CHRISTMAS CRACKERS

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 303, 23 December 1939, Page 7 (Supplement)

CHRISTMAS CRACKERS

Why are washerwomen great travellers?. —Because they are continually crossing the line, and going from pole to pole. Why is nothing so modest as a watch ? —Because it is always running down its own works. Why is the alphabet like a learned man?— Because they both end off with a Y 'L. What men are the most aboveboard in their movements?— Chessmen. Why is a benevolent man lilje a cart horse?— Because he always stops at the sound of woe. • • • • Can you do this card trick? Take any odd number of playing cards which is a multiple of three (e.g., 9, 15, 21, 27). Deal them face upwards in three heaps, asking a spectator to note one card and to tell you which heap it is in. Pick up the heaps, with the indicated heap between the other two, and repeat the i process twice. When the spectator points to a heap for the third time you know that his chosen' card is the middle one of the heap—that is, if each heap contains five cards it will be the third; if seven, the fourth, and so on. • • • • Have you ever playe 1 "hat changing?" The players all sit in a circle, and each is given some kind of hat, the funnier the better. A collection of these hats is made beforehand, and should include a baby's bonnet, a policeman's helmet, a sombrero, and the like. A small bowler hat, too, looks extremely funny. The game is played in the same way as musical chairs, but instead of changing chairs the hats are passed round and put on when the music stops. One hat is taken away at each passing. The players leave the circle as they become "out" or hatlese. • « « t Here are some amusing forfeits, very useful to a party. Put a feather on your nose, and while keeping it there, walk round the room. Roll up a piece of 6tring or wool with one hand. Lie on the floor, fold your arms, and get up again without unfolding them. Pretend to telephone to someone about the party that is in progress. Spell some long word such as "Constantinople," but miss out all the vowels. Change shoes and walk twice round the room.

Let's play "Blind Man's •• Stick." Form a circle of your friends, then let one be blindfolded,, and stood in the centre, with a sticb?jui hia hands. The circle must be moving round. The one in the centre keeps the stick low, and "with it touches one of the circles.; The player touched at once takes hold M the stick, when the whole circle must stand still. The blind man now imitates some animal, and this must be at once copied by the player holding the stick. The blind man then guesses who it is. If successful they change places. • » * * Why is a cook noisier a crying baby?— The baby makes a din, while the cook makes a dinner. Why has a horee six legs?— Because it has fore legs in front and two behind. Who always finds things dull ? — The knife grinder. Which is the right side of a Christmas cake? —The side that has been eaten, because the other is left. Why is a horse cleverer than a mouse? —Because it can run away when in a trap. Why is an alligator a jnost deceitful animal? —Because he takes you in with an open countenance.

Have you ever tried the magic whistle at a party? It causes such fun. You stand up before your audience, holding in your hand a wand, which you are careful to explain has magic qualities. At the end of the wand is tied a piece of string, and at the end of the string is a very ordinary whistle. In order to show that there is absolutely no deception, you pass round the wand and the whistle for examination. Then, when the preliminaries have been settled, -you ask someone to put a question, the answer of which is known to everybody. . The answer must take the form of "yes" or "no." For instance, the question may be "Are we at this moment in Timbuctoo?" Or, is an elephant bigger than a Christmas cake ?" Before proceeding further you explain that when the answer is no, the mafic wand will cause the whistle to blow once, but when it is yes the whistle will act twice. Someone puts the question, "Do shrimps sing in their sleep?" and the whistle gives one shrill blast. This is followed by "Should caterpillars be kind to their young?" Two blasts are heard. In this way the answers to five or six questions are given correctly, much to the enjoyment of the company. What is the secret? The whistle at

the end of the string is not the one that makes the sound. In your left hand you hold a rubber bulb which is joined to a length of tubing that travels up your arm and goes into one of the pockets of your waistcoat. Here it is fixed to the tip of a second whistle. By squeezing the bulb, the whistle sounds. Be very careful to smother the air hole of the whistle as little as possible, or a muffled blast will be given, and this will cause suspicion. Always stand a few paces from the nearest spectator, so that the distance between the two whistles is not noticed. • • • • Have you ever seen a pliable copper ? The penny trick which is here explained, is a real eye-opener when you know how it is done. You are required to out a hole in a 6heet of notepaper ; exactly the same size as a half-penny, and then to pass a penny through the hole. Of course you are not. allowed to tear the paper in doing it. We have heard people say that it must be impossible to work the larger coin through the ' space of the smaller one; but try it, and if you are not successful the solution given will show you the way. Solution.—Fold the paper so that the crease runs across the circle that you have cut out, keeping the folded edge downwards. Put the penny inside the folded paper just over, the hole and hold the two bottom ends of the paper, one in each hand. Draw the two hands slightly apart. The penny slips down a trifle 1 through the hole. Draw the two hands a little further apart. The penny slips a trifle more through the hole. Continue to draw the two hands apart and, in a moment, the penny falls through the hole. What appears to be impossible is then accomplished. • • • • Here is a little juggling with figures ■ which will amuse your friends for a few moments. Ask them to write down four fives so that they make 100. Of course the solution will be fairly * obvious; it is (5+5) X (5-)-5). Then, try them with this one. How can four eights be written so as to make 100. The solu- , 8 8 tion is — X — .8 .8 Point eight is, of course, eighteenths and then the rest of the working will be obvious to any schoolboy. Lastly ask your friends to write down four nines so as to equal 100. 9 Here is the solution 99 — 9