The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1871-02-25

at all and once more he glanced with
hostility at Funnidog, as much as 70 say.
''Such ms he would ask you '.Nothinc
can be simpler than my question. I've
got niece that's i'll, says one brother.
Thank heaven, have got no niece, says
the other. How can that be ? You all
give it up? Well, the invalid was his
daughter
''Oh, ! see" said Mrs Housewife, de-
spondingly. "How very stupid in US not
TO find it OUT
Yes, indeed, ma'am,' answered the
renorseless sardnt ''That failure only
shows how difficult il IS for ordinary
minds 10 grasp more than one idea at the
same time. The attention Ia solely fixed
on the different varieties of uieces''
And also observed Mr. Aloes (who
was much displeased at being classed
among ordinary minds, land also, the
attention Is naturally distracted from the
point at issue by the brutality Of the faith
er's remark. Now, that is in itself .ss
catch, in my opinion j.
We'll, sir, I will give you another
simple exercise for the understanding that
has 10 such distractiug elements, observed
the Professor, coolly "A blind beggar
had "a brother. The brother died What
relation were they 10 one auother ? Come,
tell me that"
why, they were brothers, exclaimed
the Colonel, with the rapidly Of a small
boy 1T the bottom ul his class who hopes
TO gain promotion.
mo, sir" answered the Professor re-
"A f..ztr.
significant type of some low order of IN
teIiIgeHce, ''lhey are not brothers, or Z
should scarcely have asked the question:
''Iney might be brUthers~in-Iaw, ;" sug-
gostei Eunu.Ios.
''UndOubiedIy they might" replied
Puzz!etOn, with plying smile ''but
they were not"
stop bit, - said Mcpherson. hurried
ly, ike one who has not got has answer
quite ready, bat yet doesn't wish to bc
anticipated. The blind beggaT, YOU say,
had a brother, and the brother died. =
! Well, Of course. if one was dead, you
know they could nol be brothers any long
/ er"
! ''The idea IS novel; observed the Pro-
/ tessor graveiy bat you have not bit upon
! the exact solution. The fact is, gentle-
GIcn and ladies, blind beggaT may be
either male or female In tins instance
she was a female. They were brother
and sister.
Il call that catcL, said Aloes, gloom
iIy.
"WeII, AT all events, ii is an easy one,
/ and you all missed It, returned The Pro-
lessor with quiet triumph. Now ! will
give you one more example of socia! aritll-
Inetic, which viii be IN all respects J0lla
.bae. Ii IS a simple question IN subuac~
ton, and all | shall ask Of you i5-sisca
TWO or three guesses would arrive at lhs
/ truth by mere e,IminatIuA-tO write down
the reply on paper. a man went into "a
cobJler's and bought pair of boots for
sixteen shiliings He put down so,er~
/ eign (twensy shiliiu5sl and tie c1b5!er,
having 40 change, sent to ucighboriug
public house. and gave II 10 him. Later
IN The day the landlord in The inu sent in
10 say that the sovereign was u bad one,
and insisted upon the cobbler making Il
right; which lie accordingly did Now,
how much did the cohbler lose by the
whole transaction There Is no play upon
words, or anything but common sum il
arithmetic"
"Why, It's the easiest thing in the
world" calculated Housewife. oh, os
course the cobbler lost just
''3e quiet, sir - said Puzzlcton, very
ang'iiy. Write II down, viii you-if
can write
Scratch Professor and you find 5
Tartar" whispered Alloes. You had
better DO as Ie wishes
So we ali wrote down what we imas-
ined to be the loss which tue cobbIer had
sustained; and it is wonderful how opin-
ions differed with such narrow limits.
The Colonel made him lose No pounds
Mr.. Aoes made him lose Just a pound
md the boots
! Dir. Funnidog made him lose six aud
thirty shiIiiugs.
AIr, Mel lhsrsUn made him lose sixteen
s!il!ings and the boots, minus The profit
he made upon the boots (Which, said the
Professor, IS not necessary 10 take into
consideration AIr Scale HiI, who
used 10 lax 2essigate the bills of extortiUn-
ate Swiss Landlords, sat down tbe loss
with confidence at twelve shilLings and
boots.
Housewife wrote '.Why, Of course he
lost the boots and twenty-iour shiIlines. "
Mrs Housewife and the ladies bi.
their pens, but declined TO commit them
selves. They bad ne9er been taught
they said, ''ihe Rule of Three"
You are all wrong, said The Processes
quietly, '.as | expected you would be
The way TO get at the matter Is to con
slider what is gained The landl d, and
the whole story Of his changing the soy
ereign may be taken out of the question,
since he is neither better nor worse foI
the transaction. The buyer OF Ihe boots
gets in exchange for his bad sovereign fonl