, 1886-01-14
TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS.

In Terms of Linear Square and Cubic
Msssurement-weight.
Mr.. Vanderbilt was worth 5000, O00,-
900. II we say that he was worth $780,
900, 900 or 1 900, 900, 900 do We get a
perceptibly different impression about
the bulk Of his fortune, Most people do
not. To the average mind the concop-
ton of wealth is much the same whether
it be reckoned in hundreds of millions
or in vigintillions. The human mind
can not grasp these great sums or clearly
appreciate the difference between 100.-
900, 900 and 200, 900, 900.
Let us try and describe Mr.. Wander
bilt's great fortune in terms of linear,
square and cubic measurement and of
weight. Everybody understands these
terms, and they make a definite i'm
preston on mems minds.
If this sum of 5000, 900, 900 were in
standard silver dollars it would present
such features as this.
Put lengthwise, dollar after dollar, it
would stretch a distance of 1879 miles.
making a silver streak from New York
across the ocean to Liverpool.
Piled up, dollar on dollar, it would
reach a height of 355 miles.
Laid fiat on the ground, the dollars
would cover a space of nearly 90 acres.
The weight OF this mass OF silver would
be 1850 tons.
To transport it would require 1853 cars,
carrying 20 tons each (this is the ca
pacity Of the strongest freight cars,
and making a train just about 81 miles
long.
On ordinary grades 1t would require
10 l1aAoaftuaa - Hal Ali. 4-... o.
roads Of steep grades and sharp curves,
10 or 20 locomotives would be needed.
In 81 bills this 5000, 900, 900 fortune
would assume such shapes rs this:
The bills stretched lengthwise would
extend 23, 674 miles, or nearly the cir
cumference of the earth at the equator.
Piled up one on another, close as
leaves in a new book, they would reach
a height of twelve miles.
Spread out on the ground they would
cover TAG acres, or nearly the whole sur
face of Central park, including ponds
and reservoirs.
A safe deposit vault to contain these
bills would require to DO twenty three
feet long, twenty feet wide, and
twenty feet high.-New York Times.
Step Dancing Among Irish Peasants.
Dancing is a favorite pastime among
the Irish peasants, and there is no lack
of dancing masters, who make their liv-
ing by teaching the steps" Indeed,
ever people of position learn step dane
ing, such as jigs, reels, and hornpipes.
Very pretty steps they are, and far
more difficult to learn aud dance cor
rectly and well than the ordinary yalse
or polka, which, after all, have but n
step, the chief thing being to dance that
one step gracefully and smoothly.
In a jig there are as many as twenty
different steps, and each single step has
what is termed Its DOUBLE a some
what similar step, but more complicated
than the single. To dance even fivs
steps of the Jig with their double re-
quires Independently of the perfection
only attained by practice. constant repe-
tition and great exertion. To dance
twenty steps and their double-in all
about forty-straight through, would
be almost impossible; besides, it would
occupy too much time. Yet a different
jig, apparently, could be danced by one
person several times during the same
evening, by doing, say, Ave steps each
time. But you must begin a jig by
dancing the rising steps-this rule
never changing. The steps in a reel are
not unlike those in a Jig, but are much
less firing English Magazine.