The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1869-03-04

at a certain house, knocked at the door.
Observing; i have niece here, who is ILL.,
Thank heaven, observed the other, i have
got no niece and he walked away. Now,
how could that be:'
"Why it's riddle,' exclaimed Mr.. Funni
dog, delightedly.
And one that you viii not guess in a
hurry, simple as it is,' observed the profess
sor confidently. 'Come, ladies and gentle
men, solve the problem"
Il see,' -ejaculated Mrs Housewife.
'Hush whisper in my ear" cried Puz-
zleton, with all the excitement of ii child
with a toy. ''Don't let 'em hear it-,Nece
by n.ariage' Stuff and nonsense. The
thing is not any foolish kind of catch at
ail'-and once more he glanced with hos
tlliy at Funnidog, as much as to say, "such
as he would ask you" Nothing can be
simpler than my question. I've got a niece,
that's ILL., says one brother' Thank
Heaven, have not got a niece says the
other. How can that he ?-Y OH all give IL
up: Well, the invalid was his daughter"
80 see,' said Mrs. Housewife, desponi-
ingly- GLOW very stupid iu Us not 10 iiaI
it out J"
"Yes, indeed, maam," assenjed tie re
morseless savant. The failure only shows
how difficult it is for ordinary minds to
grasp more than one idea at II time. Tie
attention is solely fixed on the different va
reties Of neces.''
''And ALSO observed Mr. Aloes (who
was much dispeaseJ at being c.as>ed among
"ordinary minds D-"and also, the atten-
tion is naturally distracted from the point
at issue by the brutality OF the fathers re
mark. Now, that is in Itself cateb,' in
ny opinion"
We'll, sir, l will give you another simple
exercise Tor the understanding, that has ~
such distrac,iug element observed the pyo-
lessor coolly. "A bIiud beggar had a broth
er. The brother died. What relation
were they to one another: Cone tell me
that
why, they were brothers" exclaimed
the colonel, with the rapldity OF g small
boy at the bottom Of his class, who hopes to
gaia promotion.
NO Sir" answered the professor, regard
ing Ihunderbomb with interest, as sig-
niticant type OF some low order of utel.l-
geuce, ''tney were not brothers, or / should
They might be brothers-in-av - sug.
gested Funnidog.
odoubtedy they might be" replied
Puzzletcn with plying smile ''but they
were not"
:. Stop bit" observed Mr.. Macpherso1
hurriedly, like one who has not got his an-
swer quite ready, but yet does not wish 10
be anticipated. '.lhe blind beggar, you
say, had Il brother, and the brother died
Well, Of course, ii ole was dead, you
know, they could not be brothers amy lon
ger"
The idea is novel" observed the profess
sor gravely," but you have not HIT upon the
exact solution. The fact is, gentlemen aud
ladies, blind beggar can be either male or
female. In this Instance she was q iemlrle
They were brother and sister"
IL call that catch, said Aoes gloomily
"Well, at all evells, it was an easy one,
and you all missed it, returned the proiea-
sor, with quiet triumph. snow | VIII give
You one more example Of social arithmetic,
which shall be In all respects LJaa F.i-. IL
is simple question i'll subtraction, and ali
| ask OF YOU is-sincc two or three guesses
would arrive at the truth by mere ein4iuu-
tlon-to write down a reply Oh paper. i
man went to q cobbler's and bought Il pair
of boots for sixteen shillings. lie ut down
Il sovereign, and tue cObb!cr having no
change, sent tor it at neighborlug pubIic-
house, aud gave 1t to him. Later i'll the
day, the landlord OF the inn eelL in to say
that the sovereign was q bad one, and n.
sisted upon the cobbcr making it hight
w ba frl, i 3
did the cobbler lose by the whole trausal-
ton: There is no sort of play upon words,
or anything but Il common SUM III arithnl,-
tie"
"Why, it's the easiest thing in the world"
calculated Housewife. ''Oi course, the
cobber lost just"
BE quiet, sill" cried Puzzeou very an-
grily. "Write it down, viii you, if you ca4
write.
'scratch Professor, aud YOU find Tar
tar whispered AIoes You Mad better
do as he wishes"
So we all wrote down what we imagined
to be the loss which the cobLler had su,talu-
ed, aud it was woadertul how opinions
differed within such narrow limits.
l'he colonel made him lose two pounds.
and the boots.
Mr.. Funndog made him lose just six ana
thirty shilings.
MIR. Macpherson made him lose sixteen
shlllngs and the boots, minus the profit he
made on 'he boots (Which, sail the profess
sor, 1t was not necessary to take INTO con
sideration.)
Mr. Scale Hill, who was used to inves-
tigating the bills OF extortionatc Swiss land
lords, set down the loss with confidence ul
twelve shillings and the boots.
Mr.. Smooth Smyler, wrote; 81 am not
sure, but 1t seems to me he only lost eight
shlllngs besides the boots and his temper"
Housewife wrote: '.Why, of course lie
lost the boots and twenty-tour shilings
Mrs. Housewife and tie ladies bit their
pens, but declined to commit themselves.
They had never been taught" they said,
''the rule OF three"
lyon are all wrong" said the professor
quietly, "as expected you would be. The
way to get at the matter is to consider what