Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their reader with unimportant facts and statistics. Last year a journalist had been instructed by a well-known magazine to write an article on the president’s palace in a new African republic. When the article arrived, the editor read the first sentence and then refuse to publish it. The article began: “Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the president’s palace”. The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him to find out the exact number of steps and the height of the wall.

The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but the took a long time to send them. Meanwhile, the editor was getting impatient, for the magazine would soon go to press. He sent the journalist two more faxes, but received no reply. He sent yet another fax informing the journalist that if he did not reply soon he would be fired. When the journalist again failed to reply, the editor reluctantly published the article as it had originally been written. A week later, the editor at last received a fax from the journalist. Not only had the poor man been arrested, but he had been sent to prison as well. However, he had at last been allowed to send a fax in which he informed the editor that the he had been arrested while counting the 1,084 steps leading to the fifteen-foot wall which surrounded the president’s palace.

A fine-looking gentleman sat down in the main dining room of an expensive hotel. He ordered grand meal and spent two hours enjoying himself very much. After the bill came, the man sent for the head waiter. “Ah, my friend,” he said. “That was a wonderful meal. Perhaps you remember that I was a guest at this hotel, at this very same table just about a year ago. And at that time just because I couldn't pay the bill, you, sir, had me thrown out of this dining room in full view of all the other guests!”

“My deepest apologies, sir,” said the head waiter. “You understand...” “Oh, it's all right!” said the gentleman, lighting his cigar, “But I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you again.”