Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1903-10-31
HOW OLD IS ANN?
A Question Which Is Filling the
Territorial Insane Asylum.

Sheriff Joe Roberts of Yavapai
county came to town yesterday with
a man who had been committed to the
insane asylum. The day before Sheriff
Henry Lovin of Mohave county, was
in town on the same errand. When
ever three days pass without the ap
pearance here of Sheriff Frank Muir
ply of Pima or Sheriff A. V. Lewis of
Cochise with an insane person, man or
woman, there is a fear that something
is wrong in their respective counties.
, Ordinarily the number CT the insane
/ lessons with the approach of cooler
weather but this year the number is
| increasing. 1t has been learned that
most of the victims have been trying
to find out how old Ann is.
Regarding the insidious danger of
/ that problem an eastern paper has the
following:
Mr. warbeck of Newark, has made
himself famous as Devery; he will go
| into history to rank with Daniel Pratt,
the great American traveller. and the
| inventor of the fifteen puzzle. and the
Eother persons who have tormented a
peaceful and lawabiding populace. The
! Philadelphia North American has aid
ed and abetted his plot against the
| peace of mind of the American people.
Mr.. warbeck wants TO know how old
Ann is, and he supplies this data:
Mary is "a years old. Mary is twice
as old. as Ann was when Mary was
as old as Ann. is now. How old is
Ann?
The American people are very
~ s.,w,
Hundreds of them have sent answers
to the newspapers The difficulty is
that the answers do not agree. and 50
Warbeck's nights continue sleepless.
Apparently he has some special reason
for wanting to know and is certainly
I very much worried oyer the subject.
7 MANY newspaper readers have de-
clared that Ann was sweet IS. and
have proved it by saying one-half of
16 is s. and s added to l6 gives Mary :
age But there seems to be something
rather sorced and illogical in this line
of reasoning Others declare that the
! question is too simple TO bother. about
that Ann is Y years old; one-half of
Mary's age they say. IS the true an
! swer But this doesn't seem to prove
Il either. An ingenious mathematician
! works cut the answer by algebra for
the Louisville Courier-Journal and
finds that Ann is 1897 years old: but
this procedure seems lacking in &C
curacy, though it is complex enough
, to satisfy the most eXactinS. Some o
, the western puzzle solvers think AnT
is IA. Mary was twice as old as Ann
; "a divided by gives u; add because
there were two girls and the answer i:
II. But other western mathematician
declare that Ann is IS; these say thai
half of "a is IL; half of II is and
times gives AIMS age. But why dc
they multiply by 8? There are two
girls. not three. Still others assert tina
Is is the true answer, but we are un-
liable to understand how they Arrive al
this conclusion.
The problem is ridiculously simple
there is no reason for the slightes
bother over it by people who have
been to school and still remembel
something about addition and subtrac.
ton and have available remnants OF
old time reasoning powers. But afte
ALL how old is Ann? And let's see yoJ
prove it.
The problem locks not only plausible
on the face of it. but also easy where
as it is impossible. All the data ha:
net been supplied and there is con-
sequently no use in breaking up hom
ties and rupturing the friendships o
years in discussing it, it would b,
just as reasonable if it were stated a.
follows: Mary is "a years old. MARY
is twice as old as Ann was when Mary
was old as Ann is now. How old is tn,
, man in the moon ?"