Here is another Rail Road Puzzle, which illustrates a pretty mathematical principle and at the same time points to a moral and adorns a tale which all might ponder over to advantage:
“I am satisfied that some cows have more sense than the average man.” soliloquized Casey, in his philosophical way. “My old brindle was standing on the long bridge the other day, placidly looking into the water, when she spied the lightning express, just twice the length of the bridge away from the end, coming at a ninety-mile an hour clip. Now. She did not waste the forty-eleven-millionth part of a second in idle speculation; she just made a dash towards the advancing train and saved herself by the narrow margin of one foot, whereas, if she had followed the human instinct of running away from the train, three inches of her rear would have been caught on the bridge!”
“It would be a great thing if some procrastinators, who never can make up their minds one way or the other, were placed in the position of my old brindle cow, so they had to think quick!
“It is a pretty problem to reckon the gait of that cow. And to tell how far she was standing from the middle of the long bridge! Can you figure it out?”
As the train goes two bridge lengths, less one foot, while the cow goes half a bridge length, less five feet, would go three bridge lengths less three inches, while the cow went half a bridge length, plus four feet, nine inches, we see that the train would go five bridge lengths, less fifteen inches, while the cow went one bridge length, less three inches. So the train goes just five times as fast as the cow, and two bridge lengths less one foot is equal to two and a half bridge lengths, less twenty-five feet. Hence half a bridge length is twenty-four feet and the whole length is forty-eight feet.
2. A Rebus
A term for scolding, backwards read,
Will give what all good people dread;
A character so base, that none
The epithet would call their own.
Ans. Rail”Liar.
3.
A vessel reversed will give the highest point, and a child's toy.
Ans. Pot”top.
Spell one word with the letters: To Love Ruin.
Ans. Revolution.
Why is a watch like a river?
Ans. Because it doesn't run long without winding.
4. A Rebus
My first's the heart of honest trade.
When 'tis judiciously displayed,
But when 'tis of its head bereft.
It then becomes a public theft.
Cipher Ans. 19, 16, 5, 3, 21, 12, 1, 20, 9, 15, 14.
SPECULATION
5. CONCEALED GEOGRAPHY
34. It is the belief of the ancients that heroes' souls soar to islands of the blessed.
35. He has my R. N. as a monogram on all his note-paper.
36. He brought horses to Hannah, antelopes to Carrie.
37. A Psyche in marble he adored as if alive.
38. I am her stupid sister.
39. Kate can't tell a wren cemented, from a wren demented.
40. In adjusting the baby-jumpers. I adjusted the baby, so that it fell out. (A country.)
41. The calmest man is sometimes made irate. (An island.)
42. Away they went and over the race-course spun.
43. The sale must commence at one o'clock.
44. Would you bid a cow or ox bury their dead?
45. That do you call Mr. Rarey? A horse-tamer, I call him. (A country.)
46. The only animal taken was a Kangaroo. (An island.)
47. The moment I walked I saw three crows on the bedpost.
48. After singing a “te deum,” bag. O soldier, your booty. (A lake.)
49. The Ojibbeway retired and the Mosquito led on his troops.
50. They made a hue-and-cry. But ah, of no avail. (A territory.)
51. You should see Parepa Rosa cram entomological specimens into her bandbox.
52. Socrates considered a warming pan a matchless affair.
53. King William wrote a letter to a hunter.
Concealed geography shows: Artois, Smyrna, Nahant, Marblehead, Amherst, Lawrence. Persia, Maderia, Andover, Salem, Roxbury, America, Malta, Pisa, Umbago. Toledo, Utah, Sacramento, Panama and Oahu.
6. A Rebus
Fair Bessie promised to bestow
My first upon her lover,
And much I hope that no dark clouds
Around the pair may hover.
Sweet Bessy's age is just eighteen.
Of gold she has my second;
On bearing off the lovely prize
How many beaux have reckoned.
And now my riddle I'll conclude.
And hope you'll not me quiz,
For what I say is very true”
My whole fair Bessy is.
Cipher Ans. 8, 1, 14, 4, 19, 15, 13, 5.
HANDSOME
7.
What pudding makes the best cricketer? A good batter.
Tom went out, his dog with him; he went not before, behind, nor on one side of him, then where did he go ? On the other side.
Why was Moses the most wicked man that ever lived? Because he broke all the commandments at once.
Why are crockery-ware dealers different from other merchants? Because it won't do for them to crack up their goods.
Why is a baby like wheat? Because it is first cradled, then thrashed and finally becomes the flower of the family.
On what toe does a corn never come? The mistletoe.
What is the difference between a hungry man and a glutton? One longs to eat and the other eats too long.
Where lies the path of duty? Through the Custom House.
Why should turtles be pitied? Because theirs is a hard case.
Why should young ladies set good examples? Because young men are so apt to follow them.
Why should the male sex avoid the letter A? Because it makes men mean.
Why must chimney-sweeping be a very agreeable business? Because it suits (soots) every one who tries it.
Why is a joke less durable than a church bell? Because after it has been told (toll'd) a few times it is worn out.
Why is Ireland likely to become the richest country in the world? Because Its capital is always doubling (Dublin).
Why should you never tell a man to take a back seat? Because, if you do, he'll be likely to take affront.
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