Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-07

In a recent issue of The Star was pub
lished knotty arithmetical problem
about which experts disagree 1t appears
that a bookkeeper and crazy man had a
"rnix-up," and that as a result cash
book was mutilated and the daily balance
was obliterated. The bookkeeper recol-
lected the crazy mans method to be as
follows: He divided the old balance by
three, and from the quotient as obtained
he subtracted $50. The remainder he
multiplied by itself and then gave the
bookkeeper a check for $40626. who no.
ticed that when the proper entries were
made in the cash book the new cash ball
ance was just ten times the old cash ball
ance. He says he has had two expert ac-
oountants- figure and that they do not
agree within $50.
A Star reporter submitted the matter to
Theodore L. De Land. civil service ex-
aminer of the treasury, who says:
Try for the old balance either $97. 80
or s44.31, and 1t will be found that both
First, try s97.se Divide by 3 and we
have S32 SO; subtract from this $50 and
we have s23,93:. multiply s23.93 by s239S
and we have $572.6440; or, in commercial
practice, s572.e4; to s572.e add the s4o62 20
and we have S97S.90, or just ten times the
old balance.
Second, try s4481. Divide by and we
I'll
We have s6.OT; multiply s6.07 by s8.O1 and
we have $36.S449: or. in commercial prac-
tice, S36S4 to S36S4 add S406.26 and we
have S443.10. or just ten times the old
balance
The apparent paradox of two balances.
where each satisfies the conditions. is due
to the fact that in the. solution OF the
problem it was necessary to extract the
square root of a number. Every square
number has two roots, numerically equal.
but OF opposite signs; the one being posi-
tive. the other being negative. Hence we
add the root for one answer and subtract
the root for the other"
X
There is a curious shoe-shining sign in
front of barber shop in the midst Of the
downtown business district 1t reads:
''Shoes Shined Inside" The meaning Is
perfectly obvious. namely, that the inside
refers to the shop and not to the shoes, but
the colored man and brother who keeps the
shop, and who went to some expense to
have the sign lettered and framed has been
subjected to considerable good-natured
chatting by his customers. who usually
warn him when they sit down for shine
that they prefer to have 1t done in the
usual way and not after the manner that
his sign indicates. The proprietor was
really little disgruntled the first time that
this criticism of his sign writing was sprung
on him. and was thinking serious of having
It altered. But then he took kindly to the
joke, such as 1t was, and really found that
the sign GREW CUSTOM lH6T6 are d SooO
many office men In the vicinity who have
got into the habit of patronizng that par
ticular shop. and frequently remark that
they think they will ''go for a shave and
have their shoes shined inside"
A suburbanite who enjoys raising flowers,
but who is not thoroughly posted on all OF
the plants. met city friend some few days
ago who exhibited some flower seeds The
former inquired as to the variety of GER
tain kind. and was told that 1t was an aster
seed. Give me some of Them said he.
IAN right" and the man poured dozen
or more into his hand
The recipient was happy in the thought
that he would soon produce some beautiful
flowers. He planted them and they grew
and the plants throve. He wondered why
the tops of the plants always Insisted on
keeping their tops turned toward the SUM-
but attributed it to the surroundings, there
being brick wall near.
It has since developed that the plants the
man had so tenderly fostered in their
growth were sun flowers. and he is Won
dering whether his friend played joke on
him or did not know the difference himself
when he gave him the seeds.
y X
II was amused the other day while sit
ting outside OF my house, on 1 between
18th and 18th Streets said resident
OF that street. ''by the remarks Of a barker
of a big sightseeing automobile or rubber
neck wagon. The car was crowded, and
the megaphonist shouted: The large,
square brick house on the right is the resi-
deuce of the Hon. George Bruce Cortelyou.
Postmaster General of the United States
etc. The house indicated was formerly oc-
cupied in turn by Postmaster General Wan
amaker and Secretary Whitney, and that
is the only reason l can imagine for its
designation as the abode OF Postmaster
General Cortelyou. who. as matter of
fact. lives on Bancroft place, two
miles away"
When Lincoln Beachey was in this Sec
tion some time ago doing stunts with his
airship many people expressed their views
to how it would feel IL the daring aero
nRut would suddenly lose his balance and
tumble to earth.
So once when favorable opportunity
presented itself Beachey was asked il he
had ever come near tumbling from his per-
ilous seat during ascensions For a mo-
ment his face was half darkened with q
frown and then smile broke through,
showing that he remembered an Incident.
Yes" he said. "once l started down
faster than l cared to- but before l had
gotten two hundred feet l again became
the master OF the situation" He then ex-
planned that while he was stepping along