Alfred Nobel

After inventing dynamite Swedish-born Alfred Nobel became a very rich man. However he foresaw its universally destructive power too late. Nobel preferred not to be remembered as the inventor of dynamite. So in 1895 just two weeks before his death, he created a fund to be used for awarding prizes to people who had made worth-while contributions to mankind. Originally there were five awards: literature, physics, chemistry, medicine and peace. Economics was added in 1963, just sixty-seven years after the first awards ceremony. Nobel's original legacy of nine million dollars was invested and the interest on this sum is used for the awards which vary from 30.000 to 125.000. Every year on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's, the awards (gold medal, diploma and money) are presented to winners. Sometimes politics plays an important role in the judge's decisions. Americans have won numerous science awards, but relatively few literature prizes. Some people have won two prizes, but this is rare, others have shared their prizes.

First Class After g. C. Thornley

Mr. Plummer lived in Winchester, the old capital of England. One day, having to go to London on business, he bought a second-class return ticket and caught the morning express.

After spending the day in London, he reached the station to start his return journey at a time when all the business men were going home to the country from their offices in London. The train was already crowded when Mr. Plummer arrived, and it was clear that, unless he changed his plans, he would have to stand up. He noticed that there were several empty seats in the first-class carriages, and decided to travel in comfort. He could pay the difference when the ticket-collector came to the carriage on the way to Winchester. He got into a first-class carriage and sat down in one of the two remaining empty seats.

The other four men in the carriage had the appearance of ordinary successful business men. They were well dressed in dark suits and were clearly men of good position. But just before the train started, a different kind of person jumped in and sat down, a young man who had certainly never worked in an office.

Mr. Plummer was rather surprised to see such a man in a first-class carriage, until he remembered how full the train was. His coat was tight, and short at the back; his collar and tie were green; his brown shoes narrow and pointed, like a girl's. An unpleasant smell of hair-oil filled the air.

Two of the other men looked up in silence from their newspapers, shook them, and then started to read again; but their expressions showed well enough what they were thinking.

The third man filled his pipe and blew clouds of smoke all over the carriage. The fourth opened the window. Mr. Plummer decided that he was not the only passenger who was going to pay something extra to the ticket-collector, and in this belief he was perfectly correct.

Perhaps the young man hoped that no one would come to examine the tickets. If so, he was mistaken; for when the train had been traveling for twenty minutes, the door opened and an official entered. Mr. Plummer had the necessary money ready in his hand, and held it out with the ticket. The official then turned to the others.

One by one each of the four business men held out a second-class ticket, and all had to pay the difference. But the young man sat still. Had he no ticket at all?

He had. His was the only first-class ticket in the carriage.