One day in May of 1894, a crate of peaches appeared on a sidewalk in East London, England. It looked to be a sturdy crate.
The size was 18 inches long by 18 inches wide by 18 inches high – a cube. The wood was Elm slats 2 ¾ inches wide; they were fastened vertically rather than horizontally and were held in place by 2 ¾ inch x ½ inch slats at the top and bottom, inside and out. These horizontal slats were attached to the frame. The bottom was made entirely of the ½ inch thick slats, all fastened to the frame.
The frame was made from 3-sided lengths, as an equilateral triangle. Interestingly, the nails were made of copper with a ¼ inch head by ¾ inch long shaft. Each slat had two nails at each end.
The entire crate had a thin finish of polyurethane.
The peaches were all of similar size, 3 inches in diameter. There were 6 rows of peaches and 6 columns. Each row had 6×6 peaches making a total count of 36 peaches per row and 216 peaches in all.
The unanswered mystery that remains to this day is that, at the 2nd row, 4th column was one brown, freestone peach in the midst of a crateful of a yellow variety. What is it doing there?
Mariner created this mystery. He calls it ‘Mariner’s Conundrum’.
Ancient Mariner