The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1878-02-06


up to their work in such shaky man.
ner that our confidence in their versci-
.ty is greatly shaken.
A good multiplication table wrestler
vii! pile up column after column of
Hgr.es to prove the defeat Of his politi.
col candidate this year by $4,000 major
ity against 5000 last year is gain for
his side of 1000 votes.
n such curious ciphering doesn't
create = strong suspicion that figures lie
like the annual statement Of . New
York life insurance company, it at least
leaves an impression that they are weak
ia the limbs-and often cut Q pretty
figure, fgurAtively speaking.
The man who has the multiplication
table st his fingers ends. and can foot
up column of figures six inches high
and two broad as quick as you could
pronounce half of the aame of Russian
general, is serpent in the social circle
"A sort of boa, or bore. Orwell, he's Q
an adder. nykow. He is as great a
nuisance as the iudefstigable bore who
propounds such queries as this: Suppose
your mothers daughter msrried your
grandfather nephew ON your uncle's
side. what relation would their child
rem be to your aunt's stepmothsrY'-
somehow that way. You probably
have met such bores.
The multiplication table man, at the
risk OF his life. will tell you that nine
multiplied 3S7, ,42O. .489 times by itself,
would require 369. 500, 100 ciphers, and
to count it, working ten hours daily
would take Is years and $50 days. And
then you heave . sigh mile long and
wish oil your might that he would go
off somewhere by himself and work out
the problem. If to perform this arith-
metical task required only five years
and no days, We don't suppose ono Of
the adders hearers would 90 to work
at the job.
The inventor of the game of chess
was bsde by the King of India to name
his own reward. upon which he asked
to receive the number of grains of wheat
that would be produced if one grain
were paid him for the first square Of
the chess. two for the second. four the
third, eight for the fourth. and so on
doubled up for every square 'of the g.
When these amounts were added the
sum was found to be l8.446. .744.O73.
100, 55l. .6l5 grains, enough to cover all
the continents of the earth with layer
one-third Of an inch in thickness
The name Of the party who counted
the grains is not given. but it is highly
probable he stopped counting at the
expiration of the 9th year. and wearily
exclsiming; "ris wheat to he remem-
bered.' guessed at the number remaining.
History doesn't say so. but it must have
gone against the grain Of the king to
fulfill bis. promise. The whole story,
hswever, sounds like . campaign lie.
invented by the enemy for some sinister
purpose.
Light. according to Professor Some
body, travels $4,000 miles second.
This is much faster than the defaulting
President of =, ,aavin9s bank travels. He
prefers dsrl ess when he goes, and
travels ct the rate Of about thirty miles
IN hour. but regrets that he cannot
make As good time as light.
Another figure twister says if one
cent were set out at compound interest
in the year ut four per cent. the first
Of January, 1865. It would amount to
quintillion. POI. .45s quadrillions, 332
trillions of millions.
A cent is very small sum. and we
all might set out that amount at COM
pound interest for the benefit of our
posterity $50 years hence. But some
persons persistently refuse to do any
thing for posterity simply because pos
terity has never done anything for
them
The same authority further declares
that if we paid the tax collector the
amount above mentioned in silver, he
would need 3.003. .445. coz. .0O0. .OOO, ,O00,.
600 wagons for its transportation.
When you owe that much taxes,
therefore. you had better pay the col
lector in greenbacks, or checks, for. to
quote the professors aforesaid, . ROBBIE
ry could be committed on the hindmost
wagon which would not be discovered
till the "a ,7S0th generation Of tax col
lectors.'
Hence. the tax cleaner. to save his
reputation and money. and prevent
being removed 10 make room for man
Of the opposite political party. would
DO compelled to employ Q force larger
than the United States army before it
was cut down to 10000 men to please
Mr.. Dana. of the New York Sun, to
travel along with the wagon train to
protect it from the deprcdations of road
sgents--espccially il he was going in
the direction of the Black Hills
This sum Of money, We are also in
formed, distributed among the people
OF the earth. would give each OF its L.
O0O, ,Q0O. 600 of inhabitants about 200
trillious OF dollars, aud he or che. could
every second use 81. .000. coo for 3S. 096,-
coo. years, without reaching the bottom
Of bis or her purse!
But who wants to spend that much
money in that many yeArs! Better
give some of it to the poOr-though. by
the way, come to think Of it, there
would be no poor to receive it. Such .
distribution, moreover, would not make
things as pleasant for Us ~ at first sight
appears. II every body had IN endless
purse for SO. .096, 600 years, nobody could
be induced to do any work. and We
should all be Obliged to make our own
shirts and trowsers and things. The
only alternative would be to 60 with
ont clothes and Join Lydia Thompson's
ballet troupe.
Let US remark. parenthetically. that
while writing of these colossal sums Of
money. we become totally oblivious to
the hard, sad fact that our own salary
10 under SIS. 900 year.