Evening star., 1916-05-07
PU ZZLES,
Copyright. 1861
BY DIR. FRANK CRANE.

Father came home the other day from
town with box under his arm. He
opened it that evening when the family
had gathered around the table in the
sittingroom. and it was found to con-
tain a lot of puzzles. There were all
manner of interlocked rings. and mesh
ed keys, and tangled wires, and funny
shaped blocks of wood, and pewter
anchors, and things and strings"
Uncle Ed was inclined to gibe, re-
marking that this was a nice way for
healthy, grown-up man to employ his
time; and why wasn't he reading Ro-
man history or studying French or
rubbing up on his arithmetic? Uncle
Ed is a school teacher. Father Is a
lawyer.
Whereupon father opened his mouth
and. addressing Ed and mother and the
children and the Hawkins boy. who
was over spending the evening, said as
follows:
I was going along the street and
happened to pass one of these puzzle
stores I stopped and looked in at the
show window. ! always do. This brass
dingus, where you have to get this
ring off this wire, attracted me. !
thought l saw how it's done. ] went
in to buy it. and before | came out /
had purchased a dozen new ones the
clerk showed me.
I'm going to work 'em, going to have
zles and am not ashamed of IL. When
I'm tired and frazzled and don't want
TO do anything I ought, ] like to tackle
a trick like this and go crazy over 1t.
And when | go in l want to go in
deep / don't like to do anything just
a minute. ] hate continued story;
when I read a novel it's got to be at
one sitting if 7 have to stay up all
night for it. So with puzzles. Nothing
is real recreation for the mind unless
you can kind O. get drunk over 1t. I'm
going to do all these puzzles before !
quit. The law business can go hang.
And, speaking of improving your
mind by reading history and things
like that, do you know ] believe that
puzzle solving is the most perfect
is that this here ring puzzle. for in
stance more closely resembles the
problems of real life than any of those
examples in Johnny's arithmetic.
Lies problems are not resolved by
any binominal theorem. or other for
mula that always works: you get 'em
mainly by tinkering at 'em until you
find out the easiest way.
What good is algebra as prepara-
tion for marriage, for instance? Get
staying married Is just a puzzle that
you solve by infinite patience, expert
ment, trying all sorts of tactics, until
YOU learn how to make two diversely
cantankerous dispositions get along
smoothly in the same house.
! never knew law suit that did not
resemble a jig-saw picture more than
an algebra problem. BY the way. why
don't they make any more jig-saw pic
lures? / miss 'em.
A boy broght up on mathematics gets
the notion that success in life Is a mat
ter of knowing rules. When he gets to
business he finds out it is made up of
exceptions. You get the answer to a
business tangle by keeping everlast-
think of. until you hit the right one.
SO 1t is with raising children. I have
six Every one of them Is different
kind of ring puzzle. I used to think
there were rules and definite plans by
which anybody could bring up a child.
Take it from me, that Is a delusion.
You simply have to keep working away
at each one, the same as game of
solitaire, and sometimes 1t comes out
right, and then again sometimes 1t does
not.
When I accumulate a billion dollars
and make my will I'm going to endow
a puzzle chair in my alma mater, so a
boy can get practice at something that
will come in handy when he Is turned
out into a cold and cruel world, and
has to hustle to pay rent and purchase
beans and dress up his woman folks
and get along with his workmen and
beat the other fellow.
There! you see ] got 1t. This here
ring has to be turned over crossways
like that and put through there, and
then 1t comes right off. No. that's not
it, It won't come off. How did I have
the blamed thing. anyway?