Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1871-05-06
a LOT OF PUZZLES,

NO brothers." began the professor impress
slvely, addressing the hostess, "were waikiny
ogetheI down the street, and one or them. stop
ping at certain house, knocked at the door
observing, IL have q niece here, who is nj. >;
"Thank heaven" observed the other, II
have nav got no niece and he walked away. Snow,
why, it's riddle" exclaimed Mr.. Funni-
And An one that you will not guess in hurry,
Gently. "Come, ladies and gentlemen, solve
the problem
81 sea-, calculated Mrs. Housewife.
hukb, whisper in my ear, cried Puzz,etOn,
with all the excitement Of a child with toy
"DoDt let EN- hear It" ssNiece on marrtagsj''
STUFF and nonsense. The thing is not any fool
ish 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 my question. "Pve got a
..ThaDh heaven, have not got a niece" saws
the other. How can that be? You all give il
NJ? Wen the invalid wsshis daugat.r''
Oh, see" said Mrs Housewife desponding-
ly- How very stupid In US not to find il out
Yes. indeed. ma'am," answered the
reno rseless savant. "The failure only shows
how difficult il is for ordinary minds TO graso
more than one idea at the same time The at
OF Dieces.'
And also,' observed Mr. AIoes. fwho was
much displeased at being ciassed among s.ordi-
nary minds, y "and also the attention ia nat.
" ally distracted from the point at issue by the
i.
In itself "catch," in my opinion"
Well, sir, l will give you another simple
exercise for the understanding, that has NO So cL
oistnacuns element; observed the professor
brother died. What relation we're they to one
another? Come, tell me that"
why, they were brothers," exclaimed the
colonel. with the rapidty Of small boy at the
tor.
No, sir" answered the professor, regarding
Y nd NH nit fv.tA
type Of some low order Of intelligence; "they
asked the question:"
They might be brothers IN ga~," suggested
Undoubtedly, they mieH be,n replied Puz-
zleton, with q plying smile; but they were
''Stop Bit" said Macpherson hurriedly like
one who not got hie answer quite ready but vet
doesn't wish to be anticipated. "The beggsr,
Well, Of course, II one was dead, you know, they
could not be brothers any longer"
"The idea Is novel" observed the professor
solution. The fact is, gentlemen and ladies, a
bind beggar may be either male or female. tn
this instance, she was q female. They were
'.Lcan that q catch, - said Aloes eloomily,
well, at all events, II was an cay one, AMI
you all mis- sed II, returned the professor, with
example of social arithmetic, which shan ba in
ailrespects bonn fde. 1t is q simple question in
subtraction, and all ask Of yoa is-since two
mere elimination-to write down the reply on
PAPER. A man went to cobbler's and bought a
pair OF boots.for sixteen shiliiDgs. He put
down n.n.s sovereign and the coeber, having NJ
house and gave IL to him. Later in the day. tie
landlord OF the inn sent IN to say that the SOW
'ereiDg as bad one, and insisted on the cob
bier making 1t right; which he accordingly did.
No, how much did the cobbler lose by the whole
transaction? There is no sort Of play upon
s s9tSs, or anything but common sum in
Why, it's the easiest thing in the world
evacuated Housewife. "Of course the cobbler
{" BE quiet, sir." cried Puzzleton. very anari-
ly. Write 1t down, will you-if you can write
Scratch Professor, and you lind q Tartar"
whispered Aloss. "You had better do q he
SO We all wrote down what we imagined to he
the loss which the cobbler had sustained; and It
was wonderful how opinions differed within
The colonel made him lose two pound,.
MI, MI, Aioss made him lose just pound and the
NM, Mr. F fs1,e made him lose just si1-and-
Mr.. Macpherson made him lose sixteen shil-
hngs AND tho boots, minus the profit he made
not necessary to take into consideration.
Mr.. Scale Hill, who used to investigate the
bills of extortionate Swiss landlords, set down
the loss With condolences At twelve shillings and
Mr.. Smooth Snyder wrote: al am not sure.
but i seems to me be only Lost eight shillinss;
Housewife wrote: % Why, Of course he lost the
boots and twenty -four shillings."
Mrs housewife and the ladies Bit their pens,
but declined TO commit themselves.
They had never had bean tan ? bit ~ thew said
"the Rule or Three.D
fou are all wrong, ~ said the professor quiet
u, as expected you would be. The vay TO
get NJ the matter Is to consider what Il gained
The landlord and the whole story OF bis CHAMP.
ing the sovereign, may be taken out Of the ues
ton. The buyer OF the boots gets in exchans.
for his bad sovereign four shininRs and = nsir ~
boots: and that is Just what the cobbler ioses.
IL one only had room to ones self, and the
vhple day before to do IL In, ;" signed Mr. Honss.
wife, ." think could answer any of these
thipas." 1853
" Very good. ma'an," said the professor.
then answer me this, when come 30 see Won
nest A man b0ushs twelve herrings for shil-
ing; some uere twopence apiece. come Q half
penny. and some farthing-how many did he
buy at each price?"
mII Nndon waters anne of iep sfreeSs IN xAa