Waterbury Democrat., 1900-10-22
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scheme for use during the preside n tial campaign raises the question what it would meGu if one of the chains could be extended without break to its ideal enh, Of course, that would be impossible, for long before it. would have reached it's end it woald have used up all the visible supply ot postage stamps, paper, ink, pens and human beings. Few persons realize this, however, and few calculate based on the ideal conclusion will amaze by the magnitude of the fig ures involved, says the Chicago Daily News
 Almost eveFy cfiain-ietter plan re- quires each recipient Of letter to write to three of his friends, urging upon each to follow some particular, course of action and to continue the chain by writing to each of his friends similar letter. Each letter is sup posed to be nrnbere according to its position in the chain, from one to 50. For some inScrutabls reason 90 is usually chosen as ths numb Der where the chain breaks of. Thus the per son sending the original letter would number his own "one' and the three he sends two" The third series would be numbered three" and so En up to ''5o." -..
 If every recipient of letter from "ons" to '50'' were to obey instruc- . tions by writing three letters the total number of letters written would be 3,20o, o,0o0, COG, GOO GOO o0o, eco, an in conceivable sum. A nile is 5.28o feet, ;, or 63, 36o inches, long. A postage stamp is one inch long. Three septilIons two hundred scNtiilions of them would make n string 5o,oo0, ,oo0 ,C0o,o0o, ,o00 miles long, or twice the distance from the earth to some of the far censtella- tions of the milky way. As 2 square mile has 4,014.4S9, eco square inches in it. or room for about 5000, ,ooo, ,oOo postage stamps on it, the postage stamps needed for the total number of letters would cover 40,Goo, ,o0o, ,ooo square miles, or surface equal to that of the earth and all the planets of the solar system. Piled SEQ deep, the stamps would cover the earth.H surface, which is in the neigh boEI hood of 2,ooo, ,000. .o00 square miles. 7 1f Lake Michigan were made Of mucila2s there would hardly be enough gum stickum in it to make the stamps ad- here. If the earth were made of paper there would be barely enough paper for the stamps, envelopes and paper needed for the 2,20o, ,oe0, ,0o0,- eco, 1000, COO GOO letters.
 All the gold mined by man since the beginning of time would not pay for the stamps at two cents each. In fact, the sum total of the value of all wealth produced in the history of man would Eot equal the sum of the value of the stamps. Any lad who hsa learned the eIementry principles of multiplication and division can fig ure that out and can make many in- tarssting calculations on the basis of doubling and trebling figures one after tho otAsr. The prob.em ia something like that told in the fable of the crafty lover and tho old king, which is as follows:
 70 king!" pleaded tha ardent lover, after the great po:entate had refused him his daughters hand, grant me, l prithee, one boon ere thou banish, me from thy kingdom, nevernore to behold my adored princess" ....
 Name thy s5boop." demanded the. old king, testily.
 Tt is that thou wilt give me one grain of wheat from thy Storehouse for the first square of the 64 on chessboard, two for the second, four, for the third. and so on. doubling the number of grains for each sue cessive square, and promise me thy daughters hand if thou failest to friyn me the CrajuS' '' declared, fA Ii hHi suitor. a.i tbo 0J
 Thy boon is g-sated," sp=ts his, majesty, with . waYs of his seepter, "and my k;ng,y word is pledged. Be gops!" -.....
 When the roya. keeper Of the gran aries found tha. i. would take more wheat than had becn raised on earth since the great pyramids were reared on the banks O. the Nile he told the king, who. to redeem his word. gave his daughter to the young man who had won her by so sly 2 bargain.