"NUTS!"

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 30, 5 February 1927, Page 16

"NUTS!"

[INTELLECT SHARPENERS! | No. XV. ' i | (By T. L. Briton.) 1 : . All rights reserved. . I

Readers with a little .ingenuity will find in this column, an abundant store of entertainment and amusement, and the solving of the • problems should provide excellent' mental exhilaration. JWhile some of the "nuts" may appear harder than others, it will bo found that none will require a sledge-hammer to crack them. THE TRAIN FARES. Four schoolboys were going home for the holidays, and after spending the morning in the city shops, two of them found, upon arrival at the railway station, that they had encroached upon the money that should have been earmarked for train fares. The students then had a consultation to discuss ways and means, when it was found that Jack had half as much again as the train fare; Bruce had 4s .short, Frank had only hali' as much as the clerk required, and Dick had 8s more than the cost of his ticket. They were all bound for the name destination, so it was agreed that Jack should collect all the money of the other boys, add it to his own, and buy the four ticket*. The sum thus subscribed was £.'! Bs, and after purchasing the tickets there was enough rover to puichufie refreshments on the journey , 4 How much change did Jack receive? BUYING RHUBARB. The professor Kiirpriso.d liis wife the other day when In; told her Unit, upon the facts she had related, the Chinee vegetable seller had made a monstrous profit in the transaction she had with him. It appears that the . professors wife is accustomed to buy rhubarb in the large bundle, measuring 18 inches in circumference, but on this particular dny the itinerant vendor had only small ones left, which measure nine inches in circumference. When she told the man that she would take two of these at the price of one large bundle, the hawker replied that two small ones contained more rhubarb than one large one, but that as she was a good . customer lie \yould let her have them at the same price. It was when the wife was relating these facts joyfully to her husband that the professor smiled and told her that she had been cheated. Can the reader explain how? THE MOVING WHEEL. A "perennial" known to the average problem composer is one called "The Movjng Wheel," a veritable paradox; the vexed question being, "Does the upper part of a wheel of a moving vehicle travel faster than the lower part?" I remember that the correct answer to this query was published in a Philadelphia paper some years ago, and it caused more controversy than the question itself; politicians, commercial magnates. Judges etc., taking up sides for and against Tho. majority, strange to say, seemed to be against the publishers' solution, which to my mind was undoubtedly the correct one headers are particularly asked not to send in replies, but should the answer winch will appear next Saturday, not "ho acceptable to any reader, his views will' be examined and published if any new phase ot the question bo revealed

A SAWMILLER'S CONTRACT. UntZYTi"? i 1 S'"a" I>lilnt «'»vcvtiHc.l tliat he uonld take contract Kiwii," and .drcssmg at so much per lot) feet, or woukl

accept in full payment one-tenth of the quantity -worked. A farmer who felled his own timber gave him a contract for sawing and planing flooring boards, under the latter terms; When the work was finished the quantity that the farmer took away was-5400 feet, after the deduction of one-tenth had been made. What quantity did the sawmiller have left out of his share, after flooring a room 20ft x.SOft, the lengths of the boards enabling the work to be done without waste? i NUTS FROM BRAZIL. Charlie's aunt Tabitlia brought her' three nephews a large jar of choice nuts from Brazil. She did not at first quite know how to divide them, but after--wards decided to share them in proportion to the boys' ages, which together amounted to 35 years. Aunt Tabitha thereupon counted the nuts; and found that there were 1540. After making a little calculation she said: 'Tor every 8 nuts Charlie receives, Fred will get 6, anS for every 12 nuts Charlie gets Harry will receive 14." The distribution then proceeded on those lines, and the reader will find it quite a refreshing mental exercise to discover. how many nuts each nephew received, and also their respective ages. SOLUTIONS OF LAST WEEK'S PROBLEMS. The Cosmopolitan Picnic—The six men received £12, eighteen boys £8, and twelve girls £6. A Queer Amount in £ s d.—The amount is £44,444 4s 4d. These figures add up 28, and the digits in the number of pence in that sum, viz., 10,G66,612, also add ur> to 28. . Commercial or Academic. The cost price of the car sold at a 20 per cent, profit for £300 was £250, and the cost of the car sold for £300 showing a 20 per cent, loss was £375, making a total cost price of the two cars £025. As these were sold for £GOO, I lose £25 in the transaction. Tho Milkman.—The capacity of the jug must have been 3 gallons approximately, or to be exact 2.9 gallons. A Rifle Shot.—Jack. who saw the smoke, was the first of the three boys to know that the rifle had been fired, then Harry, who saw the bullet strike the water, while Pick was the last to know, as lie only heard tho report.