The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-01-02
a CHAPTER OF PUZZLES.


a CHAPTER OF PUzZLES.
1.-TWO brothers," began the professor, i'm
pressirely addressing the hostess, "were WALK
ing together down the street, and one OF them,
stoppi1g, at certain honse, Knocked at the
door. observing, u have a niece here VINO ls
H. Thank heaven observed the other, i
have got no niece and he walked away. NOW,
how could that be!' ar ,. -;
sand one that you will not guess in hurry,
simple as it is," observed the professor conn
DENLY. "Come, ladies and gentlemen, solve
the problem"
II see" calculated Mrs. Housewife:
''Hush whisper in my ear cried Pnzsle-
ton, with all the excitement Of child with
ton "Don't let 'em hear it. Niece by mar
riape. 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.n Nothing can be Simpler than my ques-
tion. 'pye got q niece that's Ill, }" says one
brother. :. .Thank Heaven, have not got
niece" says the a,id can SaatUe 1s b,s
"6h. see, nsaid Mrs. Housewife, despond-
ingly. How very stupid in us not TO hno II
out" s
"Yeg, indeed, naam," answered the re-
morseless savant. THAT failure only SHOWS
how dtifleult u Is for ordinary minds 10 grasp
more than one idea at the same time The at-
tention Is solely fixed on the dlHerehI 'sfie-
ties of nieces."
sand also,n observed Mr.. Aloes, (who was
much .djspleased at. being claSsed- among or
di1ary mnds,s) sand, also, the attention Is
naturally distracted from the point al Issue by
the brutality of the fathers remark. NOW,
that isil itself "a catch, In my opinion"
swell, sir, ! will give yoq anotller In smp.e
exercise for the the
lessor coolly. IA blind beggar had orotner
| The brother died What relation We're they TO
one another? Come, tell me that."
"Why, they were brothers" exclaimed tne
colonel. with the rapidity of small boy at
the bottom Of his class, who hopes 70 gaih pro
NO. sir" answered the professor, regard.
lpr Thunderbomb with interest as Significant
ty1e of some low order Of intelligence, they
were not brothers, or should scarcely have
asked the question" ,,.,oa
"rhey might be brothers-in-laW'' suggested
Funnidog. ,,,,os p,,,,o.
ton, with a plying smile; ''5ut they were
not .:stop bit, said MCPHERSON hurriedly, like
one who hes not got his answer qihte rea1y, '1y,
but yet doesn't wish to be anticipated. Ihe
blind begsar, you say, had 5rother. anu tue
brother died. Well, Of course, IL one was
dead, you know, they could not De olotnerS
any longer" oc,.
sor graEeE '!6ut you ushave' pot II upon the
eyacrseirtion.' The fact is, gentlemen anu
ladies. blind beggar may be either male Or
female. In this instance she was iemaie
They were brother aud sister.
81 call that n1catch." said Aloes, gloomiy ;,
swell, ut all events, 1t was an easy one, una
auiet triumph. "Now, | will give you one
more example OF social arithaletic 1Whlen VIII
be mall RESPECTS bona ilde. It is Simple
question in subtraction, and all | shall ask oil
YOU is-since two or three gueSses Woild NJ
rive at the truth by mere silminatlon-to
write down the reply on paper. A man went
into -cohbfer's and bought pair ot 0oots lor
sxteen shifings. He put down sovereign
twenty shillings, and the cobbler, havlng no
change. sent to u neishboring public house,
and gave it to him. Later IN the day the
landlord of the inn sent in TO say that tle
sovereign syas aSbal one. sand insisted upon
tho cohblsr1nakng itright. Ylieh he accnEt-
ingly did, Now, how much dtd tne M ee1oier
lose by tho whole transaction There Is no
play npon words. or anything but a common
sum in arithmetic"
..Why, 1t is the easiest thing In the world,
calculated Housewife. .efcoarse the coooier
~ 'sBe nuiet sir ~ cried Puzzleton, very ansri-
IT, "Write it down. vii! yoli-t you Gun
write" ',
"Seratch professor, aud you find Tartar.
whispered Aloes. ''YOu had better do as he
wishes"
30 we all wrote down what we imagined to
be the loss which the cobbcr had sustained;
and it was wonderful how opinions offered
within such narrow limits.
The colonel made him lose two pounos:
Mr.. Itloes made him lose Just pound ana
the boots.
Mr. Funnidog made him lose six anG thirty
Mr.. Mcpherson made him lose sixteen shil-
llnns and the boots, minus the profit ne made
upon the boots (which, said the professor, IL IS
not necessary to take into consideration :,
Mr Scale Hill, who used to lnVestlSale inc
bills of extortionate Swiss landlords, set down
the loss with confidence attwclvc shiilinss anu
Housewife, wrote: why, Of course he lost
the boots and twenty-four shillinss."
Mrs. Housewife and the ladies' bit their pens,
but declined TO commit themselves. "Ihey
had never been taught" they said, "the RUE
Of three"
"Yuu are all wrong" said the professor
quietly, ''as expected you would be. The way
To get at the matter is 10 consider what IS
aaiHed. 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 transaction. The buyer OF the
boots gets in exchange for his bad sovereigns
four shillings and pair of boots, and that Is
lust what the cobbler loses"
''Ii one only had roon TO ones sell, and
the whole aybefore one todo It in," signed
Mrs. Housewife, "I think could answer any
of these questions" I