Smyrna times., 1880-03-24
Some Big Figures.
A THING Or TWO SHOWING WHAT 4 BILLION Is.

OOuO LIS u4OSI
THING Or TWO SHOWING WHAT A BILLION Is
To the Editor Of the London Times IL
would be Interesting to know how many n
your readers have brought fully home tc
their inner CenciOusness the real sisnif.
caAce OF that little word billion which
we have seen of late SO giby used in youl
columns. There are, doubtless, many thsus
ands who cannot appreciate its true worth
even whom reduced to fragments for more
easy assimilation. Its aritnmetical symbol
IS SIMPLE and without much pretenSion
there are no large figures-.just modest !
followed by dozen ciphtrs and that i,
all.
Let US briefly take a glance at it as q
measure Of time, distance, and weight. As
measure Of time | would take one second
as the unit, and carry myself in thought
through the lapse Of ages back to the first
day of the year ! of our era, remembering .
that In all those wears, we have 800 davs,
and in every day just sc 400 seconds of time.
Hence, in returning in thought back again
to this year Of grace 1880, one might have
supposed that billion OF seconds had lon Q
since elapsed but this, is not so. We
In all these long eventtul years, for it tax rs
Just 3l,GS7 years. II days, 22 hours, As
minutes and 5 seconds to constitute a billion
Of seconds Of tinss.
1t is no easy matter to bring under the
cognlzancs Of the human eye u billion
objects of any kind. Let US try in imagina.
ton to arrange this number for inspection,
and for this purpose | would select SOW.
/ lUn fl tlt,.,. -.
on the ground and pile on it as many as wi 4
reach 70 teet In height; then let us place
numbers Of similar columns in close CON
tact, forming straight line, and making :
sort OF wall 20 feet high, showing only The
TINA edges OF the coin. Imagine two sucl
walls running parallel to each other, and
forming as 1t were, a long street. We must
then keep on extending these walls fol
mllss-nay, hundreds Of miles, and sull we
Will be far short of the required number
And 1t Is not until we have extended 0ul
imaginary street to a distance Of 2,3SGl
miles that we shall have presented for in
sPectiOn our one billion of coins.
Or in lieu of this arrangement we ma,
place them fiat upon the ground, forming
one continuous liRe like golden chain
with every link in close contact. But t.
do this We must pass over land and sea
mountain and valley, desert and plain
crossing the equator. and returning arOunc
the southern hemisphere through tho
! trackless ocean, retracv ourwav again across
the equator, then still on and on until W,
again arrive at eur starting point; ant
when we have thus passed golden chait
around the huge bulk of the earth, we shal
be but at the beginning Of our task. W,
must drag this magnary chain no less thar
| 1G3 times round the globe. If we can fur
| tder Imagine these rows Of links laid close
side by side and every one in contact witt
is neIEhOor. we shall have formed colder
band around the globe Just 81 feet 6 inchc
wide, and this will represent our 100000,
600, OF coin. Such a chain, if laid in ,
straight line, would reach 4 fraction owe
| lS,528,4 ,44j miles, the weight of which, i
estimated at o. each sovereign, would l.,
| 6,9I3,44I tons, and would REQUIRE for the
transport no less than 2,325 ships, each will
full cargo of 5000 tons. Even then ther,
would he residue of A. tons rspreseAtir.
64,OSl ,920 soverSigRs.
For measure of height let us take 1
much smsller unit as our measuring rod
The thin sheets Of paper or which these line
are printed, if laid cut fiat and firm,
pressed together as in a well bound book
would represent measure OF about 1883 .
an inch in thickness. Let us see how hieI
dense pile fermed by billion Of thes
thin paper leaves would roach. We must
In imagination pile them vertically upward
by degrees reaching to the height of on
tallest spires; and passing these, the pill
must still GO higher, topping the Alps an
the Andes and the highest peaks of tn
Hlmalayas, and shooting up from thenc
through the tieecy clouds, pass beyond tn
confines Of our attenuatsd atmosphere ar,
leap up into the blue ether with which tn
universe is filled, standing proudly UP "a
beyond the reach of all terrestrial things
still pile on your thousands and million
OF thin leaves, for we ara only beginning t.
rear the mighty mass. Add millions al
millions of sheets and thousands of mile
on these, and still the number will lack il
due amount Let us pause to look at tn
neat pleughed edges of the book before US
See how closely lie those thin flakes O
paper, how many there are in tho mer
width Of span, and then turn our eyes il
imagination upwards to our mighty column
of accumulated sheets. 1t now contains it
appointed Rumbsr, and cur 100000 OOC
sheets Of the Times superimposed upo
each other and pressed into compact mas
has reached an altitude of 47.34S miles.
Those who have takeR the trouble t
follow nae thus far will. think, agree with
me that l,000,000,000 is fearful thing
and that few can appreciate its real value
As for quadrllions and trillions, they ar
simply words, mere words, wholly incapa
BILE Of adequately impressing thomselve
On the human intellect.
remain, your obsdisnt servant,
HENRY BEsSEMRR.