Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-06


with the of two fingers.
And, In turn, each of the de- = 80 I
tectlveS unable to do
For fve ten, fifteen, twenty,
forty, minutes they tried, and -
still the little ball refused to
render itself up to them.
What you ask the clue that this little ball would
furnish them they succeeded in removing it from
the curious little iron face? What the mpenetrabe
mystery behind the little thing that should thus enlist
the combined efforts of two of the most adept French
Sleuths? And the confession that the little iron
face with the small steel ball in it's mouth nothing
than play puzzle with which the two detectives,
in a spare hour passing the time. asked by
the detectives to try my hand at removing the ball
after they had tried time and again and consistently
failed worked hard at the apparently simple task
and also consistently failed.
Luncheon time came and the two detectives and
repaired to the Cafe de Paix With us went the puz
zle After the food and drink had gone the way of all
good food and drink out came the puzzle again.
friend of the detectives joined the party He smiled
at the futile efforts of three grownup men directed
against the little steel ball @Here, he CRIED "give
the thing It's easy rolling off log-when you
know howl
And in fy, using only two fingers the rules in
sisted the newcomer lifted out the ball. And he
lifted out he explained to that it had taken
exactly eleven months to work the puzzle that this
spent his life figuring out analogous ways in which
to win the perplexed smile of half dozen nations that
there many like this man, who spent their days
and weeks and months and years devisng tricks and
toys and puzzles that would fool and amuse mankind
and that the way get the steel ball of the hole
rdiculousy easy. All you had to do tilt it
toward the right with one finger and quickly pick it
out before fell back into its nest 3Only explained
the man, you men never stopped to look and
that the right side of the mouth a bit lower
than the other side. The who invented the
puzzle realized your weakness. He knew that -
when you told to get the ball out you
would center your attention on the ball, and for
get all about the place where it rested. He .
doped out human nature, after working !
the problem for almost year, and he fooled,
among other thousands of persons, two of our
presumably sharp-wtted and eagle-eyed de-
tectives along with the rest
The detectives smiled and looked bit El
sheepish. They had been tricked and foiled ia
by ten-cent puzzle. And, for myself,
Immediately got in touch with the newcomer -
and laid out lines that, when followed re-
suited in the following story relating the
curious profession of modern puzzle makers.
THERE lives in Paris man named Roget. M
No one has heard of him; that is,
outside the small handful of persons who
directly associated with him in his lifework. And
yet this Roget has for years been making a
siderable part of France, England, Germany Austria
and the United States test its ingenuityand, testing
smile. He is what may be termed one of the leading
Edisons of the tencent SMILE of the leaders of the
group of inventors who spend their years not in at
tempting to arrive at stunning electrical and mechanical
innovations that will assist in the progress OF the
world but in the invention of apparently insignificant
tricks and jokers and puzzles that will assist in the
widening of the worlds SMILE in the progress of its
amusement. Beyond the fact that Sam Lloyd devised
many braintickllng, eyepqung puzzles that set the
whole United States to scratching its head in perpexy
during his time, how many of you there who like
the confident detectives have stopped to think
that the lnventlng of these puzzles not the hap
hazard pursuit of haphazard persons but the definite
profession of group of men like Roget who approach