Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-04-06
Miscellaneous.
TON P0UL1ON'S JOKE.

A GOCIABLE Clue OF seventy or elghty
choice spirits, calling itself The Serious
Family and having for Its president or
chairman Mr.. Tom Poult0n, Barrister at
Law In theory, and Nothing At All In fact,
held its weekly meetings, for some years
in three or four large rooms In dull,
gaunt house inSoho Square. The primary
object OF this a.soctetion was the promo
ton Of good fellowship by the conciliatOry
medium of wholesome spirits and good
tobacco I II possessed q secondary, or
rather incidental, feature in the shape Of a
Provident Loan Fund, and according TO
the by-laws Of this fund all mcmbcrs of
the club who had proved their general
solvency by twelve regular monthly pay.
ments Of one sovereign were entitled to-
one loan Of twenty -four pounds, TO- be re-
paid within six months of the date of
borrowing. This fund was projected by
Mr. Tom Poulton, who proved by'statistics
that, taking the general population Of
Great Britain aDd Ireland, including
women and children, and excluding al
members. of the House of Peers and all
registered paupers, only one person in
four lived beyond his annual income or,
in other words, only one person In four
had occasion TO borrow money to meet his
yearly expenditure Assuming that these
statistics were applicable TO so many mem
bers Of the Serious Family as elected to
become subscribers to the projected Pro
vident Loan Fund, 1t followed that for
every four annual subscriptions of twelve
pounds only one annual loan Of twenty
four pounds would be applied for, leaving
q clear annual balance Of twenty -four
other pounds in thejund's favor But Mr..
Tom Poulton did not close his yves to the
possibility that statistics which held good
when applied tothiry five million people,
including women and children, mightstand
in need Of some modification before they
became applicable toan exceptional gather
ing Of seventy or eighty young or middle
aged persons, among whom were no
women and no children. He very fairly
admitted the'exceptiOnal character OF the
club, in the course of his speech on the
motion that the fund should be instituted;
but he commended that II rs many as one
in three, instead of one In four, were To-
apply at the years end for the loan Of
twenty -four pounds, the result would show
q clear balance of fifty per cent. In favor
of the projected fund. He went on to
show that il an application from one In
three resulted in profit Of fifty per cent,
an application from one in one and half
would result IN profit of twenty five per
cont or, carrying the principle still fur
ther, an application, from one In three
quarters would result in . profit Of twelve
and half per cent. from which an easy
calculation would show that If every mem,
Der of the Loan Fund who had subscribed
twelve pounfH wtfest0 insist on borrow.
ing twenty fourgihe clear annual profit In
favor of the GLIB would be fifteen and
five-eights per cent, and Mr.. Tom POultOn
would undertake. sjn :, writing, to be
responsible for the accuracy of his calcll
latiOn.s II was immediately proposed that
this fund be forthwith instituted, and the
Proposition was carried by acclamation.
Nj. Tom Poulton was Immediately elected
chairman, treasurer, secretary, and trustee
of the fund, and the whole club became
Now this was one Of Mr. Tom Poultop's
practical jokes. Mr.. Tom Poulton had,
among other valuable gifts, keen sense
of humor, so keen, Indeed, that 1t was in
no degree blunted Il the Joke. turned
tons practical jokess turned against himself,
and the particular, Joke, tRst MI. Tom
Poulton perpetrated In connection with
the Serious Family Prevalent loan Fund
proved especially disastrous to Mr.. Tom
Poulton, and, in the long run, especially
beneficial to h 3 intended victims, the sub
soribers to the fund. ss,,,,. p .s''dl
AS the year drew toward ftg ci0se, and
as all the twelva pound subscribers to the
fund intimated heir intention Of applying
for loans of twenty-fOur pounds apiece
(leaving clear annual balance of fifteen
and fye-eights. per. cent in favor lof ting
fund, according To Toni Pbultons own
nhOWiDrls sTomg P0ulkOn began to cast