Harper's Round Table, September 17, 1895 Part 11

Postage Stamps, &c.

=1000= Mixed Foreign Postage Stamps, including Fiji Islands, Samoa, Hawaii, Hong Kong, for 34c. in stamps; 10 varieties U. S. Columbian stamps, 25c.; entire unused 5c. and 10c. Colombian Envelopes, 25c. the pair. Only a limited number were issued by U. S. Government. E. F.

GAMBS, Box 2631, San Francisco, Cal. Established, 1872.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

100 all dif. Venezuela, Bolivia, etc., only 10c.; 200 all dif. Hayti, Hawaii, etc., only 50c. Ag'ts w't'd at 50 per ct. com. List FREE! =C. A.

Stegmann=, 5941 Cote Briliante, St. Louis, Mo.

=500= Mixed Australian, etc., 10c.; =105 varieties=, and nice alb.u.m, 10c.; 15 unused, 10c.; 10 Africa, 10c.; 15 Asia, 10c. F. P. Vincent, Chatham, N. Y.

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WONDER CABINET =FREE=. Missing Link Puzzle, Devil's Bottle, Pocket Camera, Latest Wire Puzzle, Spook Photos, Book of Sleight of Hand, Total Value 60c. Sent free with immense catalogue of 1000 Bargains for 10c.

for postage.

INGERSOLL & BRO., 65 Cortlandt Street, N. Y.

[Ill.u.s.tration: If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE WATER]

A Very Generous Offer.

I would be glad to send to members about the Table specimens of the slate schists and gold-bearing quartz from this section of the Appalachian Range, the oldest geological formation of the continent. My father is engaged in gold-mining in this country, and I have collected a large number of beautiful specimens.

We have no express office near, but as much as four pounds can be sent by mail at one cent an ounce. All I ask is that whoever sends for quartz enclose postage-stamps for as many ounces as they desire. I will label the specimens, pack and mail them for the sake of giving to my fellow-readers of the ROUND TABLE an opportunity of possessing some rare geological specimens of this almost undiscovered country.

MARGARET L. JOHNSON.

MARGANNA, VA.

Junior $50 Word Hunt.

Fifty dollars will be given by HARPER'S ROUND TABLE to the persons, under eighteen, who make out of the letters composing "Harper's Round Table" the greatest number of English words found in Webster or Worcester. Letters may be used in any order. No proper names or plurals allowed. $25 to first, $10 to second, $5 to third, and $1 each to next ten. Write words one below another, and number them. Put your own name and address at top of sheet. Post lists not later than November 25, 1895, to HARPER'S ROUND TABLE, New York.

Senior $50 Word Hunt.

Fifty dollars will be given by HARPER'S ROUND TABLE to the persons (any age) who make out of the letters composing "Harper's New Monthly" the greatest number of English words found in Webster or Worcester. Letters may be used in any order. No proper names or plurals allowed. $25 to first, $10 to second, $5 to third, and $1 each to next ten. Write words one below another, and number them. Put your own name and address at top of sheet. Post lists not later than November 25, 1895, to HARPER'S ROUND TABLE, New York.

Lunar Attraction.

Jacques Ozanam, the famous French mathematician, invented this startling illusion, which I will describe for the benefit of the Round Table.

Make a box three feet square, or of any convenient size, and place a board of the same dimensions in the bottom, slightly inclined, with a serpentine groove in it, so that a ball of lead can roll in it freely. Extend a plain mirror from the elevated end of the board to the opposite upper corner, with the reflecting side down.

Cut a small hole in the end of the box facing the mirror, and in such a position that the grooved board itself cannot be seen. If a ball of lead rolls along the groove, it will appear to ascend.

VINCENT V. M. BEEDE.

For Lovers of Figures.

Here are two ingenious problems, of French origin, which mathematically inclined members will enjoy:

1. Fifteen Christians and fifteen Turks were at sea in the same vessel when a dreadful storm came on which obliged them to throw all their merchandise overboard. This, however, not being sufficient to lighten the s.h.i.+p, the captain informed them there was no possibility of its being saved unless half the pa.s.sengers were thrown overboard also. He therefore arranged the thirty in a row, and by counting from nine to nine, and throwing every ninth person into the sea, beginning again at the first of the row when it had been counted to the end, it was found that after fifteen persons had been thrown overboard, the fifteen Christians remained. How did the captain arrange these thirty persons so as to save the Christians?

KEY.--The method may be deduced from this Latin sentence:

_Populeam virgam mater regina ferebat._ Or from this French couplet:

_Mort, tu ne failliras pas,_ _En me livrant le trepas._

2. Three gentlemen and their valets desiring to cross a river find a boat without a boatman; the boat is so small that it can contain no more than two of them at once. None of the masters can endure the valets of the other two, and if any one of them were left with any of the other valets, he would infallibly cane them. How can these six persons cross the river, two and two, so that none of the valets shall be left in company with any of the masters except when his rightful master is present?

The answers to these problems will be given next week.