Harper's Round Table, October 22, 1895 Part 12

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HARPER'S NEW CATALOGUE,

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The Game of the Ring.

This game is well worth trying, even if it was known to France in the eighteenth century. To play this game there must be no more than nine in the company. State that while you are absent from the room one of the company must slip a ring on any joint of any finger he may choose. Also number each person as 1, 2, 3, etc.; the right hand 1, the left 2, the thumb 1, index finger 2, second finger 3, etc.; the first joint of each finger--that is, at the extremity--1, the second 2, and the third 3.

For example: suppose that the fifth person has the ring concealed on the first joint of the fourth finger of the left hand. To solve the problem it is necessary to discover the numbers 5, 2, 4, 1, which is done as follows. Ask some one to double the first number, or that of the person (which will give 10), and to subtract 1; ask him to multiply the remainder (9) by 5 (giving 45); next, to add the number (2), and then 5 (which will make 52). Ask him to double this number (giving 104), and to subtract 1 (leaving 103); to multiply this remainder by 5 (giving 515), and to add to this product the third number (4) or that standing for the finger (which will give 519). Next ask him to add 5 (giving 524), and from the double of the sum (1048) to subtract 1; to multiply this remainder by 5 (giving 5235), and to add to this 1, standing for the joint. In the last place, ask him to again add 5, equalling 5241. The figures of this number will indicate, in order, the number expressing the person who holds the ring, and the hand, finger, and the joint on which it was placed.

With a little practice you will be able to successfully gull your audience, having first given each person a pencil and paper wherewith to make the calculations.

VINCENT V. M. BEEDE, R.T.F.

A Prize-Puzzle Story.

When I was going to St. Ives, you know about my meeting with that man who had seven wives. Well, the man, wives, sacks, cats, kits, and the rest were coming from St. Ives, and, being interested, I sat down by the road-side and asked the party about their journey thither. And this is what the man told me:

"It's a roundabout journey, this one from St. Ives, and queer things are to be seen on the way. Why, we came through a county in North Carolina (1) where n.o.body ever slept, and we saw on a sign-board this:

"'Be cordial to all your fellow-beings. Just cordial, and no more.

Before counting them as friends, be sure you can trust them, and are certain of their true and generous confidence.'

"Notice.--Take every ninety-ninth word in the foregoing, arrange them in the order in which they are written, and you will have a good maxim (2).

"We crossed a lake in Michigan (3) that belongs to a drum corps; a river of Spain (4) that school-children play on astride a fence; a river of France (5) that ought to be a prison; through a county in Scotland (6) that bald-headed people should go to; and through another county in Illinois (7) that one could use to furnish his house with.

"We saw an island of Greece (8) that would not hold water, and a lake in Minnesota (9) that would not either, but you could play tennis with the latter. Beside a lake in Scotland (10) that is always the latest style, we saw another sign board bearing this:

"'I will not go there. I don't care where it is. If he asks me, I'll say no. He is like a child in regard to wisdom. Why, I never heard of the like! But I'll say no with perfect frankness.'

"Notice--Certain words in this sign form an old adage (11).

"A river in Russia (12) that is always all right was so high we had to be ferried across, and the boatman told us this:

"'A well-known, useful guide am I; I am both far and near; I travel fast, slow, up, and down.

To naught do I adhere.

I'm daily sought by rich and poor, My home's both low and high; I'm sometimes seen, and yet unseen, Sometimes in depths I lie' (13).

"Not being an island of Michigan (14) I was not taken in by his tale, and guessed the answer quicker than river in Australia (15) believe I could--with so many wives, and river of Cuba (16) children, not one of whom is an island off the Mexican coast (17). One of my wives indulged in a game of island off the Cuban coast (18). She lost heavily, and when I chided her she was as short as pie crust made with lake in Iowa (19), and she shut me up like a mountain in Utah (20).

"This last happened only yesterday. I tell you, if the road _to_ St.

Ives is as bad as that _from_ there, you have no envious journey. My wives have fallen to quarrelling. I see one river of Tennessee (21) another. I must box their ears with the island of Australia (22) of my hand. Good-day, sir."

As I resumed my journey to St. Ives I early found the prediction of the man of seven wives true. Here is a sample of one of the guide-board signs:

"I once was seen in water, but by subst.i.tuting one verb for another I am now beheld on land." (23).

Do you wonder I never reached St. Ives?

In this story are four riddles and nineteen geographical names. Clews to the former are given, and the latter are described in the text, the catch being in the double meaning of the geographical name. Four prizes are offered for best solutions: $10 to the first, and $15 divided according to merit among the next ten. Put your name, address, and age at the top of the sheet, and write the answers, one below another, numbering each. Post solution not later than December 2, 1895. Address HARPER'S ROUND TABLE, New York. Only persons may send answers who have not pa.s.sed their eighteenth birthday, but grown persons may help you find answers. Names of prize-winners, with correct answers, will be published in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE for December 31, 1895.

Answers to Kinks.

No. 106

1. Poppy. 2. Mayflower. 3. Boneset. 4. b.u.t.ter-and-eggs. 5.

Cardinal-flower. 6. Milkweed. 7. Sweet-william. 8. Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

9. Deer Gra.s.s (dear gra.s.s). 10. Marigold (marry gold) 11. Skull-cap. 12.

Lady's-tresses. 13. Dandelion (dandy lion). 14. Black-eyed Susan. 15.