MAY 1, 2002

A BEARTOWN MYSTERY

An "undesirable" from a neighboring town staged a night time robbery at The "HERE'S the BEEF" Ranch.  With the thousands of cattle it was next to impossible to determine how many had been stolen.  However, through the excellent investigative techniques of the Beartown Constable, the exact number was determined and all were eventually recovered.
The "undesirable" was quickly caught because not many people sell cattle on the side of the road any more.  The Beartown Constable apprehended him along with some of the cattle.
Intense questioning led to the following confession. ""Well, first I sold Mr. Stewart half the herd and half a cow; then I sold Mr. Benson a third of what was left and a third of a cow; then Mr. Roberts bought a fourth of what was left and three fourths of a cow; then Mrs. Jewell took a fifth of what was left and I gave her a fifth of a cow for good measure.  And here are the nineteen cattle that I haven't sold yet."

The Constable quickly figured out how many cattle had been stolen and how many each purchaser had bought.  CAN YOU FIGURE IT OUT???
It must be pointed out that NO cow was divided!

Check the next issue of Beartown News for the answer.

FROM LAST MONTH

The Beartown Constable went to work at his office one evening when there was a power outage.  He got out two candles of identical length and lit them.  He knew one would burn for 4 hours and the other for 5 hours.
Upon finishing his work, he went to fill out his time card and realized he had forgotten to check his watch when he started work.  The candles had burned to a point where one was exactly four times longer than the other.  With this information he easily figured out how long he had worked.  CAN YOU???

ANSWER

The candles must have burned for three and three-quarters hours.  At the end of that time the four-hour candle had one sixteenth of its length left, and the five-hour candle had four sixteenths.

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