Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1891-05-27
OF course. Il & ! fact that Achilles does

overtalxe 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 ono day, one cent the next, one
half cent the next, and SO on. one-haH
each day of the debt Now, although
on the fourth day he only owes one
quarter of q cent, II 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 a puzzle in geometry. 1t does
not require skilled mathematician,
however, to solve It.
It is required to demonstrate (geo-
metrically) that 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. -~ f al
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
hayriclzs. As there is clearly no rea-
son why he should choose one rick
rather than the other, 1t 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-
opher who wastes time over such a
question ought to solve 1t by actual ex-
perience.
Probably every reader has quoted the
proverbs: -''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-
eeption to every rule, there is an ex-
ception to this proverb; therefore,
there is rule without an exception.
The familiar queEy: eff 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 portrait says of 1t;
"Sisters and brothers have none
Yet that mans father is my fathers son."
What relation is the speaker to the
person depicted in the portrait2 The
answer is often given that the portrait
represents the speaker himself, when,
as matter of fact, 1t represents tho
speakers son.
It is seldom, indeed, that the follow
| ing question is answered correctly off
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 Eve days. How many trains
! will a traveller meet in journeying from
| New York to San Francisco?
| About ninety-nine persons out of one
hundred would say five trains, as amatter
of course. The fact is overlooked that
every day during the journey fresh
train is starting from the other end,
while there are five trains on the way
to begin with. Consequently the trav-
eler will meet NOT five trains, but ten.
The following proposition is left for
the reader to think about:
If there are more people in the world
than any one person has hairs upon his
head, then there must exist at least
two persons who possess identically the
same number of hairs, to hair. pv
This same proposition may be applied
to the faces of human beings In the
world II the number of perceptible
| differences between two faces be
not greater than the total number Of
the human race, then there must exist
at least two persons who are to all ap'
pearances exactly alike. When It Is
considered that there are about 1,5oo,-
900, 600 persons in the world and that the
human countenance does not vary, ex
cept within comparatively narrow linn
It's, the truth of the proposition be
comes obvious, without applying the
! logical reasoning of tn. Y. Tribune
, THE ORIGIN OF "KEITER."