The Washington herald., 1909-03-21
OLD CARD TRICK IS REVIVED
Curious Survival Of Pastime in
Vogue 200 Years Ago.
Effort to Make Five Pat Hands
Costs Good Deal of Time
and Patience.

A variation Of puzzle which Is at least
200 years old is on It's rounds in the clubs
just now. The proposition is 10 take a
pack Of cards, shuttle them, cut them.
and then count OF twenty-five taking
them as they come, says the Boston Her
aid
These twenty-five cards are 20 be ar
ranged in the form OF a magic square,
the object being to see how many poker
hands can be made out Of the twelve
rows that the cards will form. horizon
tally. vertically. and diagonally. There
is no limit 20 the number OF times that
cards may be shifted from one part OF
the square 10 another.
Another popular variation Of the same
puzzle is 20 take twenty-five cards and
lay them out in FIVE rows Of five cards
each. supposed to be poker hands. and
then shift them about until each row IS
a pat hand. There is no limit TO the
number Of changes that may be made,
but every one Of the hands must be
technically pat: that is, il must be OF
such character that il Is not necessary
to draw TO Ii. because a discard would
either spoil Il or a draw could not i'm
prove It. or the standard poker hands
only four are pat. straights. fiushes. fulls,
and four Of a kind.
IL Is said by experts at this game that
II is impossible 10 pick out any twenty
I'VE cards from which five pat hands can
not be made, an assertion which has cost
some people a good deal OF time and
patience TO verify. As a rule. the cards
naturally arrange themselves into three
or four pat hands Immediately. but il
usually takes a good deal OF study and
changing about 90 make the fifth hand
without destroying :he others.
A rather curious puzzle which had q
great vogue in the old days was 20 take
the sequence OF cards from the ace 70
the nine. mix them, and throw them face
down on the table Three persons were
then asked each to draw a card. without
showing IL TO the operator, but each was
20 show his card 70 the others who had
drawn.
The operator then told one Of them %
substract enc from double the number OF
pips on his card and multiply the re-
mainder by 5. He was then 20 add the
number OF pips on the second person S
card. To this total he added FIVE. doubled
IL, and took one from it. after which he
had 10 multiply il by FIVE again. adding
10 the total the number OF plps on the
third PERSONS card.
The operator then asked the sum. to
which he mentally added FIVE. giving him
sum consisting always Of three figures
The first OF these three figures is the
number OF pips on the card the first per
son took The second figure VIII equal
the number Of pips on the card taken by
I'D ~
will tel the number Of pips on the third
persons card.
Although this process seems a little
complicated in telling II. Il IS not so in
practice, and the certainty with which
the cards can be named comes IN the
nature Of surprise. especially IL the
operator simply names the figures and
suit, pointing rapidly 20 each person in
turn, as Trey Of diamonds. Six Of dia-
monds Eight OF diamonds"
a very curious puzzle. based or the prop
critics % permutatiOns. which is seldom
seen now. but which well-known busi-
ness man once offered MeIlinI 800 "a
learn. is known as the hoodOo numbers. %
Take three persons and tell the first thar
his hOodOOd number Is 12, the second that
his number is -. and the third thar his
is IS. Then ask each OF them 10 draw a
card from pack which you do not touch.
Let one OF them mix these three cards
and then lay them face Up on the table
for you 70 look at
These three cards must be laid out n
some one 10 six positions. and these siK
permutations Or position are mentally
numbered from 3 10 .. omitting IS. the
three cards being distinguished. say. as
A. B. c. No matter how the cards are
laid out, those drawn by Nos. u, p and Sc
must oecupv one OF these sly nosifinns.