Part 25

GRAMMAR.

SCHOOLMASTER--“Now, boys, the word ‘with’ is a very bad word to end a sentence with.”

131. There is an arch of quadrantal form; the rise of the crown is 17 feet. What is the span?

132. Two pairs of fives I bid you take, And four times four and forty make.

133. A lady bought a quantity of flannel, which she distributed among some poor women; the first received 2 yards, the second 4 yards, and so on; the lot cost her £5 14s. 2½d. How many women were there, and what did the lady pay per yard?

134. A and B marry, their respective ages being in proportion to 3 and 4. Now after they have been married 14 years their ages are as 5 to 6, and the age of A is 5 times that of her youngest child, who was born when the parents’ ages were as 4 to 5. Required: the ages of A and B when they were married, and the age of the youngest child now that they have been married 14 years.

AN APPALLING “SUM.”

At a school, a short time back, the pupils were given, as a home lesson, the task of subtracting from 880,788,889 the number 629 so often till nothing remained.

The boys worked on for hours without any perceptible diminution of the figures, and at length gave up the task in despair. Some of the parents then tried their hands, with no better success. For, in order to work out the sum, the number 629 would have to be subtracted 1,400,300 times, leaving 189 as a remainder.

Working 12 hours a day, at the rate of 3 subtractions per minute, it would take over 1 year and 9 months to complete the sum which had been set the poor lads for their home lesson.

A MILITARY LUNCHEON.

135. A certain number of Volunteers--namely, Commissioned Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Privates had a dinner bill to pay; there were, it seemed, half as many more Non-Com. Officers as Com., one-third as many more Privates as Non-Com. Officers, and they agreed that each Commissioned Officer should pay one-third as much again as each Non-Com., and each Non-Com. one-fifth as much again as each Private; but 1 Commissioned and 2 Non-Com. Officers slipped away without paying their portion (5s.), each of the others had to pay in consequence 4d. more. What was the amount of the bill, and the number of each present?

Twice the half of 1½? Ask your friends--it bothers them.

The Problem Easily Solved.

“Do you see that row of poplars on the other bank standing apparently at equal distances apart?” asked a grave-faced man of a group of people standing by a river.

The group nodded assent.

“Well, there’s quite a story connected with those trees,” he continued. “Some years ago there lived in a house overlooking the river a very wealthy banker, whose only daughter was beloved by a young surveyor. The old man was inclined to question the professional skill of the young rod and level, and to put him to the test directed him to set out on the river shore a row of trees, no two of which should be any further apart than any other two. The trial proved the lover’s inefficiency, and forthwith he was forbidden the house, and in despair drowned himself in the river. Perhaps some of you gentlemen with keen eyes can tell me which two trees are furthest apart?”

The group took a critical view of the situation, and each member selected a different pair of trees. Finally, after much discussion, an appeal was made to the solemn-faced stranger to solve the problem.

“The first and the last,” said he, calmly, resuming his cigar and walking away with the air of a sage.

136. Twice five of us are eight of us, and two of us are three, And three of us are five of us--now how can all this be? If that does not puzzle you I’ll tell you one thing more: Eight of us are five of us and five of us are four.

“EXPRESSIONAL” MEASURES.

The table of measures says that 3 barleycorns make 1 inch--and so they do. When the standards of measures were first established 3 barleycorns, well-dried, were taken out and laid end to end, and measured an inch.

The “hairbreadth” now used indefinitely for infinitesimal space, was a regular measure, 16 hairs laid side by side equalling 1 barleycorn.

The expression “in a trice,” as everyone knows, means a very short space of time. The hour is divided into 60 minutes, the minute into 60 seconds, and the second into 60 “trices.”

A CHALLENGE.

137. A lady belonging to the W.C.T.U. was endeavouring to persuade a gentleman friend of hers to give up the drink; he replied, “I will sign the pledge if you tell me how many glasses of beer did I drink to-day if the difference between their number and the number of times the square root of their number is contained in 2 be equal to 3.”

MEMORY SYSTEM.

TEACHER--“In what year was the battle of Waterloo fought?”