Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-01-01
MAGIC OF NO. 7
IS MYSTIC YINC
REMARKABLE AWE IN WHICH
THE NUMBER is HELDBY
PEOPLE OF THE WORLD
{ X A M PIES SHOWN
History Indicates Power Has Been
Constant-Some Curious Seven
Combinations in Life,
Mathematics, Etc.

The mineral No. is magic and it is
surprising the remarkable awe ii
which this simple number is held His
tory from the beginning of the world
down to the present time indicates
| that the power of the tailed sign has
been constant and the popularity Of
i the character is found in so many
| combinations. Nebulous superstition
and solid science meet and mingle II
the magic seven. The seven visible
ages of earth's creation may be tinge6
with preconceived ideas from the ac-
count in Genesis, the seven ages OF
man may be an arbitrary division de-
that nations and races have never
heard of or reject the Mosaic account
regulate their daily lives in weekly
cycles of seven days shows that this
number has a universal and unique
| Importance in the life of man.
In the Baby.
With cry the baby proclaims it's adj
vent, but not until seven times seven
days can it shed tears, nor does the
smile of intelligence appear until
| seven weeks have passed. One hall
the births die before they reach the age
| of seven, and the Good Book fixes the
| span of life at ten times seven years
Even the atavistic influences inethe
human family run in cycles Of seven.
| One In seven of the births has eyes
| of color different from the parental
and bears the optical hue of a remote
ancestor
Religious creed cannot overcome the
influence of the magic number. In
both England and France per cent
of the births are illegitimate.
In the artificial epochs that the ne
!
the life of man, the number seven
holds a conspicuous place. Infants are
held to be incapable of a knowledge of
good and evil or Of contributing to
their own support till seven years of
age, and the male does not come under
the full dignit-- and responsibility of
manhood till three times seven.
A citizen cannot become president
until he is five times seven years of
age; in most states seven years open,
adverse and peaceable possession
gives a title to real estate; a home
steader" is allowed seven wears to
proved up and twice seven months to
commute a cash entry.
In Regard to Crime.
The morals and the affections of the
human family deem dominated by the
lnsldous insistent seven. A tendency
to crime Is greatest at four times
seven, when the greatest stature IS
reached then declines until 1t ceases
at nine times seven. In the face of the
strongest circumstantial evidence, the
accused was acquitted in a French
court for the reason that his life had
been blameless until that age. It was
held that man would not fall after
nine times seven years of exemplary
life.
The average physical strength of
woman is seven elevenths that of man
and her tendency to crimes by vlo-
lence, compared to that of man, is in
the same ratio. When driven to the
awful extremity of self destruction
one-seventh as many women as men
commit suicide by violent means.
Woman's changes in the matrimonial
lottery are greatest at three times
seven; then decrease until seven times
seven, when they practically cease.
me great American lakes are sub
Ject to tidal ebb and flow at intervals
OF seven years: the cause of which has
SO far detied solution, but the years Of
highest and lowest water are seasons
OF greatest rainfall in the lake re-
gion.'
IN the practical sciences seven holds
commanding position; when a land
surveyor wishes TO retrace line Of
which the variation is lost or unknown
he has recourse to the rule of seven"
In Measurements.
FOR one-fourth mile. twice the num-
Der OF links in error, minus one
seventh, is the correction in minutes
for the true course. For one-half mile,
the number of links in error minus
one-seventh is the correction, and for
a mile half the number minus one
seventh, is the correction.
The number of tons Of rails required
70 lay mile Of track is found by null
tlplying the weight per yard by eleven
and dividing by seven. and where
there is a double turnout" from the
main track, the number of the middle
frog" is seven tenths that of the 9TH
er two
When a sawyer wishes to know the
size of the largest square timber that
ne can cut from log, he multiplies
the diameter by seven and points off
one figure; when he wishes to find the
smallest log from which to cut a given
size square piece without loss he di-
V1des the side of the piece by seven to
get the diameter: the side of square
is en-tenths it's diagonal, and the
of circle is for all
practical purposes three and one
seventh times the diameter.
In Mathematics.
But while the magic number" lends
it's aid readily to the solution of prob
lens constantly arising in daily life, it
repels familiarity in the form of figure
puzzles. 1t is easy to ascertain by in
spection If a number is Invisible byi
any of the. other digits, but seven re-
uses to come under any rule The only
way to find if number Is Invisible by
seven is to try It,
Back to the man whose fitful slum-
Der was filled with dreams of the
magic number we look in vain in solu-
ion. 1t is the most potent of the num-
oers in Holy Writ. The Savior regard
I'd seven with awe, and the Apoca-
ypse was written for the benefit of
the Seven Churches of Asia" Joy
and grief, pain and pleasure were
measured by seven.
The seventh heaven was the acme of |
celestial pleasure: the limit of earthly
disaster was when: Seven women |
hall take hold of one man, saying, |
We will wear our own appareli''