Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-03-11
NUTS HARD rO CRACK
QUESTIONS WHICH EXCITE THE iN-
OUlSlTlvE MIND.
bukward Queries Which the Posers
of the Past Propounded = Emperor
Ttberius an EARLY Example Pux-
cling Dreams of Chinaman.

cling Dreams of q Chinaman.
Bacon doubtless had In his mind the
proponnder of unanswerable questions
when. III his essay on Discourse" he
advised all seekers after knowledge to
avoid putting troublesome queries, n
practice which he declared was fit only
for poser. The poser. however, has
existed time out Of mind. He is TO be
found among all classes Of men, from
enlnerors down to private individuals
who prepare scientific couundrums.
somewhat early example OF The
poser pure and simple was rhe Elm.
peror Tiberius. The unfortunate phi.
losoplers whom lie used to keep for
pastime In his island retreat ut Caprae
were continually being plagued by alb
sufu questions. Suetonius tells aus that
! the emperor used TO demand OF these
wise men whom lIecubR's mother was.
| lf they refused To commit themselves,
the family tree Of the Elecuhas not hav.
ing come down 10 postcrily. the EN-.
| pcror was wont Ia WAX wruth at their
ignorance ana threaten them with cur.
| pofal punishment IL on the following
day they did not come prepared with
an answer. Other favoritc questions OF
his We're: What name did Achilles
pass under when he sojourned with the
virgins at ScyrosF' What particular
song were the sirens. when seated on
the rocks. in the habit of chanting In
order to allure travellers to iheil
DEATH" In vain was 1t for these wise
| men to invent fictitious answers. for
the emperor invariably asked for au,
thorities. and IL chapter and verse were
not forthcoming some ingenious pun.
lshment fell to the lot Of those unfor.
tunate manufacturers OF history
Perhaps II was because time hung
heavily on their hands that the holy
men OF the church during the middle
ages pestcrcd their spiritual supporters
with foolish questions drawn from the
Bible. a bishop In hose days had To
Know. or. rather. appear 10 know. even
more than Alacaulay's omnlscient
schoolboy. No small portion Of his
time, IL would seem. was spent I'm en-.
dearoring 10 find answers 10 such oues.
tons as the Following: What was lie
use of the ladder which Jacob saw In
his vision. seeing that the angels had
wings and so did moi require any other
means OF descent from heaven Ia
earthT' What kind Of implements did
Adam and Eve use when they sewcd
the hg leaves together anil made them.
selves aprons:"
The regal as we'll as the clerical mind
delighted In propnundine abstruse
| questions. Was. for Instance. a man
VINO cnme ms a Stranger 10 il city and
peing IN extreme want OF food justified
In stealing in order TO save his life?
Grotins. l'nlfendorf and IL whole host
OF foreign iurisis declare in The anirma
tive. Cicero. Hale. Htac! ana
others take HE opposite side. The
great Bacon hmself suggests nice
point. IL two persons are shipwreckpd
and get Oh the same plank. hui Rna il
Is not able 10 save them both. is either
justified if, I'm order to save his life, he
rhrusts the other from it:
Scientific men. loo. have raised some
curious questions for posterity TO argue
over. Many or these, however, are
similar to TINT which Charles II. PRO.
pounded 10 The Royal society-vlZ. If
fish Is put mto.a globe full TO the
brlm with water. why Is il that the wa
ter docs moi overflow" The society.
being loyal subjects. took Il decent time
to look into this profound question and
then Informed his majesty, In the polit-
est terms which they could muster.
that under the given circumstances. the
water would overflow. There is that
ancient question. what would happen
If an irresistible force came into con.
tact with an immovable body:"
Equally fruitless is the speculation
rs 10 which came first. the hen or the
egg. In spite OF the old Greek saying,
The beginning of all life is an egg.'
we usually imagine hens eggs nj least
to have been laid by a hen. Does a
water wheel run faster at night than in
The day." The savants even Of Ger,
many have studied this nice point and
own there Is no satisfactory answer.
Again, Does Il man weigh more at
the equator than at the north poleT'
and How do birds soar without NOV
ing Their wingsT are both questions
which seem 10 imbitter the lives of
many apparently sane people
There is Il story TO the effect that
certain gentleman. being commission.
Ell TO write an article on Chinese met.
aphyslcs. looked up the words "ChI-
nese" and metaphysics" in the En-
cEciopaedia Britannica and combined
MS information. Considerlng the uues.
tons which the metaphysicians Of Chi.
ma are In the habit OF proponndjns. we
think the gentleman did wisely In spar.
Ing his readers an introduction to tile
subtleties Of the Celestial Intellect AS
an example Of what they thus escaped
we append the following: A certain