Now, that Is In itself q
catch In my opinion" ..'
"well, sir, I will give you another sim
pie exercise for the understanding, that
has no such dIstractlng element" observ-
ed the professor coolly, "a blind beggar
had brother. The brother died. What
relation were they to ono anotherP Come
tell me that
"why, they were brothers," exclaimed
the colonel, with the rapidity Of small
boy at the bottom ofhls class, who hopes
to gain promotion. '... '...
mo, sir" answered the professor, re-
gardlng Thunderbomb with interest, rs
n significant type Of some low order Of In.
telligence, "they were not brothers, or !
should scarcely have asked tho question"
"They might be brothcrs-in-lawf" sug-
gested Funnidog. .a. .rf
"Undoubtedly they might be-" replied
P,izzleton with plying smile; "5ut they
were not"
"Stop a Bit" observed Mr.. Macpherson
hurrldly, like one who has not got his an
swer quite ready, but yet does not wish
to be anticipated. "The blind beggar,
you say, had brother, and the brother
died. Well. Of course, ifone was dead,
you know, they could not be brothers any
longer" = r.I .fa-f... ..1r
"The idea Is. novel," observed the pro-
fessor gravely, but you have not hit upon
the exact solution. The fact Is, gentle
men and ladies, blind boggar can be
either male or female. In this instance
she was female. They were brother and
sister,"
IL call that catch. )" said Aloes gloom
ily.
"well, at all events, twas an easy one
and you all missed It." returned the pro-
fessor, with quiet triumph. "Now, i will
give You one moro example Of social ar
ithmctlc, which shall be In all respects
bona fdt. 1t Is simple question In sub
traction, and all nsk Of you is-sincc two
or three gnesses would arrive at the truth
by mere ellmlnation-to write down re-
ply on paper. A man went to q cobbler's
and bought pair OF boots for sixteen
shillngs. He put down sovereign, and
the cobbler having no change, sent for It
at q neighboring publlc-house, and gave
II to him. Later In the day the landlord
of the Inn sent In TO say that the sovereign
was bad one, and Insisted upon tho cob
bier making It right; which he according
ly did. Now, how much did the cobblcr
lose by the whole transactionr There Is
no sort of play upon words, or anything
but q common sum In arithmetic" /.
"why. It's the easiest thing In the
world" calculated Housewife. "Ofcoursc
the cobbler lost JUST
'Be quiet, sir" cried Puzzlcton very an
grily. "write Il down, will you, II you
can writc:"
"Scratch q Professor, and you find a
Tartar" whispered Alocs. "fou had
better do rs ne wishes"
SO VIC all wrote down what we Inn
agincd to be the loss which the cobblcr
had sustained, and Il was wonderful how
opinions differed within such narrow llm-
It's. ~
The colonel made him lose two pounds.
Mr.. Ailoes made him lose just pound
and the boots.
Mr. Funnidog made him lose Just six
aud thirty shilllngs.
Mr.. Macpherson made him lose sixteen
shillIngs and the boots, minus the profit
he made upon the boots (Which, said th .
professor, Il was not necessary TO take
Into consideration.)
Mr.. Scale Hill. who was used to inves.
tigating the bills Of extortionatc Swiss
landlords, set down tho loss with conf.
dence at twelve shilllngs aud the boots.
Mr.. Smooth Smyler wrote, ~ am not
sure. but IL seems to me he only lost eight
shilling besides the boots and his tenn
pcr.v r.. ~ Hs r..t.