The Louisiana Democrat., 1891-05-27
HEgRY /, Bl0SSAT, Business Manager

overtake the tortoise, notwithstand-
ing this apparently logical reasoning to
the contrary. The conclusion of that
paradox is somewhat different from the
following, although in some ways sim.
liar to it:
A man owes four cents. He pays two
cents one day, one cent the next, one
half cent the next, and so on, one-half
each day of the debt. Now, although
on the fourth day he only owes onel
quarter OF cent, il he should be
endued with the gift of immortality,
and he should continue to pay the debt
at the same ratio, he could never pay
all of it. There would always remain
that half OF the former days payment.
providing he had counters small enough
to make the payments.
Here is puzzle in geometry. 1t does
+ not require a skilled mathematician,
however, to solve it.
1t is required to demonstrate (geo-
mctrically) that a larger crop of corn
can be grown on an acre of level
ground than on an acre of slanting
ground. The stalks of corn are sup
posed to grow perpendicularly in both
cases, and all other particulars, such as
fertility of the soil and the like, to be
the same.
The ingenious reader will probably
have no trouble in solving the problem
without assistance.
Philosophers, according to the latest
devices, have not been able to decide
what would be the fate of donkey
placed exactly midway between two
hayricks. AS there is clearly no rea-
son why he should choose one rick
rather than the other, it is presumed
that, logically, he would starve to
| death.
The cynic's reply to this proposition
may, perhaps. be as good as any that
could be found: that is, that the philos-
ophcr who wastes time over such a
question ought to solve it by actual ex-
perience.
Probably every reader has quoted the
proverb: "There is an exception to
every rule" several hundred thousand
times during his or her life and never
thought that the proverb contradicted
itself. For, clearly, if there is an ex-
ception to every rule, there is. an ex-
ception to this proverb; therefore,
there is rule without an exception
The familiar query: "If Dicks father
is Toms son, what relation is Dick to
Tom?" is easier of solution than the
other one closely allied to it, which
runs as follows: A man standing be.
fore u portrait says of it:
Sisters and brothers have none
Yet that mans father is my fathers son.
What relation is the speaker to the
person depicted in the portrait? The
answer is often given that the portrait
represents the speaker himself, when
as matter of fact, it represents the
speakers son.
1t is seldom, indeed, that the follow
ing question is answered correctly of
hand:
A train starts daily from San Fran
cisco to New York and one daily from
New York to San Francisco, the jour
ney lasting five days. How many trains
will traveller meet in journeying from
New York to San Francisco?
About ninety-nine persons out of ont
hundred would say five trains, as matte
of course. The fact is overlooked tina
every day during the journey a fresl
train is starting from the other end
while there are five trains on the wa,
to begin with. Consequently the trav
eler will meet not five trains, but ten.
The following proposition is left fo
the reader to think about:
If there are more people in the worl'
than any one person has hairs upon hi
head, then there must exist at leas
two persons who possess identically tn
same number Of hairs, to a hair.
This same proposition may be applies
to the faces of human beings in tn
world If the number of perceptibl
differences between two faces b
not greater than the total number O
the human race, then there must exis
at least two persons who are to all az
pearances exactly alike. When 1t !
considered that there are about 1.5oO,
600, 900 persons in the world and that tn
human countenance does not vary, ea
cept within comparatively narrow lin
it's, the truth of the proposition be
comes obvious, without applying tn
logical reasoning of tn. Y. Tribune
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