Part 4
“Well, I can’t afford to lose the money,” said the harness-maker. “We’ll have to find out who took it and send him the bill. Ah!” he added, with a smile, after a moment’s reflection, “I have it. We’ll charge it up to the account of every one of our customers who keep open accounts here. Those who didn’t get it will refuse to pay, so we shall be all right.”
“The book-keeper was instructed to do this, and the bills in due course of time went out. Some weeks later the harness-maker asked the book-keeper if he had succeeded in discovering who the customer was.
“No, sir,” he replied, “and we never shall, I fear, sir, for about 40 people have paid for it already without saying a word.”
A CYCLE CATCH.
Tie a cord to the pedal of a bicycle, such pedal to be the one that is the nearer to the ground, and, standing behind the back wheel, pull the cord, when, strange as it appears, the machine will come towards you, although everyone would first imagine that the bicycle would move forward. How is this?
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One ought to have dates at one’s finger ends seeing they grow upon the palms.
TO TELL THE SPOTS ON THE BOTTOM CARDS OF SIX HEAPS.
Allow anyone to choose six cards from a full pack. Tell him the court cards count 10, and the other cards according to their pips. Having made his selection, tell him to lay the chosen cards upon the table face downwards, without allowing you to see them, and to place upon each as many cards as pips are required to make 12. Whilst he is doing so, you should be out of the room or blindfolded. On your return he hands you the cards left over, and you have to tell the total number of spots on the six bottom cards.
Suppose he had chosen 10, 6, 1, K, 3 and 7, which totals 37, now on the 10, he would place two cards to make 12; on the 6, he would place 6; and on the 1, 11 would be placed, and so on. On receiving the remaining cards from him you pretend to be looking through them carefully, but you simply want to know how many he has given you, which in the above example would be 11. To this number you add 26, which gives 37, the total spots required.
Should there not be enough cards left on hand to complete the six heaps, you can ask him how many cards he is short of, and this number, subtracted from 25, will give the total. It is better not to allow the person to choose six cards right off at the beginning, but for him to shuffle and cut the pack as he pleases, and to take the cards as they come.
BOOK-KEEPING COMMANDMENTS.
By _Ledger_ laws, what I receive Is _Debtor_ made to those who give. _Stock_ for my debts must Debtor be, and Creditor by Property. _Profit and Loss_ accounts are plain, I Debit loss and Credit gain.
57. How far does a man walk while planting a field of corn 285 feet square, the rows being 3 ft apart from the fence?
A MATTER OF OPINION.
A man walks round a pole on the top of which is a monkey. As the man moves, the monkey turns on the top of the pole, so as still to keep face to face with the man. Now, when the man has gone round the pole, has he or has he not gone round the monkey?
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TRY IT.
Take the number 15, multiply it by itself, and you have 225; now multiply 225 by itself, then multiply that product by itself, and so on until 15 products have been multiplied by themselves in turn. The final product called for contains 38,539 figures (the first of which is 1412). Allowing three figures to an inch, the answer would be over 1070 feet long. To perform the operation would require about 50,000,000 figures. If they can be made at the rate of 100 a minute, a person working 10 hours a day for 300 days in each year would be 28 years on the job.
PATHETIC ADVERTISING.
“Died, on the 11th ultimo., at his shop in Fleet-street, Mr. Edward Jones much regretted by all who knew and dealt with him. As a man, he was amiable; as a hatter, upright and moderate. His virtues were beyond all price, and his beaver hats were only £1 4s each. He has left a widow to deplore his loss, and a large stock to be sold cheap for the benefit of his family. He was snatched to the other world in the prime of life, and just as he had concluded an extensive purchase of felt, which he got so cheap that the widow can supply hats at a more moderate charge than any house in London. His disconsolate family will carry on his business with punctuality.”
58. In one corner of a hexagonal grass paddock each of the sides of which is 40 yards long, a horse is tethered with a rope 50 yards long. How many square yards can he graze over?
59. A and B start together from the same point on a circular path, and walk till they both arrive together at the starting point. If A performs the circuit in 224 seconds and B in 364 seconds, how many times do they each walk round?
“IF.”
If you could sell the sea at 1d. per 10,000 gallons, it would bring in 155 billion pounds. If you were to try and pump it dry, at the rate of 1,000 gallons per second, it would take 12,000 million years. There is always an “if” in these things!
60. A lady met a gentleman in the street. The gentleman said “I think I know you.” The lady said he ought, as his mother was her mother’s only daughter. What relation was he?
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A CRICKET “CATCH.”
61. In an eleven, when the ninth batsman goes in, how many wickets have to fall before all are out?
62. A boat’s crew can row eight miles an hour in still water; what is the speed of a river’s current if it takes them 2 hours and 40 minutes to row 8 miles up and 8 miles down?
BAD WRITING.
In a well-known firm in Sydney the clerks are presided over by a rather impetuous manager, whose violent fits of temper very often dominate his reason. For instance, the other day he was wiring into one of them about his bad work.
“Look here, Jones,” he thundered, “this won’t do. These figures are a perfect disgrace to a clerk! I could get an office boy to make better figures than those, and I tell you I won’t have it! Now, look at that five, it looks just like a three. What do you mean, sir, by making such beastly figures? Explain!”
“I--er beg your pardon, sir,” suggested the trembling clerk, his heart fluttering terribly, “but--er well, you see, sir, it is three.”
“A three?” roared the manager; “why, it looks just like a five!”
63. Write 24 with three equal figures, neither of them being 8.
THE WRONG COLUMN.
64. A clerk, while posting from day book to ledger, transposed an amount by placing the pence in the shilling column and the shillings in the pence column, thereby causing an error of 9s. 2d. With what amount could he make such a mistake?
EDUCATIONAL VAGARIES.
_Extracts from Reports of Country Provisional Schools._
School No. 1: On roll, 1 boy, 1 girl; total, 2. Average attendance, 0·6 boy, 0·6 girl; total, 1·2.
School No. 2: On roll, 2 boys, 2 girls; total 4. Average attendance, 1·6 boys, 1·3 girls; total, 2·9.
School No. 3: On roll, 2 boys, no girls. Average attendance, 0·8 boys.
By the above we see the public are paying for a teacher to provide education for eight-tenths of a boy!
65. Three-fourths of a cross, and a circle complete, Two semi-circles at a perpendicular meet; Next add a triangle which stands on two feet, Two semi-circles and a circle complete.
A DISPUTE.
66. Two men have an equal interest in a grindstone, which is 5 ft. 6 in. in diameter. The centre of the stone, to the extent of a diameter of 18 in., is useless, and not to be taken into account.
Required to find the depth to which the first partner may be allowed to grind away from the stone in order to leave an equal share of the stone to the second partner.
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BANK NOTE VERSE.
On the backs of bank notes one sometimes meets with strange and peculiar sentiments. “Go, poor devil, get thee gone,” is the kind of parting salutation most in favour; but the following is chiefly notable as a rare instance of the bank-note rhymester parting with his money in a Christian spirit:
Farewell, my note, and wheresoe’er ye wend, Shun gaudy scenes, and be the poor man’s friend; You’ve left a poor one--go to one as poor; And drive despair and hunger from his door.
An Irish merchant, who felt annoyed at a complaining letter he received from a customer, wrote back:--“We decline to acknowledge the receipt of yours of the 15th.”
If to-day is the to-morrow of yesterday, is to-day the yesterday of to-morrow?
67. Suppose that four poor men build their houses around a pond, and that afterwards four evil-disposed rich men build houses at the back of the poor people--as shown in illustration--and wish to have a monopoly of the water: how can they erect a fence so as to shut the poor people off from the pond?
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SOME TRADE SIGNS AND MOTTOES.
Many curious inscriptions are to be found displayed on shop windows, office doors, etc.
Here are a few:--
A Pawnbroker.--“Mine is a business of the greatest interest.”
A Flourishing Bootmaker.--“Don’t you wish you were in my shoes?”
A Publican.--“Good beer sold here, but don’t take my word for it.”
A Hairdresser.--“Two heads are better than one.”
A Carter.--“Excelsior--hire and hire.”
A Baker.--“The staff of life I do supply, by it you live and so must I.”
A Butcher.--“We kill to dress, not dress to kill.”
A Builder.--“I send innocent men to the ‘scaffold.’”
A Clerk.--“I possess more pens than pounds.”
A Dentist.--“I look ‘down in the mouth’ and am happy.”
A Doctor.--“I take pains to remove pains.”
A Hatter.--“I shelter ‘the heir apparent’ and protect ‘the crown.’“
A Photographer.--“Mine is a developing business and mounting rapidly.”
A Solicitor.--“I study the law--and the profits.”
An Undertaker.--“No complaints from our customers.”
RIVAL BUTCHERS.
T. JONES.--“Sausages, 3d. per lb.--to pay more is to be robbed.”
J. SMITH.--“Sausages, 4d. per lb.--to pay less is to be poisoned.”
A French confectioner, proud of his English, and wishing to let his customers know that their wants would be attended to without delay, put out the notice, “Short weights here.”
A shopkeeper in the old country had printed under his name “The little rascal.” When asked the meaning of this strange sign, he replied, “It distinguishes me from the rest of my trade, who are all great rascals.”
On an Office Door.--“Shut this door, and as soon as you have done talking on business, serve your mouth the same way.”
“SHE.”
68. A country spark addressed a charming “she,” In whom all lovely features did agree; But being void of numbers, as doth show, Desirous was the lady’s age to know. “My age is such that if multiplied by three, Two-sevenths of the product triple be: The square root of two-ninths of that is four;-- Tell me my age or never see me more.”
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RUNNING SHORT.
69. A vessel on a 3 months’ trip has provisions for 4 months, but the stores are served out as if the voyage had to be completed in 3 months. At the end of 2 months, it is discovered that the voyage will take 3½ months. To what proportion must the rations be reduced for the remaining time?
In a certain town in the North of Queensland, a class of young men was formed to receive lessons in short methods of business arithmetic. The teacher was endeavouring to knock into the head of a young man that the cost of a dozen articles is the same number of shillings that a single article costs in pence. To illustrate the rule, he gave the following example:--
“If I buy 1 dozen apples at 1d each, then the dozen will cost 1 shilling; and if I buy 1 dozen oranges at 2 pence each, the dozen will cost 2 shillings. Now, supposing I buy 1 dozen at 3 pence each, how much will the dozen cost?”
YOUNG MAN (after two minutes’ reflection)--“Are they apples or oranges?”
A DRAUGHTS PUZZLE.
70. Ten draughtsmen are placed in a row. The puzzle is to lift one up and passing over two at a time (neither more nor less) to place it on the top, or to “crown” the next one, continuing in this fashion until all are crowned. In passing over a piece already crowned, it is to be reckoned as two pieces.
71. In the centre of a pond 20 feet square there is a small island, on which is growing a tree. Two boys notice there is a bird’s nest on the top of the tree, but the difficulty is to reach the island, as they have 2 short planks that only measure 8 feet each. After a little while they hit on an ingenious plan, and, without nailing the planks together, manage to place them so they can reach the tree in safety. How did they do it?
TEACHER--“Now, I want all the children to look at Tommy’s hands, and see how clean they are, and see if all of you cannot come to school with cleaner hands. Tommy, perhaps, will tell us how he keeps them so nice?”
TOMMY--“Yes ’m; mother makes me wash the breakfast things every morning.”
BRAIN-BEWILDERERS.
An amusing periodical got up by the boys of a certain college gives a capital skit on the style of examination-papers frequently presented for the torture of pupils. Here are a few examples:--
Supposing the River Murray to be three cubits in breadth--which it isn’t--what is the average height of the Alps, stocks being at nineteen and a-half?
If in autumn apples cost fourpence per pound in Melbourne, and potatoes a shilling a score in spring, when will greengages be sold in Brisbane at three-halfpence each, Sydney oranges being at a discount of five per cent.?
If two men can kill twelve kangaroos in going up the right side of a rectangular turnip-field, how many would be killed by five men and a terrier pup in going down the other side?
If a milkmaid four feet ten inches in height, while sitting on a three-legged stool, took four pints of milk out of every fifteen cows, what was the size of the field in which the animals grazed, and what was the girl’s name, age, and the occupation of her grandfather?
If thirty thousand millions of human beings have lived since the beginning of the world, how many may we safely say will die before the end of it? N.B.--This example to be worked out by simple subtraction, algebra, and the rule of three. Compare results.
72. Find two numbers in the proportion of 9 to 7 such as the square of their sum shall be equal to the cube of their difference.
ARITHMETICAL THOUGHT READING.
A great deal of fun can be derived from puzzles of this nature--they are endless in variety--and as they depend upon some principle in arithmetic should be easily remembered.
Example 1. Think of a number, say 5 Double it 10 Add 5 15 Add 12 27 Take away 3 24 Halve it 12 Take away number first thought of--5 The answer will _always_ be 7
Example 2. Think of a number, say 8 Square it 64 Subtract the square of the number which is 1 less than the number thought of--that is 7--whose square is 49--leaves 15 Add 1 16
When this last number is told, halve it, and you will arrive at the original number--8.
Example 3. Think of a number, say 9 Multiply by 3 27 Add 2 29 Multiply by 3 87 Add 2 more than the number thought of (11) 98
The number of _tens_ in the last answer gives the number thought of, viz., 9.
Example 4. Think of a number, say 7 Multiply by 3 21 [If product be odd] add 1 22 Halve it 11 Multiply by 3 33 [If product be odd] add 1 34 Halve it 17
Ask how many 9’s are in the remainder, when, of course, the reply will be 1.
The secret is to bear in mind whether the first sum be odd or even. If odd first time, retain 1 in the memory; if odd a second time, 2 more, making 3; to which add 4 for every 9 contained in the remainder.
In the above example, there being only one 9 in 17, this gives us 4, which added to 3 produces the number thought of--7. When even simply add 4 for every 9 in remainder.
HOW TO TELL THE AGE OF A PERSON.
Tell a person to write down the figure which represents the day of the week on which he was born;--thus, 1 for Sunday, 2 for Monday, and so on; next, the figure for the month--1 for January, 2 for February, &c.; then the date of the month; now tell him to multiply the number thus formed by 2, add 5, multiply by 50, and then to add his age, and from this sum to subtract 365; now you ask him for the remainder, to which you _secretly_ add 115.
The result will be:--The first figure, the day of the week; the next, the month in the year; the next, the date of the month; and the last, the age in years.
Example:
A person was born on Wednesday, 11th June, 1863.
Write 4, as Wednesday is 4th day of the week. " 6, as June is 6th month of year. " 11, as that is the date given, 11th June.
The figures then are-- 4611 2 ---- 9222 5 ---- 9227 50 ------ 461350 35 Age ------ 461385 365 ------ 461020 115 -------- 4-6-11-35
A GOOD FIGURE TRICK.
Tell a person to set down a sum of money less than £12, in which the pounds exceed the pence; next to reverse this amount, making pence pounds, etc., and to subtract the one from the other, then set beneath the result itself reversed, adding the last two lines together, when you will tell him the result, which will _always_ be £12 18s. 11d.
Example: £10 8 7 7 8 10 -------- 2 19 9 9 19 2 -------- £12 18 11
If the performer be blindfolded the trick looks very mystifying; he should not, however, repeat it, for many would soon discover the secret, but as the peculiarity is not confined to money, other illustrations can be given if required--for instance--if a number of yds., ft. and inches (less than 12 yds.) be operated on, the final answer will always be 12 yds. 1 ft. 11 inches; and if a number of cwts., qrs. and lbs. (less than 28 cwts.) be chosen, the answer will always be 28 cwts. 2 qrs. 27 lbs.
“Girls” and “Boys.”
At a school examination, the inspector set the girls to write an essay on “Boys” and the boys to write one on “Girls.”
The following was handed in by a girl of 12:--
“The boy is not an animal, yet they can be heard to a considerable distance. When a boy hollers he opens his big mouth like frogs, but girls hold their tongues till they are spoken to, and then they answer respectable, and tell just how it was. A boy thinks himself clever because he can wade where it is deep, but God made the dry land for every living thing, and rested on the seventh day. When the boy grows up he is called a husband, and then he stops wading and stays out at nights, but the grew up girl is a widow and keeps house.”
One of the boys sent in:--
“Girls are very stuck up and dignified in their manners and behaveyour. They make fun of boys, and then turn round and love them. Girls are the only people that have their own way every time. Girls is of several thousand kinds, and sometimes one girl can be like several 1000 girls if she wants anything. I don’t beleive they ever killed a cat or anything. They look out every nite and say, “Oh, ain’t the moon lovely!” Thir is one thing I have not told, and that is they always now their lessons bettern boys. This is all I now about girls, and father says the less I now the better for me.”
73. The sum of the squares of two consecutive numbers is 1105. What are the numbers?
A PROBLEM FOR PLUMBERS.
74. A requires a tank in size capable of holding the quantity of water that would be caught from the roof of his house in a fall of 3 inches of rain. The roof (commonly called a “hip-roof”) is at an angle of 45 degrees to the wall plates. The length of house is 30 ft., breadth 24 ft., and length of ridge to roof 6 ft. But the eaves of the iron used for the roofing were so large as to increase its (the roof’s) dimensions by 3 inches all round, and the spouting added another 3 inches all round. Find the number of gallons the tank would require to contain; also dimensions of tank to be made so that its height must exceed its diameter by no more than 12 inches?
“The ’embers of a dying year”--November, December.
TO TELL THE COMPASS BY A WATCH.
Hold the watch face-downwards above your head with the hour hand pointing towards the sun, and half-way between the hour hand and the figure XII will be the North.
75. Divide 100 into two parts, so that a quarter of one exceeds one-third of the other by 11.
STRANGE BUT TRUE.
76. Two persons were born at the same place at the same moment of time; after an age of 50 years they both died also at the same place and at the same instant, yet one had lived 100 days more than the other. How was this remarkable event achieved?
ASTRONOMICAL.
77. The planet Jupiter is five times further from the sun than our earth, and 1331 times larger. Assuming that the diameter of the earth is 7912 miles, find Jupiter’s diameter, circumference and area.
AN UNSOLVED PROBLEM.
One of the commercial questions of the day which remains to this time unsettled, is whether the fact of a gentleman having NO TIN may not have something to do with the answer he invariably sends of NOT IN when anyone calls on him with a bill.
78. Find nine numbers in arithmetical progression--common difference 3--whose sum is equal to 5670, and arrange in a square, each side containing three different numbers, so that, when added vertically, horizontally or diagonally, the sum of each three numbers will amount to 1890.
79. I have a box. The pieces forming the sides are 5 ft long, and those forming the ends are 4 ft. broad. The box, when measured externally all round, measures 18 ft 4 in., and when measured all round internally, measures 17 ft 8 in. How can this be?
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