The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-12-28
A Lot Of Puzzles.

si>t upon full discussion of the bill before
it is forced through Congress.
A Lot Of Puzzles.
1.-TWO brothers." began the Professor,
imprcssiyely addressing the hostess, ''were
walking together down the street, and one
of them, stopping at n certain house,
knocked ut the door, observing, & have 4
niece here who is ill., THANK heaven OBJ
served the other, Il have got no niece and
he walked away. Now, how could that
be!"
"Why, it's q riddle" exclaimed Mr..
Funnidog, delightedly.
"And one that you will not guess i'll a
hurry, simple as it is" observed the profess
men, solve the problem"
"Hush! whisper in my ear, cried Puz-
zicton, with all the excitement OF child
with 4 ton. Don't let 'em hear it. Niece
bv marriage. Stuff and nonsense. The thing
IS not any foolish kind Of catch at all )"
and once more he glanced with hostility at
Funnidog, as much as to say. "Such as he
would ask you." Nothing can be simpler
than nv question. "I'ye got 4 niece, that's
ill.," says one brother. THANK Heaven, L
have not got niece" says the other. How
can that be? You all give it up: We'll, the
invalid was his daughter"
son, | see," said Mrs. Housewife de-
>pondingly. How very stupid Ill Us not
to find it out"
"Yes, indeed, ma'am," answered the re-
morselcss sayant. "That failure onl y
shows how difficult it is for ordinary minds
TO Grasp more than one idea at the same
time. The attention is solely hxedsou the
different. varieties Of nieces."
"And aiso," observed Mr.. Aloes, tWhoo
was much. displeased at ,classed
among tsordinary minds, y "andsalso, the
attention is naturally distracted from the
point at issue by tie brutality OF the IA
TIERS remark. Now, that is IL itself a
catch in my opinion"
"Well, sir. l will give you another SIM
ME exercise for the understanding that has
no such diSracting clement observed the
Professor coolly. ga blind hcggar had 4
brother. The brother died. What relation
were they to one another? Come, tell me
that
"Why. they were brothers." exclaimed
| tic Colonel, with the rapidity of small
boy at the bottom of his class who hopes to
gain promotion.
"No, sir" answered the Professor, re-
gardng Thunderbomb with interest as 4
| significant type of some low order OF intel
li"ence, "they were not brothers. or /
| should scarcely have asked the question"
| "They might be brothers-in-law," sug-
gested Funnidog.
Undoubtedly they might" replied Puz-
zleton, with a pitying smile but they
| were not"
"stop a bit," said Mcpherson hurriedly,
like one who has not got his answer quite
Iready, but yet doesn't wish to be antici
patcd. The blind bcSgar. you say, had {;
L ,j ho ltnI Wan -,
course, if one was dead, you know they
could not be brothers any longer"
1.-The idea is novel," observed the Pro.
tcssor gravely, "but you haye not hit upon
the exact solution. The fact is, gentlemen
and ladies, a blind beggar may he either
male or female. In this instance she was q
emale. They were brother and sister,"
II 81 call that CATCH" said Aloes, gloom
lily.
'"Well, at all events, it was an easy one
and YOU all missed it," returned the pro-
| fessor, with quiet triumph. "Now, will
| give you one more example of social arith-
| tide. 1t is 4 simple question in subtrac-
ton, and all l shall ask of you is-since two
or three guesses would arrive ut the truth
by mere elimination-ro write down the
reply on paper. A man went into a cob
bler's and bought pair of boots for Six
teen shillines. He put down sove-
reign twenty shillingS], and the cobbler,
having no change, sent to neighboring
public house, and gave it TO him. Later in
the day the landlord Of the inn sent in to
say that the sovereign was Il bad one, and
insisted upon the cobbler making 1t right,
which he accordingly did. Now, how much
did the cobbler lose by the whole transac'
Etion? There is no play upon words, OIL
ANYTHING but common sum in arithmetic.'
SWhy, it's the easiest thingin the world
calculated Housewife. "Of course the cob
=. Be oulet, sir" cried Puzzleton, very
augrily. "Write it down, will you'll yol
can write"
"Scratch professor, and you find Tar
tar" whispered AloeS. "Iou had better
do as he wishes" =,
So we all wrote down what VIC imagined
/ to be the loss which the cObbler had sus
| tanned; and it was wonderful how opinions
| differed within such narrow limits.
! The Colonel made him lose two pounds
| MIR. Aloes made him lose just pounC
| and the boots. Z, -
Mr.. Funnidog made him lose six ani
| thirty shillings. -~
MIR. Mcpherson made, him lose sixteen
shillings and the boots, minus the profit he
! made upon the boots (which, said the Pro
fessor, it. is not necessary to take into con-
| sideration.)
Mir. Scale Hill, who used to investigate
the bills. of eXtortionate Swiss landlords,
set down the loss with confidence at twelve
shillings and the boots.
Housewife wrote u" Why, OF course he
lost the boots and twenty-four shillings."
Mrs. Housewife and the ladies bit their
pens, but declined to commit themselves
tThey had never been taught" they said,
fthe Rule Of Three"
"You are all wrong" said the Professor
quietly, "as I expected you would be
The way to get at the matter is to consider
what is gained. The landlord and the
whole story OF his changing the sovereign
may be taken out of the question, since he
| is neither better nor worse for the transac
ton. The buyer of the boots gets in ex
change for his bad soyereigns four shilling'
and pair OF boots, and thnt is just what
the cobbler loses"
eli one, only had q room to ones self