CONUNDRUMS

Evening Post, Issue 149, 20 December 1935, Page 17

CONUNDRUMS

Who was the oldest woman?— Ann Tiquity. ' ■- ■ ' . How do bees dispose of their honey?, —They cell it. , • ': r- " What turns without moving?—Milk^ of course. ;.-■.-. What is the hardest key to turn?— • A donkey. ■ . What is never time?— The back of a watch. On what toe does a corn never come?— The mistletoe. What' tree can you hold above your head 1-^-A.- palm. What is it you can feel and yet not touch.—The sun. . ... • - What kind of gaiters will nobody wear?—Alli-gators. Why is a nut like a regiment?—Be-cause-it has a kernel. ■■"■.. What kind of fruit do schoolboys dislike most?— Dates. When is a tooth not a tooth?— When, it is" a king (aching). What flower grows ,in a vegetable garden?—A cauli-flower. ' Why as a crow like an apple?— Because it has a caw (core). What fruit grows on telegraph poles?— Electric currents. When is a good man unkind?— When he takes a poor man in. What gives a cold, cures a cold, and pays the doctor?—A draft. How many sides has a tree?— Two, the inside and outside. Why are pianos .very ■ noble?—. Because they are grand and upright. When is a fish out of its element?-* When it rises and takes a fly. interesting and inexplicable involved! a friend of", mine,: a French Army oftV eery Captain Bossaud, of the Corps d# Su'rete. • * ■ IDuring the spring of 1930 the village of- Marhoum was ravaged by smals» ■. pox. Bossaud was sent to deal wit* it. - ' • '■ Somebody told him that a certain shepherd, Abdul Ouab, was a "magi* cian," and one day Bossaud, who fell tired, decided to ask Abdul Ouab W do.a few.-"tricks." . ... ■ : Abdul Ouab came to Bossaud's quarters and went through a very creditable performance of conjuring and thought-reading. Finally, he told Bossaud to concentrate his thoughts on some object—anything—in his home ia Paris, which he would like to see. Bossaud thought of a very valuable old master—l believe; a Van Dyck— valued at a few hundred thousand francs. • " "Look on the-wall behind you," said Abdul Ouab. . There hung the picture! ; "You pan do what you like with it until sunset," said Abdul Ouab, and went off to look after his sheep. Bossaud could not believe his eyes ■and promptly decided he was under ■ the influence of some form of hypnotism.' He tried to touch the picture. It was real. , . : He took it off the wall and examined , it. This was too much for him, so h6 sent his servant to find the local District Commissioner, the maire, and one other European. They, too, handled the picture. The maire made the sign of the cross and had a brain wave! He suggested that they should send an express telegram to Paris, asking whether the picture was safe? He remarked, very sensibly, that either the picture was in Paris or it was in Marhoum. It could not be in both. The telegram was sent. Some hours later a reply arrived to the effect that the picture had vanished, the police had been called in, and that the Surete were at work. .- . Just before sunset Abdul Ouab returned. He made a gesture, and the portrait vanished. Next morning Bossaud received another wire to say that the picture had reappeared as mysteriously as it had vanished, and that a man detained by the police had been set free. ■ I have seen those telegrams. I know Bossaud, and I have met Abdul :Ouatv.j There is no "leg-pull" about it.-! ■ '