THAT SHIRT AGAIN

New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 413, 23 May 1947, Page 5

THAT SHIRT AGAIN

sir,-Will one of your readers, pere haps an accountant, solve the following problem, which was printed in The Listener some years ago? An argument has arisen as to the correct solution. The problem is as follows: A mar went into a shop to buy a shirt. The draper showed him a shirt at 12 shillings, which the man took. He gave the draper a pound note. The draper had no change, so took the note to the chemist next door, who gave him 20 shillings. in silver for’ the note. The draper then gave the man the shirt and eight shillings change, and the man went away. A few minutes later the chemist came to the draper and said, "This note you gave me is a bad one, a forgery," and it was. So the draper had to give the chemist 20 shillings. How much did the draper lose? The generally-accepted answer was 20 shillings, being the eight shillings given to the man and 12 shillings, what the shirt could have been sold for. But is this correct? What would an accountant say? It is argued that the real loss is the eight shillings’ and the sum the draper paid wholesale for the shirt. If this was, say, 96/- a dozen, or eight shillings each shirt, the draper lost 16 shillings. It is also argued that as the selling price of 12 shillings included the wholesale price of eight shillings which had been paid, the real loss is the eight shillings and four shillings profit. Which of these solutions is core

rect?

OUTIS

(Auckland).

More letters from listeners will be tound on Pages 14 and 15

LETTERS FROM LISTENERS

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