The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1878-03-28
win Figures Lie.

Editor Of the Press:
knowledge toAbe usefnl should be
rightly understood.
An article entitled "The Significance
of Billion" credited to Henry Bes.
semer,- in the London Times, has late
ly been going the rounds of the press.
Among other things to represent the
magnitude of this number he gives
three illustrations, viz:
as q measure of time, taking one
second as measuring unit, he says in
one billion of seconds there are 81 ,6S7
years, II days, % hours, 45 minutes
and seconds.
As measure of length, taking the
diameter of the sovereign, or pound
sterling as a unit, aud forming a con-
tinuous chain of these coins by placing
them edge to edge, one billion Of them
would reach.s763 times round this
globe; and the chain so made would
weigh 6,975. AL tons, and most as
founding of all, he says, if we take a
sheet etof thlsl paper as q unit of height,
and place one billion of these sheets in
q vertical pile, one upon another, and
press them together as in we'll bound
book, such pile would overtop the
loftlest peaks of the highest mountains
claiming that it's summit would reach
1909 miles above the leyel of the sea.
Lot us test these assertions by the
American idea of a billion. In COM
mon year Of 365 days there are 81, $780,
600 seconds. By dividing one billion
OF sseconds-by this number, we get
81 years, 259 days, hour, 46 minutes
and 40 seconds, or about 81 and seven
tenths years. Secondly, allowing a
gold sovereign 10 be one inch in diam
eter (it is nearly an eighth of an inch
less) billion of these coins placed |
edge to edge fiat ON the ground in
straight line, such a chain would reach |
as many miles as are indicated by the
quotient of one billion divided by 63,
3G0 (lhe number of inches in mile),
being l5, 782 miles, only about two.
thirds of the distance around the globe.
As to the third supposition, allowing
222 layers of common book paper to
the inch, one billion of such layers
piled vertically would attain an alti-
Ludeof about 70 and one-seventh miles
We think our computation sufficient
y correct for all ~practical purposes.
Tho probabilities are that Henry Bes-
;emer is also correct by his mode OF
with the English idea of
. billion, it being really the Ameri-
IAN lrillion.
The English mode of enumeration is,
liter units of millions, tens of millions,
OF millions, thousands of
tens Of thousands of millions,
hundreds of thousands of milliOns;
hen comes billions at the thirteenth
igure from the right, instead of at the
cnth, as we reckon. The French bill
ion used on the Continent OF Europe
md United States, denotes q thous.
md million, written thus, l ,OO0, ,O09, 900.
The English use the same wort to de-
tote million millions, expressed by
he figures LOCO, 600 100000. We have
leither time nor sufficient knowledge
# figures to determine the correct
less of Mr.. Bessemer's results, but
very pupil in the Ravenna High
school knows that there is slight
Inference between one thousand mil.
ions and a million millions, and with
he English estimate of billion the
are Henry Bessemer is
orrect.
If this article tends to establish the
conceded fact that "Ftgures
Won't Lie" the object of the writer is {
T.. p. b.
Rayenna, o., March 26, 1878.