A NIGHT AT THE CLUB.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1930, Page 11 (Supplement)

A NIGHT AT THE CLUB.

I was spending Christmas with my old bachelor friend Mark Stanwick. For years we had once been fellow members of a London chib and our friendship was of an even longer standing. (But he had lately retired into the country and was Comfortably settled in . an old Georgian house at 'Bunchester. ■“There are so .many things,” he wrote, x ‘in which we have a mutual interest, such as chess, niueic and mathematics, that I should 'love to discuss, that I hope you will try to spend a week with me over Christmas.’’ I had made no special plans for the season and was delighted to accept his invitation. As the weather was propitious we 'had some fine walks and motor drives in the district and our evenings were fully occupied with discussions on such (subjects as ancient and modern -music, the latest mathematical developments, (and various curious things relating to 'the chessboard. But like myself, Stan'wick had always been attracted by every class of puzzle that is worthy of the name and he had considerably interested the members of his local club in isuch things. It was, therefore, a happy (suggestion of his that we should spend 'one of our evenings at’ that clu'b and he had arranged with a group of congenial inenrbers to join us there for a sort of, puzzle symposium. It is with some of the puzzles suggested on? that occasion that I propose 'to deal in this article. I shall make a 'selection of those posers that I think best calculated to interest , the general reader at this period. When we entered the club that evening we found some of the members at one of the tables apparently engaged over a puzzle with dominoes. After introductions and a little pleasant chatter Stanwick asked What they were discussing when we entered, and a member named. Pilson explained. Two Domino Frames. “We" are trying,” he ’ said,. “to arrange ' the twenty-eight - dominoes' tb form two square frames so that, the pips in', every- one of th©. eight ‘sides shall add up alike.” ‘ “I take’.it',” •■said . Stanwick, “that we are not. confined to any particular constant addition.” ? '■ ' . ?. “No” explained. Wigham, who wasthe best .mathematician'; in the', club; you? will find that it must.’be within certain limits to make the puzzle , possible. I have .juSt .be.en..working out that it cannot be less- than twenty-one or more titan twenty-six and with any addition you select the sum." of the numbers in tall .the corners , can be determined. Of course; you. heed not observe the ordinary rule of 6 against 6, blank against blank, ancl so on.” With this information and a few other hints the puzzle was soon solved. J Drop Letter Puzzle. ‘Here is a little thing,” said Gatesby, a member who specialised in wbrd puzzles, “that you may like to look at. It is. a quotation from Coleridge in which every vowel has been dropped, and they are all represented by dots. Can you restore the quotation ? The ■spaces between the words are not indicated.’’ T.b.wr.thw.th.n.w.l.v.d.thw.rkl.m.- ’? dn.ss.nth.br..n. . Pilson was the first to find the answer and he explained that the first three words gave him at once the quotation as it happened to be one with which, he was familiar. Stanwick here remarked that it reminded him of the legendary inscription beneath the Ten Commandments in some parish church. (P.R.SV.R.YJP.KF.CTMJT • wV.'RKJPTH.SIPR.CfPTST.N Hero by substituting an “E” for every dot we can read PERSiEVERIE Y>E PERFECT MEN. EVER KEEP THESE PRECEPTS TEN. 'But in that case the omitted letters are .all the same vowel. This did not take them long so Wigiiam said he would give another easy one. • . The Omnibus Ride, *A man I heard of,” Jie said, “treated his best girl to a ride on.a motor omnibus, but on account, of his limited resources, it was necefesary that they should walk back. Now, if the bus goes at the- rate of nine miles an hour, how •far can they ride so that they may be back in eight, hours?” ■ .-“But how am I to know,” asked Hopper, who was a general, favourite amongst the 'members though they all •regarded him as a “bit of an ass,” “how long they took sitting together on a stile or collecting primroses or, perhaps, retracing their steps in a wrong direction ?”

“Or supposing they were • knocked down by a motor-car or fell into, a ■canal and got drowned or—anything else you . like,” replied. Wigham. “Of course, in all these puzzles you have to take certain things for granted, Hopper. We must assume that they started walking back directly they left the bus, that they returned by. the same road, and that they walked at . their uniform rate of three miles an hour without a. stop. If you have to state these little things every time you so ■overload the puzzle with conditions that ©ven Hopper would reject them.’’

Returning guest (with quarter of an hour to wait): “Good gracious! I’m afraid I've been overdoing it a bit 4 k : s Christmas!"