ong those
two candles were burning to-day. I'll have a shot at it." But he soon
found himself in a worse fog than the atmospheric one. Could you have
assisted him in his dilemma? How long were the candles burning?
103.--PAINTING THE LAMP-POSTS.
Tim Murphy and Pat Donovan were engaged by the local authorities to
paint the lamp-posts in a certain street. Tim, who was an early riser,
arrived first on the job, and had painted three on the south side when
Pat turned up and pointed out that Tim's contract was for the north
side. So Tim started afresh on the north side and Pat continued on the
south. When Pat had finished his side he went across the street and
painted six posts for Tim, and then the job was finished. As there was
an equal number of lamp-posts on each side of the street, the simple
question is: Which man painted the more lamp-posts, and just how many
more?
104.--CATCHING THE THIEF.
"Now, constable," said the defendant's counsel in cross-examination,"
you say that the prisoner was exactly twenty-seven steps ahead of you
when you started to run after him?"
"Yes, sir."
"And you swear that he takes eight steps to your five?"
"That is so."
"Then I ask you, constable, as an intelligent man, to explain how you
ever caught him, if that is the case?"
"Well, you see, I have got a longer stride. In fact, two of my steps are
equal in length to five of the prisoner's. If you work it out, you will
find that the number of steps I required would bring me exactly to the
spot where I captured him."
Here the foreman of the jury asked for a few minutes to figure out the
number of steps the constable must have taken. Can you also say how many
steps the officer needed to catch the thief?
105.--THE PARISH COUNCIL ELECTION.
Here is an easy problem for the novice. At the last election of the
parish council of Tittlebury-in-the-Marsh there were twenty-three
candidates for nine seats. Each voter was qualified to vote for nine of
these candidates or for any less number. One of the electors wants to
know in just how many different ways it was possible for him to vote.
106.--THE MUDDLETOWN ELECTION.
At the last Parliamentary election at Muddletown 5,473 votes were
polled. The Liberal was elected by a majority of 18 over the
Conservative, by 146 over the Independent, and by 575 over the
Socialist. Can you give a simple rule for figuring out how many votes
were polled for each candidate?
107.--THE
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