Amusements in Mathematics (Part 4)

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31.--DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

Young Mrs. Perkins, of Putney, writes to me as follows: "I should be
very glad if you could give me the answer to a little sum that has been
worrying me a good deal lately. Here it is: We have only been married a
short time, and now, at the end of two years from the time when we setup housekeeping, my husband tells me that he finds we have spent a third
of his yearly income in rent, rates, and taxes, one-half in domestic
expenses, and one-ninth in other ways. He has a balance of £190
remaining in the bank. I know this last, because he accidentally left
out his pass-book the other day, and I peeped into it. Don't you think
that a husband ought to give his wife his entire confidence in his money
matters? Well, I do; and--will you believe it?--he has never told me
what his income really is, and I want, very naturally, to find out. Can
you tell me what it is from the figures I have given you?"

Yes; the answer can certainly be given from the figures contained in
Mrs. Perkins's letter. And my readers, if not warned, will be
practically unanimous in declaring the income to be--something absurdly
in excess of the correct answer!


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