MISCELLANEOUS II
When Harrison Gray Otis originated the Times letters column in 1882 he
made it clear that contributors could offer their thoughts provided they were
brief, clear, timely and on "live topics." Trivia apparently had no place in
his daily. Letters that dealt with the inane were occasionally published, but
were accompanied by a scolding editorial admonition designed to remind other
writers that his paper wasn't the place for silly questions or comments.
Despite the editor's warning, Times readers and the editorial staff would
sometimes set aside the more weighty issues of the day and turn their attention
to momentary trivia, initiating an exchange of letters and editorial replies on
a matter of less than earth-shaking proportions. While much of the humor in
such cases was intentional, some of it resulted from the fact that a few
correspondents treated the subject with a seriousness that far exceeded the
importance of the topic. Even Editor Otis must have blushed when he reread
some of his editorial replies.
A) THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
What Otis called "The Century Question" was one such topic. At issue was
not prohibition, the railroad, a harbor or paved streets but a matter that
would also puzzle both readers and editors of a much later generation. Well
before 1900 readers of the Times wondered just when the new century would
begin. For several days in November and December, 1883, the op-ed page was
crowded with letters and editorial replies, the former written by readers whom
Otis labeled "Centurions."
When two readers innocently asked in November, 1883, when the new century
would begin, Otis, who regularly answered serious questions, curtly dismissed
their query with a sneering editorial postscript. That Otis had badly
misjudged what his readers considered a "live topic" was evident the next day.
In a running exchange, correspondents and editor passionately argued their
opinions and, in response to opposing arguments, sometimes reversed themselves.
Otis pulled a double reverse, arguing himself out of giving what would be an
incorrect answer in favor of the correct one, followed the next day by an
editorial that retreated to his earlier erroneous position. A somewhat
confused "P. M." incorrectly thought Otis' first printed answer was wrong and
called him on it, only to be swayed by further argument that led to a second
letter supporting the position that Otis had in the meantime rejected. "20th
Century" was excited enough by the question to write two letters, both
published the same day. Only Miss Grundy {Is this Clotilda Grunsky again?} got
it right, even though "Esor" relied on "mathematical and scientific
calculations" in an attempt to demonstrate her error.
The letters that follow are unedited. The original question from E. D.
and C. R. appeared on Nov. 29 although some of the correspondents imply that it
ran on Nov. 30.
{Times, Nov. 29, 1883, p. 3}
19th or 20th Century?
To the Editor of the Times--Sir: Will some of your
readers tell us in what century January 1st, 1900, will be?
One of us claims that it will be in the 19th century,
the other in the 20th.
Respectfully,
E. D. and C. R.
Los Angeles, Nov. 27th, 1883.
[In the 19th century, obviously.--Ed. Times]
{Times, Nov. 30, 1883, p. 4}
19th or 20th century?
In yesterday's Times, replying to a couple of
correspondents who asked, "In what century will January 1st,
1900, be?" we replied, "In the 19th, obviously," although at
first blush we had decided in favor of the 20th, and so
wrote, but subsequently yielded to the opposite view. We are
now satisfied our reply was erroneous. The following
demonstration, handed to us by a friend, is clear and
conclusive, we think:
The 1st century is from 1 to 99, inclusive.
The 2nd from 100 to 199, inclusive.
The 3d from 200 to 299, inclusive.
The 19th from 1800 to 1899, inclusive.
The 20th from 1900 to 1999, inclusive.
Or this way:
The 1st century from 1 to 100, not including the 100.
The 2d from 100 to 200, not including the 200.
The 3d from 200 to 300, not including the 300.
The 19th from 1800 to 1900, not including the 1900.
The 20th from 1900 to 2000, not including the 2000.
{Times, Dec. 1, 1883, p. 4}
19th or 20th Century?
To the Editor of the Times--Sir: Did you not make a
slip in yesterday's paper? We are now living in the 19th
century, and it ends on the 31st of Dec., 1899.
Consequently, the 1st day of January, 1900 is the first day
of the 20th century.
P. M.
Santa Monica, Nov. 29, 1883.
{Times, Dec. 1, 1883, p. 4}
19th or 20th Century?
To the Editor of the Times--Sir: In yesterday's issue
of the Times, "E. D. and C. R." ask: "Will January 1st,
1900, be in the 19th or 20th century?" To which you answer
very briefly, "In the 19th century, obviously." I think I
have taught mathematics long enough to know different from
that. January 1st, 1899, will be the last January in the
19th century. The next January will commence the new year,
and the first year of the 20th century. 1899 will be the
last year of the 19th century; hence, January 1st, 1900, will
be in the 20th century.
20TH CENTURY.
Los Angeles, Nov. 29th, 1883.
{Times, Dec. 1, 1883, p. 4}
19th or 20th Century?--Another Demonstration.
To the Editor of the Times--Sir: In yesterday's Times
two correspondents ask: "Will January 1st, 1900, be in the
19th or 20th century?" You answer: "In the 19th, obviously."
In this I think you have made a mistake. We know that the
year 190 was in the 2d century. This being admitted, we have
the ratio, 190 is to 2 as 1900 is to x. Multiplying 1900 by
2 gives 3800, which, divided by 190, gives 20. Hence: 190 :
2 : : 1900 : 20; and proves that 1900 will be in the 20th
century. So, of course, must January 1st of that year be.
20TH CENTURY.
Los Angeles, Nov. 29th, 1883.
{Times, Dec. 1, 1883, p. 4}
The Century Question.
MISS GRUNDY ON THE KNOTTY PROBLEM.
To the Editor of the Times--Sir: The agitation of the
century question I see is engaging the columns of the Times.
It's a question that I am interested in, as what woman isn't
when the question of years comes up for consideration? Mr.
Times, I take issue with your conclusions and with those of
your correspondents. According to my arithmetic, you are
both wrong, and are cheating the world out of a full year's
time in the matter of centuries.
What is the definition given in the dictionary of the
word century? Is it not "a period of one hundred years?"
Not ninety-nine years, as your correspondent claims when he
says: "The first century is from 1 to 99, inclusive." How is
a hundred years embraced within that period? By no amount of
logic or mathematical reckoning can you make of ninety-nine
years a full, perfectly-rounded century. The year 100 must
pass, and not until Dec. 31, at midnight, will the century be
completed, and the first one hundred years be told. At the
beginning of the 100th year I am not one hundred years old,
any more than I am twenty-one on my twentieth birthday,
though you then say I am in my twenty-first year. As I am
one year old at the end of the year 1, so I am one hundred
years old at the end of the year 100. Then, if I am not one
hundred years old until midnight of Dec. 31 of the year 100,
tell me, if you please, how I can commence my second century
before 12 o'clock midnight of the year 100?
The conclusions arrived at by your correspondent, and
accepted by yourself, were based upon the proposition that
"the 1st century is from 1 to 99, inclusive." If, by any
amount of logic or imagination you will demonstrate that
ninety-nine years make a hundred, I'll own up that I am 1900
at the beginning of my 1900th year rather than at is close.
But, as yet, it is not given me to see how the 20th
century can begin before the close of the year 1900. If
modern science will bring in the 20th century for christening
before the dawn of the new year 1901, may I be there to see
and to give it welcome.
MISS GRUNDY.
{Times, Dec. 2, 1883, p. 6}
Another Centurion to the Fore.
To the Editor of the Times--Sir: Apropos of the 19th
century discussion, now raging in the Times columns, permit
me one question: How old were you on your 40th birthday?
[Thirty-nine years, of course.--Ed. Times.]
{Times, Dec. 2, 1883, p. 6}
A Convert to the 19th Century Theory.
To the Editor of the Times--Sir: I regret having sent
you the postal today, as, on looking at the thing again, I
see that you are right and that I am wrong. Please excuse
me.
P. M.
Santa Monica, Nov. 30, 1883.
{Times, Dec. 2, 1883, p. 6}
19th or 20th Century?
To the Editor of the Times--Sir: Suppose we change the
wording of the proposition, just a little: "The first
century is from 1 to 99 inclusive." We would like to make it
thus: From the first of the first century to the end of the
99th year (Dec. 31, at 12 p. m., A. D. 99) would be one
century or 100 years. Hence Jan. 1st, or one minute after 12
p. m., Dec. 31st, 1899, would be the first minute in 1900,
and in the 20th century. Sabe?
RE VERA.
{Times, Dec. 2, 1883, p. 6}
That Century Question Again.
To the Editor of the Times--Sir: Do not, I pray you,
allow the gentle sophistry of Miss Grundy to mislead you on
the now popular century question.
We agree with that excellent lady that a century must
comprise 100 years. Be it known to her, however, that in
mathematical and scientific calculations an era never really
begins, as is apparently the case, with the year 1, but just
365 days before, the term of year 0, or time previous to the
era, having achieved a year to count as No. 1. Hence:
0 to 1--1st year
1 to 2--2d year.
00 to 100--lst century.
100 to 200--2d century
1800 to 1900--19th century.
1900 to 2000--20th century.
Therefore it is plain that we are now in the 19th
century, and, on Jan. 1, 1900, we will be in the 20th
century. Quod erat demonstrandum.
Should your fair friend Miss G. wish for "more light" on
this question, show her the article on Chronology in
"Encyclopedia Brittanica."
ESOR.
Esor had the twentieth century and the current millennium ending with Dec.
31, 1999. By his logic, and that of Otis as expressed in the editorial in
which he reversed his first printed position, Jan. 1, 2000, would inaugurate
both a new century and a new millennium.
We do not know how the debate ended in 1883 since there are no copies of
the paper extant for several months after Dec. 2. But as the 1890s came to an
end, Otis accepted Miss Grundy's argument. Perhaps recalling the old debate,
he opened his editorial on January 1, 1900, with a greeting to his readers
"upon this, the first morning which has dawned in the last year of the
nineteenth century."
"Esor" would have taken solace, however, in a page two news item reporting
that "The discussion in regard to the commencement of the twentieth century
rages with unabated vigor." Germany's Emperor officially declared that the new
century had opened, a position that had strong support in the Church of
England.
A year later, at the beginning of 1901, Otis wrote that "the nineteenth
century ... passed into history last night with the stroke of the midnight
hour. We stand, today, within the portals of the twentieth century." From
page one of the second section a scantily clad youngster with top hat greeted
Times readers with "Good Morning To All---I'm The 20th Century."
As the 20th century neared its end Times readers once again raised "The
Century Question," although focusing on the beginning of a new millennium
rather than a new century. Rejecting Esor's theory that the first year was
numbered 0, the Times' Science editor decreed that the beginning year of the
first millennium was A.D. 1 and the thousandth year A.D. 1000. Thus, the first
year of the third millennium would begin on Jan. 1, 2001. Furthermore, the
paper's style manual noted that the 21st century would "begin Jan. 1, 2001, no
matter how many parties are held a year early." That no doubt would make Miss
Grundy smile, and it might put the question to rest for another thousand years.
B) MT. KINNEYLOA
Towering over Pasadena, with a view spanning Southern California from Mt.
Palomar to Catalina, stands Mt. Wilson. Rising abruptly from the valley floor
to over a mile high, and with its unobstructed vista at the front of the San
Gabriel range presenting an ideal location for television antennas, the
mountain is one of the most readily identifiable peaks in Southern California.
First accessible by trail, then by toll road, and finally by a state highway,
the mountain became the site of observatories and a mountain park.
For years it was known locally as "Wilson's Peak" in honor of Benjamin
Wilson, who built a trail to the top in the 1860s to obtain timber for his Lake
Vineyard Ranch in what became the Annandale section of Pasadena. The
mountain's name became a subject of debate in early 1887 when a government
survey party mapping that portion of the range announced that it would formally
name the peak "Mt. Kinneyloa," to honor another local resident.
Abbot Kinney - advocate of social reform, heir to a cigarette fortune,
confidante of Helen Hunt Jackson and developer of Venice - also happened to be,
in the mid-1880s, the first chairman of the state Board of Forestry. An
activist in many fields, Kinney used his position to work for flood control,
along with restrictions on timber cutting and grazing in the local mountains.
After a brief stay in 1880 at Sierra Madre Villa for his health, Kinney bought
land north of the villa at the base of the mountains between Sierra Madre and
Pasadena, creating an estate that he called Kinneyloa.
The first public notice that a name change was imminent appeared in the
Times on Feb. 18, 1887, in this brief news item:
Wilson's Peak.
A party of government surveyors, accompanied by a
photographer, are at work on a new government map of this
section. They have mapped Wilson's Peak as Mount Kinneyloa,
and there is great wrath in all the foothill country thereat.
Mr. Wilson--for whom the peak was named--was an old pioneer,
a member of the Legislature and a respected citizen. At an
expense of thousands of dollars he constructed the famous
Wilson's Trail leading up to the peak. The people do not
take kindly to a scheme designed to rob an old and well-known
landmark of an ancient and honored name and clothe it with an
absurd new one.
While the number of angry responses to the proposed name change was not
great, many influential residents, especially in the San Gabriel Valley, were
outraged. Don Benito, as Wilson was often called, had been a popular figure in
Southern California during his lifetime. A pioneer who arrived in 1841, Wilson
married into a prominent Mexican family and served a term as mayor of Los
Angeles early in the American period. Before his death in 1878 he had
subdivided his Pasadena holdings just west of the Arroyo Seco. Those who had
known him were disturbed by this proposed name change, as noted by this letter
signed "Wilson's Peak."
{Times, Feb. 19, 1887, p. 6}
Wilson's Peak Let it Remain.
Los Angeles, (Cal.), Feb. 18--[To the Editor of The
Times.] The bedaubing of that old sentinel, Wilson's Peak,
with an absurd title coined from the name of a man, as
mentioned in today's Times, is worthy of an expression of
indignation from those who do not care to see old land-marks
and titles eliminated in the interest of some one's ambition.
It has been called Wilson's peak by common consent because
one of that name performed acts which entitled him to that
distinction. Does anybody know the reason why the government
surveyors assumed to redesignate it by a not at all worthy or
euphonious title? Why did they choose the name of Kinney,
with an alleged poetic suffix? Why not Smithsonian,
Robersonian? or, if they wished to perpetuate to our
posterity a name, why didn't they choose that of something
decent, or better than all, have left it alone? Unhappily,
their action being official, the mountain will now bear the
title they have, upon consultation with one person, given
it--at least, upon the government maps, but the people can,
and will, disregard the innovation stuffed down their throats
and continue to remember it by its old name--a name bestowed
long, long before its present appropriator sniffed the air of
Southern California.
Yours,
"WILSON'S PEAK."
In response to the criticism, a member of the government survey party
offered an explanation for the decision to name the mountain Kinneyloa. In an
editorial appended to the letter, the Times stated its reasons for opposing the
change.
{Times, Feb. 21, 1887, p. 4}
Unto Kinney the Things that be Kinney's.
The Times is in receipt of the following note:
Los Angeles, Feb. 19, 1887.--[To the Editor of The
Times.] Apparently somebody seems to be having a thorn in
his side over our naming the mountain peak after your
distinguished citizen, Abbot Kinney. The action of the
Government is in recognition of the ardent services of the
gentleman, as the official head of the Board of Forestry of
California, in seeking to preserve the water sources and
timber lands from spoliation and appropriation by lawless
parties.
SURVEYOR.
A recognition of the distinguished services of Citizen
Abbot Kinney would be all right, coming from the Government
or from any other source, were it accomplished without an act
of vandalism. But when an effort is made to set aside a
time-honored and universally-recognized name in favor of a
new one which contains a Sandwich Island graft upon the
cognomen of Citizen Kinney, the proposition becomes odious in
the extreme.
Don Benito Wilson was in his day one of the foremost
citizens of Los Angeles county and of Southern California.
He was a pioneer among pioneers and a pathmaker no less than
a pathfinder. He was noted for his farseeing enterprises and
his rugged integrity. He reared one of the first orange
groves and planted one of the largest vineyards of San
Gabriel and he established the first furniture factory in
Southern California. He subdivided a considerable part of
Pasadena (Lake Vineyard tract) and opened it for settlement.
He was called into places of public and private trust and
represented Los Angeles county in the State Legislature.
Among his other enterprises he hewed out a trail to the
summit of one of the notable peaks of the Sierra Madre chain,
and brought out of the mountain fastness timber with which to
build houses. Since that day the trail has been known as
Wilson's Trail, and the mountain which it ascends has been
called Wilson's Peak. These designations have been in use
among the people of Southern California for upwards of thirty
years. Old Don Benito Wilson earned them, not only by his
services to the public as a pioneer and staunch citizen and
representative, but by his direct enterprise in opening a
pathway to the top of the mountain. This trail he left as a
rich legacy of enjoyment for the generations who were to come
after him, and many who have climbed the heights and looked
upon the beautiful panorama below have blessed his memory.
Don Benito Wilson sleeps in the little churchyard at San
Gabriel. A true history of his life would show that he never
intentionally wronged any man to the value of anything. He
never even tried to filch a good name or steal one jot or
title of the honor due another man's memory. Such
distinction as came to him during his long and useful life,
came without his grasping after it.
If our correspondent "Surveyor" is one of the Government
officials who is seeking to wrest away the name from the
memory of old Don Benito Wilson, and place the conscripted
honor upon the brow of Mr. Kinney, of Kinneyloa, let him
think better of it. He will find that he is planting a thorn
in the sides of a good many men in Los Angeles county and one
that will prick deeply.
As to Mr. Kinney himself, he must see that the
distinction thus sought will be nothing short of odium. An
honored name is not thus to be handed down to posterity. If
he hungers and thirsts after a mountain, there are many other
peaks in the Sierra Madre as yet unchristened. Let him build
a trail to the summit of one of them and climb it and, with
chisel in hand, let him cut deep into the face of its topmost
granite rock the talismanic word "KINNEYLOA." Then let him
call in a party of Government surveyors to note the conquest
and to inscribe the name upon the map; and a Government
photographer to take a picture of the eminence, himself
included. With such a fair, square and manly acquisition of
fame the public will be in hearty sympathy, and loud paeans
of approbation will make the welkin ring. Kinneyloa Peak
shall be a landmark for all the flat country of this end of
the State, and shall be pointed to with interest by the
people on shipboard far off the coast. And years hence, when
Mr. Kinney shall be asleep in a little churchyard not far
away, and some vandal hunter after fame shall seek to take
away the name from Kinneyloa Mountain, The Times, then
drifted into an honorable and robust old age, and conducted
by another generation of men, will champion his cause and
hurl defiance into the very teeth of the despoiler. The cry
will then be "Kinneyloa Mountain forever."
As a means of resolving the dispute, "Wilson's Peak" followed up the Times
editorial reply to "Surveyor" with a counter proposal. Otis felt moved to add
yet another editorial comment and, since the previous letter signed "Wilson's
Peak" had more than a touch of the editor's own writing style, stressed the
authenticity of this latest letter. Elsewhere, the Times reported that
dispatches from the Sandwich Islands {Hawaii} indicated that an eruption of
Mauna Loa had apparently ceased, just as the eruption over Mt. Kinneyloa had
begun.
{Times, Feb. 22, 1887, p. 4}
"Wilson's Peak Let it Remain.
The Times has received the following up-and-up letter
opposing the vandal scheme to obliterate the time-honored
name of Wilson's Peak and substitute the "strange device" of
"Kinneyloa"--an attempt that has aroused no small measure of
indignation among those who recognize the eternal fitness of
things, and who feel that Don Benito's honestly-won laurels
should not be snatched away, now that he is dead, and
conferred upon another, even though he be a statesman of
Citizen Kinney's columbiad caliber, and even though the act
be performed by so high and mighty a power as a party of
Government surveyors:
Los Angeles (Cal.), Feb. 21.--[To the Editor of The
Times.] The Times this morning has said sufficient, in its
reply to an alleged Government surveyor's defense of Citizen
Kinney's high-handed appropriation of the title to Wilson's
Peak; sufficient, I repeat, to cause any reasonable man in
that gentleman's unenviable position to retire to the
solitude and under the shadow of the old mountain, and their
kick himself soundly for his conceit and absurd ambition, but
whether Citizen Kinney does perform this act of needed
penitence, one thing he should and ought, by the united voice
of the people of this valley, be compelled to do, and that
is, withdraw his selfesh request, see that the proper title
of the mount is inscribed upon the Government maps, and then
if he craves so much notoriety and fame (?), look up some
other mountain upon which to daub his dulcet and euphonious
cognomen. Peace to old Don Benito's ashes! We will defend
him against the onslaughts of the appropriators of his
honored name, even if they have wealth, a big house and
belong to the Forestry Commission, and therein lies the
"distinguishedness" of our esteemed friend, as expatiated
upon by "Surveyor." Are these sufficient recognitory ground
for the Government (?) hurling the Don's name from its lofty
height and substituting that of Citizen Kinney, with the
Sandwich Island suffix? Well, no, not by any means,
therefore, we demand unequivocally the restoration of the
spoils of this unwarranted, high-handed proceeding, and the
title, "Kinneyloa" relegated to, and kept where it belongs,
viz: on Citizen Kinney's own house and grounds. Yours,
"WILSON'S PEAK."
Within a week Kinney withdrew his name from consideration. Before that
occurred, however, one of the city's eccentrics seemingly got in a last dig at
Mt. Kinneyloa. A well-recognized figure in Los Angeles in the 1880s was
Savariej, described by Harris Newmark as "a simple-minded freak of the freakish
eighties, who dropped into Los Angeles - as such characters generally do -
without anyone knowing much about his origin." The letter was probably written
by a Times staffer or some other local wag. For more on Savariej see the
chapter on "Crazy Shaw."
{Times, Feb. 26, 1887, p. 6}
"Savariej Peak."
"Savariej Peak," Feb. 23.--[To the Editor of The Times.]
I claim the name "Savariej Peak," for the mountain top next
to Mr. Kinney's new mountain. "Savariej Peak" and
"Kinneyloa," side by side, will commemorate the names of two
great men. I, the great violin player and walker, and he,
the great cigarette maker.
Yours Truly,
PROFFESSOR SAVARIEJ.
C) THE TIMES LAYS AN EGG
The brilliance exhibited in serious correspondence also appeared in
letters dealing with the mundane. Such was the case with responses to the
brain teaser submitted by Times reader V. C. Chaplin. How Chaplin came across
the original piece in the Chicago Tribune is unknown, but Illinois was the
former home of a large number of Angelenos who arrived in the 1880s and an
Illinois Society, founded in that decade, was active for many years thereafter.
Eastern and Midwestern newspapers circulated widely in California among the
recent immigrants.
{Times, April 30, 1888, p. 3}
A Lay for Mathematicians.
Los Angeles, April 29.--[To the Editor of The Times.]
The Chicago Tribune published the following problem, and it
is quite amusing to read the many and various solutions sent
them.
The problem is this: "If a hen and a half lay an egg and
a half in a day and a half, how many eggs will six hens lay
in seven days?"
Some answer 24, some 28, some 30, some 42, one 84 and
one 6 1/2.
Let us have the correct solution from some of your
mathematical readers.
V. M. CHAPLIN.
The dates of the first letters printed in response to Chaplin's question
indicate that readers were quickly taken with the mathematical challenge,
although it seems unreasonable that a letter written in Ventura on May 1
arrived in time for publication on May 2. Otis ran the first solutions two
days after printing Chaplin's letter. The earliest responses were fairly
straightforward attempts to resolve the problem, although "B. E. H." initially
challenged the premise before offering a solution.
{Times, May 2, 1888, p. 6}
The Hen Racket.
Los Angeles, April 30.--[To the Editor of The Times.] I
send you mental solution of "egg problem" in Monday's Times.
If a hen and a half lay an egg and a half in a day and a
half, then, three half hens lay three half eggs in three half
days, and one-half hen lays one-half egg in one-half
day--consequently, one hen lays one egg in one day, six hens
lay six in one day, and six times seven are 42 eggs in seven
days.
J.
{Times, May 2, 1888, p. 6}
LISTEN TO THE LAY OF THE HEN.
San Buenaventura, May 1.--[To the Editor of The Times.]
In answer to V. M. Chaplin's lay question in your issue of
the 30th ult., I have to say that in the sense that half a
hen cannot lay any part of an egg, the problem is incapable
of solution; but granting that a hen and a half lay an egg
and a half in a day and a half, a hen will evidently lay an
egg a day (provided, of course, she does not lose her lay);
hence, six hens in seven days will lay 42 eggs.
B. E. H.
{Times, May 2, 1888, p. 6}
ANOTHER SOLUTION.
Los Angeles, May 1.--[To the Editor of The Times.] I
notice in the columns of your paper a problem, and I venture
a solution of the same.
If a hen and one-half lay an egg and one-half in a day
and one-half, how many eggs will six hens lay in seven days?
If a hen and one-half lay an egg and one-half in one day
and one-half, then a hen and one-half in one day and one-half
will lay two-thirds of one and one-half, plus one. Then if a
hen and one-half in one day will lay one egg, in seven days
they will lay seven eggs. If one and one-half hens lay seven
eggs in seven days, then six hens would lay as many eggs as
one and one-half is contained in six, which is four. Then in
seven days they would lay 7x4 which is 28 eggs.
JOSEFETA BONITA.
Chaplin wrote a second letter, printed May 2, suggesting an answer to the
problem {omitted here for obvious reasons.} Despite this, readers continued to
flood the Times with possible solutions. They were evenly divided between
those convinced that the answer was 28 and those who arrived at 42 as the
correct solution. Even those obtaining a similar answer arrived at that figure
by diverse methods, as noted by the replies printed on May 3.
{Times May 3, 1888, p. 3}
The Lay of the Hen.
THE LITTLE JOKER.
Orange, May 2.--[To the Editor of The Times.] The catch
in the hen problem is in the statement of it.
"If a hen and one-half lay an egg and one-half in a day
and one-half" means simply, if a hen lays one egg per day.
Multiply number of days by number of hens--6 multiplied
by 7 equals 42.
ROBERT E. TENER.
{Times, May 3, 1888, p. 3}
HIC JACET!
Los Angeles, May 2.--[To the Editor of The Times.] One
and one-half hens lay one and one-half eggs in one and one-
half days; six hens lay six eggs in one and one-half days;
six hens lay 24 eggs in six days; six hens lay 28 eggs in
seven days.
Q. E. D.
{Times, May 3, 1888, p. 3}
DOES HE STRIKE?
Los Angeles, May 2.--[To the Editor of The Times.] For
the sake of the science of mathematics, please give the
correct answer to your problem of the hens and eggs.
If the conditions are to be taken mathematically, which,
of course, must be the case, as any other supposition is
obviously absurd, then it follows by analysis: If 1 1/2 hens
lay 1 1/2 eggs in any time whatever, then 6 hens, which are
equal to 4 times 1 1/2 hens, will lay 4 times as many eggs in
the same time, or 6 hens will lay 6 eggs in the given time.
Now, by the conditions of the problem, the 6 eggs will
be laid in 1 1/2 days, but it is proposed to make the time 7
days, so 4 2/3 times 1 1/2 days; hence, the result must be 4
2/3 times as large, or 4 2/3 times 6 eggs, or 28 eggs.
SPENCER.
By May 4 readers had gone beyond the simple brain teaser and complicated
the matter with all sorts of extraneous observations. In his second letter,
presenting the problem's solution, Chaplin had assumed that the hens laid their
first eggs at 6 a. m. on a Monday morning, and spoke of "ripe and mature" eggs.
{Times, May 4, 1888, p. 3}
AN EGGSHAUSTIVE SOLUTION.
Los Angeles, May 2.--[To the Editor of The Times.] I
was not aware of the possibilities of complication in the
egg-and-a-half problem (apparently a simple one in
proportion) until reading the solutions in today's Times.
The ingenious author does not appear to have considered all
the conditions of the problem. He assumes a week's steady
laying at long hours, beginning at 6 o'clock and ending at 6
o'clock, much longer than a hen's legal working day, not
counting holidays. Then it is well known that among six hens
of average ability at least one will be found to go dry
within the week. The half hen is evidently a pullet, and
cannot be depended upon to lay an egg oftener than, as
newspaper men would say, e. o. d. t. f., and the half egg is
one of the doubtful specimens to be obtained at any Los
Angeles restaurant--as Mr. Chaplin would say, "ripe and
mature." My solution is as follows:
If a hen and a half lay an egg and a half in a day and a
half, not counting Sundays and legal holidays, and omitting
the three days of grace, then two-thirds of one and a half
hens, plus one, will in one-third of two and a half days,
plus one-half, lay four and a third "ripe and mature" eggs,
and the half egg, which, as I said before, the restaurant
gets--the hens taking an hour off at noontimes. This will
take them until Wednesday at 3 o'clock in the morning; five
minutes for refreshments. One hen, as I suggested above, is
side-tracked at this station, and the remaining hens and
their fractions proceed to lay themselves out, arriving on
time Saturday night with a score of eggs measuring 6x4 2/3 to
their credit--no errors.
As a science, mathematics is not only exact but
exhausting.
In return, I propound to Mr. Chaplin the following
problem:
Why does a hen lay eggs?
But, fearing you will not give any more space to the
matter, I give the answer myself:
Because if she dropped them they would break.
C. A. M.
P. S.--If the editor of The Times wishes my name as a
guarantee of good faith and sincerity, as well as for
reliability of the data above furnished, I will send it to
him, provided he will let the secret die with him.
[All new egg problems sent to this office must be
accompanied by samples of the eggs (raw), not for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.--Ed.]
Within a week after Chaplin's original letter the solutions had become more
complex even though the answers were now uniformly 28.
{Times, May 7, 1888, p. 3}
The Hen Problem.
TWENTY-EIGHT.
Los Angeles, May 4.--[To the Editor of The Times.]
Commencing with eggs: If three half eggs are laid by three
half hens, what would one half hen lay? She would lay one-
third of three half eggs, which would be one-half egg, and
two halves or one whole hen would lay two times one-half egg,
or one (1) egg; but it takes her three half days to do this;
now, what would she lay in one-half day? She would lay one-
third of two half eggs, which would be two-sixths of one egg,
and in two halves, or one whole day, she would lay two times
two-sixths of an egg, which would be four-sixths of one egg.
Now we have got what one hen lays in one day; now what would
six hens lay in one day? Why, six times four-sixths of one
egg, which would be twenty-four-sixths eggs, or four eggs, of
course. Now if six hens lay four eggs in one day, how many
would they lay in seven days? Seven times four eggs, of
course, which are 28 eggs. By the simple method of
cancellation the true result is reached. Very truly,
M. W. CONNOR.
{Times, May 7, 1888, p. 3}
TWENTY-EIGHT.
Los Angeles, May 4.--[To the Editor of The Times.] If
one and a half hens lay one and a half eggs in any time, then
half a hen lays a half egg in the same time, and one whole
hen lays one whole egg. The time given is one and a half
days. Then one hen lays one egg in one and a half days. If
she lays one egg in one and a half days, she lays two-thirds
of an egg in a day, and six hens lay six multiplied by two-
thirds, or four eggs, in a day, and in seven days they lay
seven multiplied by four or twenty-eight.
SUSAN JONES.
{Times, May 7, 1888, p. 3}
TWENTY-EIGHT TAMBIEN.
Del Mar, May 3.--[To the Editor of The Times.] I
herewith lay before you for an egg-sample a mental solution
of your hen and egg problem:
If a hen and a half in a day and a half lay an egg and a
half, then four times as many hens (six) of equally vigorous
constitution, will, in the same time, lay four times as many
eggs, which is six. Now as seven days are four and two-
thirds times one and a half days, then six multiplied by four
and two-thirds is equal to 28 eggs as the fruit of seven days
of hen labor. As the statement does not necessarily imply
seven consecutive days, the maturing of the eggs is the hen's
part of the problem.
A TOURIST ROOSTER.
B. C. Whitlock presented a new version of the puzzle, and readers
responded. One took him seriously; another did not.
[Times, May 4, 1888, p. 3]
A Fresh Racket.
Los Angeles, May 3.--[To the Editor of The Times.] I
see you have gone into the egg business. Please give them
the inclosed, and oblige.
B. C. WHITLOCK.
A man comes in with a basket of eggs, counting them out
two at a time, three at a time, four at a time, five at a
time, six at a time. He has one left each time, but counting
them out seven at a time, they come out even. What was the
lowest number of eggs he could have had in the basket?
[Here is a new scheme to promote insanity, and the
author is gently but firmly informed that he will not be
permitted to go behind the returns; he must confine himself
to the question before the house, or the previous question
will be called and the bill brought to a vote.--Ed.]
{Times, May 7, 1888, p. 3}
LOFTY SCORN.
Los Angeles, May 4.--[To the Editor of The Times.]
Solution to the fresh racket: The lowest number that will
contain 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 exactly is 60. Now, 61 would give 1
remainder each time, but is not exactly divisible by 7. The
lowest multiple of 60, with 1 added, that is exactly
divisible by, is the fifth. The fifth multiple of 60 is 300,
and 301 is the number.
EGGS ACTLY.
P. S. Give us something hard. We hate to be solving
problems in lowest common multiple for full-grown people.
What can you expect from a man who has to count eggs over in
twos, threes, fours, fives, sixes and sevens before he can
tell whether he is right or not.
{Times, May 7, 1888, p. 3}
SHORT AND DECISIVE.
Santa Ana, May 4.--[To the Editor of The Times.] The
answer to B. C. Whitlock's problem is 91 eggs.
J. G. WELCH.
On April 30, the day the original puzzle was printed, Chaplin had
submitted a second letter, offering a solution to what Otis called, in a
footnote, an "exasperating problem." Despite Chaplin's explanation, Niven
Namwol found yet another way to resolve the dispute with a number that no other
Times correspondent came up with.
{Times, May 2, 1888, p. 6.}
THE AUTHOR'S IDEA.
Los Angeles, April 30.--[To the Editor of The Times.]
My answer to the "egg problem" would be this:
Take the six hens Monday morning at 6 a.m., just after
each hen has laid. Then at 6 p. m. Tuesday we get six eggs,
at 6 a. m. Thursday we get six eggs, at 6 p. m. Friday we get
six eggs, and at 6 a. m. Sunday we get six eggs, which must
be 24 eggs.
Would get six more at 6 p. m. Monday, but the seven days
are up at 6 a. m. Monday.
The other six eggs are 24 hours old, or two-thirds
grown, but they are not ripe yet.
One solution: There are 14 half days and each hen lays
one egg in three half days, or 4 2/3 eggs in the seven days;
and six hens would lay 6x4 2/3=28. But the last six eggs are
actually only two-thirds formed, and can hardly be counted
yet as equal to four ripe and mature eggs.
Most of the answers given are 28 eggs. None of those
answering introduce time just as I have in first solution.
Yours truly,
V. M. CHAPLIN.
{Times, May 4, 1888, p. 3}
The Hen Problem.
THE LAY OF THE LOGICIAN.
Los Angeles, May 1.--[To the Editor of The Times.] At
the risk of rousing your righteous indignation [Hear! hear!]
by the further discussion of the "hen problem," I rise to
remark that the fractional elements of that question seem to
mislead many into the conclusion that if a hen and a half lay
an egg and a half in a day and a half, of course one hen lays
one egg in one day. On this false assumption they
immediately go to work and get 42 eggs as the result of the
week's work on the part of the hens. Leaving the half hen
out of the question altogether a hen laying an egg a day
would alone lay in the day and a half of the problem the egg
and a half; and the hen and a half would, in the day and a
half, lay, at this rate, two and a quarter eggs. The fact
is, the element of time in the problem is stationary, and
expressed in its simplest form the question reads: If a hen
lay an egg in a day and a half, what will six hens lay in
seven days? Relieved of the fractions this problem is shorn
of its terrors, and the solution then becomes simply a
question of the exercise of one's practical common sense.
This is finely brought out in V. M. Chaplin's letter in
The Times of Wednesday, and bearing in mind the fact that a
period of a day and a half can be repeated but four times in
a week, and that you can't force "hen fruit" so as to have
it, as Mr. C. felicitously put it, prematurely "ripe."
Spencer, of yesterday's Times, and the host of others who
have dislocated their brains over this weighty problem, may,
"for the sake of the science of mathematics" and your own
peace of mind, rest assured that the only correct answer is
two dozen eggs. [So?]
Respectfully,
NIVEN NAMWOL.
After several days Otis and his staff could not resist the opportunity that
Chaplin had so innocently presented to them. A half-column of fictitious
letters to the editor appeared on May 7. After that all the hens went dry.
{Times, May 7, 1888, p. 3}
Voices from the Barnyard.
A FEW MORE EGGS-AMPLES
FOR THE LAY CONVENTION TO BROOD OVER.
Ed. Times: If a healthy hen can lay a quarter of an egg
in four days, how many can an average rooster lay in four
years.
BANTAM.
THIS WILL STUMP YOU.
Ed. Times: If an able-bodied crowd can throw 75 ripe
eggs at a green candidate in 30 minutes, how many eggs-
clamations can said candidate get off before he says his "Now
I lay me?"
AMERICAN EAGLE, JR.
EGGS ARE SUCH STUFF AS DREAMS ARE MADE OF.
Ed. Times: If a soft-boiled egg will digest in one and
three-quarter hours, how many hard-boiled eggs must a poet
eat for supper to dream that he is riding through the nebula
of Orion, mounted on a pea-green dragon with pink eyes and
blue horns cut bias?
COCHIN CHINA.
THE MINSTREL'S LAY.
Ed. Times: If a hen can lay four eggs in seven days,
how many years must a minstrel lay to earn as much as a hen?
GENOVEVA.
THE EASTERN QUESTION.
Ed. Times: If a turkey can sit 14 days on 10 eggs, how
many weeks can Greece keep a ministry without change?
CRESTED POLAND.
PLEASE EGGSPLAIN.
Ed. Times: If a brown Leghorn cockerel can lay seven
eggs in 15 days, how many songs can a black Spanish cavalier
sing in three evenings, with one leg off.
CROW.
A PERTINENT HEN-QUIRY.
Ed. Times: If one ripe egg will make five boarding-
house omelettes, how many more egg problems will it take to
transform every reader of The Times into a howling maniac?
PERTURBED PULLET.