271. If it takes three minutes to boil one egg, how long will it take
to boil two?
“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.”
[Illustration]
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.”