"One time in the House of Representatives [a colleague] told me a story about a proposition that 
 a teacher put to a boy. He said, .Johnny, a cat fell in a well 100 feet deep. Suppose that cat 
 climbed up 1 foot and then fell back 2 feet. How long would it take the cat to get out of the well?'

"Johnny worked assiduously with his slate and slate pencil for quite a while, and then when the teacher 
 came down and said, .How are you getting along?' Johnny said, .Teacher, if you give me another slate  
 and a couple of slate pencils, I am pretty sure that in the next 30 minutes I can land that cat in hell.'