THE HISTORY OF the kings of France is told in an amusing story of how the Dauphin saved himself from an impending checkmate while playing at chess with the Duke of Burgundy by smashing the chess board into eight pieces over the Duke's head. It is a well-known story often quoted by chess writers to prove that it is not always politic to play to win, and has given rise to a strong line of attack in the game known as the King’s gambit.

Now, my view of it is that the Duaphin was an enterprising sort of a fellow, who had gotten up the match upon the most approved modem methods of playing for the biggest purse that any club would hang up, inclusive of the kinetoscope rights of the play, so when at the end of an hour his opponent had winked but once, and it required some 30,000 pictures to show that he had transferred his piece of chewing gum from the right to the left cheek, the young Dauphin’s backers called on him to throw some action into the pictures, with the result that he turned the tables on his adversary in a way that has made the incident one of the most notable events in the annals of the royal game.

The smashing of the chess board into eight pieces was the feature which always struck my youthful fancy, as it might possibly contain the elements of an important problem which had been overlooked by historians, the more especially as I could find no authentic reference to the putting together again of the broken chess board. The restriction to eight pieces does not give scope for great difficulty or variety, but not feeling at liberty to depart from historical accuracy, I shall give our puzzlists a simple little problem suitable for summer weather: Show how to put the eight pieces together so as to form a perfect 8x8 checker board. The puzzle is a simple one, given to teach a valuable rule which should be followed in the construction of tricks of this kind, viz.: By giving no two pieces of the same shape, other ways of doing the puzzle are prevented, and the feat is much more difficult of accomplishment, as you will find before discovering the answer to this one.

Draw an 8x8 checker board on paper and try to find how to cut it into eight pieces like those shown.

2.

When is a soldier like a watch? When he is on guard.

What word of ten letters can be spelled with five? X-p-d-n-c (expediency).

Why should the highest apple on a tree be the best one? Because it is a tip-top apple.

Why would a spider appear to have wings? Because it often takes a fly.

Why is a railroad exceedingly patriotic? It is bound to the country with the strongest ties.

What is the most wonderful feat in jugglery? For a man to revolve a thing in his own mind.

Why is chloroform like Mendelssohn? Because it is the greatest of modern composers.

Do women like to see themselves in print? No; they prefer silk or satin.

Who is the man who invariably finds things dull? The scissors grinder.

What sort of men are most above board in their actions? Chessmen.