Part 41

“PUNCH’S” MONEY VAGARIES.

The early Italians used cattle as a currency instead of coin (thus a bull equals 5s.) and a person would send for change for a thousand pound bullock, when he would receive 200 five pound sheep. If he wanted very small change there would be a few lambs amongst them. The inconvenience of keeping a flock of sheep at one‘s bankers’, or paying in a short-horned heifer to one’s private account led to the introduction of bullion.

As to the unhealthy custom of sweating sovereigns, it may be well to recollect that Charles I., the earliest Sovereign, who was sweated to such an extent that his immediate successor, Charles II., became one of the lightest Sovereigns ever known in England.

Formerly every gold watch weighed so many carats, from which it became usual to call a silver watch a turnip.

The Romans were in the habit of tossing their coins in the presence of their legions, and if a piece of money went higher than the top of their Ensign’s flag it was presumed to be “above the standard.”

“MARCH ON! MARCH ON!”

272. An army 25 miles long starts on a journey of 50 miles, just as an orderly at the rear starts to deliver a message to the General in front. The orderly, travelling at a uniform speed, delivers his message and returns to the rear, arriving just as the army finishes the journey. How many miles does the orderly travel?

“WITH A LONG, LONG PULL.”

273. If eight men are engaged in a tug-o’-war, four pulling against four, on a continuous rope, and each man is exerting a force of 100 lbs., what strain is there at the centre of the rope?

“FIND OUT.”

274. A gentleman in a train with a boy got into conversation with a stranger, who asked him the lad’s age. The boy quickly replied, “This gentleman, who is my uncle, is twice as old as me, but the sum of the figures in my age are twice the sum of those in his.” What was the age of each?

275. One of our squatters who had made his fortune in the “good times” determined to sell his run and spend the rest of his days in the old country. A new chum, possessing considerable wealth, and desirous of settling down in Australia, hearing of the squatter’s intention, interviewed him with the object of purchasing, when the following conversation ensued:--

NEW CHUM: “How big is your run? What’s its area?”

SQUATTER: “Well, I’m blessed if I know, but I can tell you it’s perfectly square and enclosed with posts and rails. Each of the rails is 9 ft. long.”

NEW CHUM: “Oh, then, is it what you call a three-railed paddock?”

SQUATTER: “Yes, that’s so, and now I remember that the number of rails in my run is equal to the number of acres. If you like you can take a horse and ride round and count the rails, then you will know the area.” This advice the new chum acted upon.

Find out the length of his ride and the area of the run.

A Federal Problem.

It is well known to our readers that paper money--such as pound notes--issued in one colony are depreciated in another; thus a one pound note of N.S.W. is only worth 19s. 6d. in Victoria, and vice versa. Some time ago a rather ’cute individual in Wodonga, on the Victorian side of the border, bought a drink in a local hotel with a Victorian note, and received in change a N.S.W. note, which was worth then and there only 19s. 6d.; he thereupon crossed the Murray to Albury on the New South Wales side, bought another drink for sixpence with his N.S.W. note, and received a Victorian note equal to 19s. 6d. in change. He travelled backwards and forwards during the day, getting his twentieth and last drink in Albury, on the N.S.W. side, whereupon he returns to Wodonga with a Victorian pound note still to his credit. He thus paid for all his drinks, which amounted to ten shillings. Who lost the money?

We cannot advise readers to “go thou and do likewise,” for the simple reason that such a proceeding would now be impossible, as exchange is no longer charged in the two towns mentioned. It is not until we get further from the border that the levy is made.

Doing Two Things at Once.

An inspector was examining a school in a country district some distance from a railway station. He was afraid of losing his train, so hurrying with his work he tried to do two things at once. Standing in the doorway, he gave out dictation to Class III. in the main room, and at the same time gave out a sum to Class IV. in an adjoining room, jerking out a few words alternately.

The sum was “If a couple of fat ducks cost 19s., how many can he get for £72 10s. 9d.” The dictation for Class III. began “Now as a lion prowling about in search, &c.” Of course the poor children heard both, and got a bit mixed. One little girl’s dictation began “Now a couple of ducks prowling about in search of a lion who had lost 19s., &c.” While a Class IV. lad was scratching his head over the following sum “If 72 couples of fat lions cost 19s., how much prowling could be got for £72 10s. 9d.”

TWO CALENDAR CATCHES.

Ask a person if Christmas Day and New Year’s Day come in the same year. The answer generally given is “Of course not, Christmas comes in this year, and New Year’s Day in the next.”

Another question that often puzzles many. Have we had more Christmas days than Good Fridays? The usual answer is “No, both the same.”

276. A brass memorial tablet in honour of the late Sir Charles Lilley has been fixed in the centre of the eastern wall of the Brisbane Grammar School Hall. The enthusiasm displayed by Sir Charles in the cause of education generally, and his work on behalf of the Grammar School, make this commemoration particularly appropriate. The following is the inscription, to translate which should prove a capital exercise to all Latin scholars. The tablet measures 50 inches by 30 inches.

It may be added that the lettering of the plate was designed by Mr. R. S. Dods, architect, and the engraving was done in Brisbane by Messrs. Randle Bros., the well-known engravers, of Elizabeth Street.