Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1893 — His Wit Saved Him. [ARTICLE]

His Wit Saved Him.

A few years ago there was in a law school not a hundred miles from Boston a very aged and eccentric professor. “General information ’’ was the old gentleman’s hobby; like Gen. Garfield, he held it incontrovertible thatif a young lawyer possessed a large fund of miscellaneous knowledge, combined with an equal amount of “horse Sense” he would be a success. So every year the professor put on his examination papers a question very far removed from the subject of criminal law. One year it was, “How many kinds of trees are there In the college yard?” The next, “What is the make-up of the present English Cabinet?” Finally, the professor thought he had invented the best question of his life. It was, “Name twelve animals that inhabit the polar regions." The professor chuckled as he wrote this down. He was sure that he could “pluck" half the students on that question. And it was beyond a doubt that that opprobrious young loafer, Jones, ’B7, would fail. But when the professor road the examination papers, Jones, who had not answered another question, was the only man who had solved the polar problem. This was Jones’ answer: “Six seals and six polar bears." Jones got his degree with distinction. The professor said that the man who could, give such an answer would some day cause the shades of Webster and Choate to turn green with envy.—Boston Budget. ’