The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1874-06-06


Surely figures owe us whatever little OF 70
nance is to be got out OF them Have they
not been associated from our earliest child
hood with the taste of tears and slate pencil
Have they not been the invariable cause Of
ones income being insufficient to meet ones
expenditure? Have they not lyrannized ovci
our tastes and enjoyments? And has not The
sole reason of this gap which, at every years
end, prevents some OF us, in spite OF the nosl
laudable intentions, from making both ends
meet, been the obstinate persistence of two
and two in their sullen refusal to make more
than four? am reioiced TO learn that Pyth
agoras, who said something civil about all
the other numbers, had very poor opinion
Of figure two am delighted to know that
ne regarded this dsreputable figure as sym
Dol Of disorder of confusion and inequality
as hopelessly depraved number Of evil an.
curry; as all exceeding bad principle; nay, as
the very old bad principle himself. I've no
patience with figure two, nor with the way II
gets held up to public esteem in connection
with what is supposed to be the very satisiac'
tory proposition that two and two make four.
cannot regard it in that light. Whatever is
good for anything ought to improve ana in.
crease; and if this boosted pair of twos had
any genuine enterprise at all about them, they
would have made atfcast six by this time, in
which case / might without difficulty have
learned what balance meant in my bankers
book AS it is, they have not merely wasted
injury Besides, it is my opinion that three
and one make four in manner quite us sue.
cessful, and very much less Obtrusive.
The most romantic of all numbers is figure
nine, because it can't be multiplied or got
rid of anyhow. Whatever you do, it is sure
to turn up again, as was the body Of Eugene
Arams victim. One remarkable property Of
this figure (said to have been discovered by
w. Green, who died in 1893 is, that all
through the multiplication table the product
ofnlne comes to nine. Multiply by what you
like, and it gives the same result Begin with
twice nine, 49, add the digits together, and |
and make nine. Three times nine are 2,
and and Z are nine. So it goes up to eleven
times nine, which gives 90. Very good add
the digits; 0 and o are IS, and and are O.
Gong on to any extent, It is impossible to get
rid of the figure nine. Take a couple of in.
stances at random. Three hundred and nine
ty-nine times nine are 3,051; add up the fig.
,ircs and they give nine. Five thousand and
seventy-onc times nine are 45,G39; the sum OF
these digits is q, and and Z are 8.
NJ. de Maivan found out another queer
thing about this number, namely, that il you
take any row of figures, and, reversing their
Order make subtraction sum of it, the total
is sure to be nine. For example:
Take 5071
Reverse the figures 1908
33GG=1S,-1 and So.
The same result is obtained if you raise the
numbers so changed to their squares or cubes
Starting with 81, begin the sum over again
BY reversing the digits we get 20, which, sub
tracted from G2, leaves 36, or 3 and Go. The
squares of 26 and 62 are, respectively, G1G and
1874 Subtract one from the other, and you
get 3, 1853; 3, /, 6 and SIS, and and So
1856 and 23S,328. Subtracted, they leave
900, 752-1S, and and SO.
Another funny thing about this figure nine
is this. 1fyou have a column Of certain fig
ures to add, and you transpose one or more
of them, the product will of course be wrong,
and the amount of the error will be number
which can be divided by nine without re,
mander. Thus: 22S, TIC, 5l9=l ,463 Now
transpose say, 2s2 ZIG, 5l9-2,562. Slbs,ract
this sum from the correct answer and we
have 90, which can be divided by nine, OF
course, without remainder; and so ii would
be throughout any number of columns of fig
urcs.
The powerfully be ntne influence Of this
figure is exempified in another way. Write
down any number, as, for example, 7549, 1872
subtract theretrom the sum of digits, and, nj
matter what figures you start with, the digits
Of the product will always come to nine.
7549, l32--sum of digits, 81.
81
l549, l0l-sum of digits 27,-2 and 30.