This little conundrum is built upon, the following incident from real life: “Dere am no circumlocation nor wasted breff ’bout dat wife of mine when she am in de humor to be brief.” soliloquized Mr. Washington Johnsing when he came home a few hours late for the evening meal and found the larder as empty as his stomach.
“What time am it. And war am de cold chicking?” he asked in an introductory way as a sort of feeler. Two questions which naturally called for two replies, but Mrs. Johnsing was not in the humor for protracted conversation, so without discontinuing the little ballad of
“The bee what gits de honey. Don't hang ’round de hive.”
she merely paused to vouchsafe one brief answer, which covered both subjects, and Mr. Johnsing, who read the signs of a rising family barometer, surmised that it would he diplomatic to make himself scarce. It was neither given nor intended by Mr. Johnsing as a conundrum, but that our readers may be in rapport with Darktown society events, we present it in puzzle form for our young folks to study over, to see if they can discover the briefest possible answer to Mr. Johnsing’s two queries.
Mrs. Johnsing’s laconic reply was: “Eight.” [ate ” jws]
2. The Florist Puzzle
A lady bought a bouquet at the florists for thirty-four cents and had a one dollar bill, a three cent piece and a two cent piece. The florist had but two coins in the till, and therefore could not make the change. A bright newsboy came in who had two ten cent pieces, a five, a two and a one cent piece, who showed them how to clear the financial situation so that every one was left with their correct amount of change. How did they manage to do it?
This occurred in the old days when two and three cent pieces were in vogue. The boy has since grown to manhood, and is the cashier of the largest banking institution in the United States.
The florist had a 50-cent piece and a 25-piece. They pooled all their money, then the florist takes the $1 and the 5 and two 2-cent pieces; the lady the 50, 10, 10 and 1, and the boy 25 and 3, which gives each their proper change.
3.
Hipity-Hop, the lame peddler, says, that he went up a hill at the rate of one and a half miles per hour and came down at the rate of four and a half miles per hour, so that it took him just six hours to make the round trip. Can you tell how far it was to the top of the hill?
Hipity-Hop could go one mile up the hill in 40 minutes, and could come down a mile in 13 1/3 minutes. Therefore he would average a mile up and down in 53 1/3 minutes. Since the particular hill which he tells about required six hours to climb and descend, we may determine its height by dividing six hours by 53 1/3 minutes. Thus we learn that hill must have been six and three-quarter miles high.
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