FAMILY FUN

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 43, 24 October 1907, Page 38

FAMILY FUN

' The most remarkable arrangement of numbers that I know of,' said a business man who takes a delight in solving, curious problems and digging up mathematical^ oddities, ' is the combination of the six figures 142^857. Multiply this number by 2, and the answer is 285,714 ; by 3, and the answer is 428,571 ; by 4, and the answer is 571,428 ; by 5, and the answer is 714,285 ; by 6, and" the answer is 857,142/ Each -answer contains exactly' the same digits as the original sum, and, to cap the climax, multiply the number by 7, and up comes .the answer 999,979. Try it and see if it is not so..' . - , The answer -to each of these enigmas is the name of an English- or American writer :—: — . • : . - Makes clothes for men ?— Taylor. ' 1 ' ' * Dwellings for families ?— Holmes. A head covering ? — Hood. What an oyster heap islikely to be ?— Shelley. A very tall poet ?— Longfellow. '■ : ■ More humorous than the former ?— Whittier.A worker in precious metals ?— Goldsmith. Always a pig ?— Bacon; A disagreeable foot affection ?— Bunyan. i A domestic servant ?— Butler. A strong exclamation ?— Dickens. A young domestic animal ?— Lamb. ' An Englishman's favorite sport ?— Hunt.