OUR GOOD LUCK is based upon a commercial episode which up some years in the wild and woolly West. In the character of a progressive young man in search of valuable information, I sought advice from the local magnate of the town, who had amassed a considerable fortune in the hardware business. The secret of success, he told me, was to take some one specialty and stick to it until you were king pin in that line.
I told him I had amassed seven cents, and was greatly puzzled as to the best plan for making a fortune out of it. He replied that it was a good puzzle, and advised me to stick to puzzles all my life, and never flatter myself that I had brains suited for anything else. And here I am.
In proof of this theory, he said that, many years before, a tailor had built this store, and put the golden horseshoe over the door with Pants as the specialty. In five years he retired worth a million, and a liquor dealer took the store, and by the changing of a single letter made Pants his specialty. Then came a florist, a jeweler, a plumber, a druggist, a notary, a mason, an undertaker, a grocer, a shipbuilder and then the present, specialist in Nails. Each man in rotation had changed but a single letter at a time. I have forgotten some of the different trades and professions, but our puzzlists are so clever in helping me out of just such dilemmas that I have concluded to offer prizes for the best answers. I heard afterward that Abraham Lincoln took the store and that it has gone through half a dozen changes since, in each and every case the incumbent retiring with fame and fortune.
How many can discover the sequences of changes of one letter at a time?
The horseshoe on the door puzzle may be solved poetically as follows:
With a golden horseshoe nailed over the door,
Many tradesmen made fortunes in this famous store.
First came the tailor on whose sign was writ PANTS,
Next a dealer who in PINTS saw his chance.
A florist then followed with a choice lot of PINKS.
Which in turn were displaced by a furriers MINKS.
After this a jeweler selling LINKS made his pile,
But the plumber with his SINKS beat him a mile.
SILKS were the source of the dry goods man’s wealth,
And the carpenter did not make SILLS for his health.
The druggist sold such a great lot of PILLS
That his successor, the notary, kept busy writing WILLS.
The mason built WALLS and a fortune, too.
While the undertaker made PALLS for Gentile and Jew.
When the grocer moved in he made money in PAILS,
Then made room for the chandler to spread out his SAILS.
NAILS proved a boon for the hardware man—
And that is as far as old records ran,
But if "Old Abe’’ ever occupied that store,
He surely must have sold RAILS galore.
2.
What female recluse is that whose names reads backwards and forwards the same? Nun.
What lady-like appellation reads backwards and forwards the same? Madam.
What time of the day spells forwards or backwards the same? Noon.
Why should fishermen become wealthy? Because their business which is all net profits, makes them sel-fish.
What has the baby got that spells forwards and backwards the same? Bib.
Wherein lies the difference between man and butter? The older a man gets the weaker he grows, but the older the butter is the stronger it becomes.
When did Caesar visit the Irish? When he crossed the Rhine and went back to bridge it (Bridget).
What light could not possibly be seen in a dark room? An Israelite.
Why is the Queen only a poor gentlewoman? She possesses but one crown.
Why is the letter B like a hot fire? Because it makes oil boil.
Why is an invalid healed by ocean bathing like a confined criminal? Because he is sea-cured (secured).
When does a public speaker steal lumber? When he takes the floor.
Why is the letter A like a honeysuckle? Because a B follows it.
When are two tramps like common time in music? When they are two beats to a bar.
Why is a ferry boat like a good rule? Because it works both ways.
What is always behind time? The back of a clock.
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