The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-02-10
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WEIGHING AN ELEPHANT.
How an Ingenious Prince Solved a Di
6cult Problem of State.


fcult Problem of State.
About 200 years ago there lived /,
Prince of Mahrattas, in Rindostan
whose name was Shahjee. Princes are
numerous In India, but this particular
prince was long remembered on account
of his benehcence and great wisdom
he seems to have been the most learned
prince of the time, and his advice and
help were always sought in critical mat
ters. Many stories are told of his in
genious settlement of difficulties, and
some of them are certainly curious
Once a very high official in the court
of Prince Shahjee made VOW that if he
succeeded Ia a certain enterprise, he
would distribute to the poor of his dis
trict 1.-The weight of his own elephant in
silver" Elephants were highly priced
by these princes, and each kept the larg-
est and finest for his own use. The Of
tcial's vow, if hasty, was generous, and
perhaps the success Of his undertaking
was worth the price.
The undertaking succeeded; but the
official, willing to keep his oath, was
met by an unexpected difficulty. There
was no possible way of finding the ele-
plants correct weight. No scales in
the country were constructed Of suffi-
Gent power to weigh such enormous
beasts. Elephants were not sold by the
pound, and no need had before arisen
for scales to weigh them. All the learned
and clever men of the court tried in vain
to construct a machine of sufficient
power to weigh the enormous beast. II
did seem probable that the poor of Hin
dostan would have to get along without
that silver. 1t IS possible that the Off
clal had thought Of this objection when
he made the VOW. Indians are crafty.
and this one might have been cunning
enough to leave himself loophole of
escape to prevent parting with his
money.
But if any such notion had occurred to |
him, he was doomed to disappointment
In the matter. The question was re- |
ferred to Shahjee, as all such vexatious
questions were. And it did not take |
him long to find a very simple solution. |
That Is always the way with true genius,
1Ou NhSH' AhO oOlGblOn III Illus Is SO |
simple that every one cries out in
wonder:
why, of course! Why didn't some
body speak of that before?"
Snahjee commanded the elephant to
be conducted along a platform into a
tat bottomed boat which lay by the
water side. When the animal was
safely aboard, he desired the attendants
TO mal'k upon the boats side the exact
height to which the water reached when
the elephant weighed it down. Then
the elephant was taken out and stones
until enough were loaded
into the boat to bring it to the same
water line as when the elephant was the
Then the stones were weighed. If the
scales could not hold all at once, par:
'ould be taken at time, you see, and
70 the elephants weight was correctly
lscertained. 1t is safe to conclude that
he poor Of Hindostan finally got the
liver. A prince so wise must have also
'een just. Whether the official VIII
'aid the money was quite satisfied, his
DRY does not tell us; but we will hope.
or his charitys sake, he was, and as a
ull grown elephant weighs several tons,
he amount distributed among the pooi
II the district must have been very
arge,-Elarper's Young People,