Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1890-01-23
NOT A VAST CEMETERY.
Figures showing That the Earth Il Nor
Than q Burial fsround.

Figures showing That the Earth f. More
Than Eurist t:round-
Again and again this old poetic fancy
Of the earth As one great cemetery
buried several times deep with dead
men and women and children. has been
refuted by figures. But great is error
and will prevail. unless the truth be
we'll and steadily upheld The populs-
tion of the earth is now about 1 500. COO
600 Suppose the human race to have
existed for &, 600 years. and To have been
always Is great rs now. In 5000 years
you have 50 centuries. In each century
you may count three generations OF
mankind, or one hundred and eighty
generations in all each being gen
Grafton Of l,5oo. ooo, GOO Now lay out a
cemetery for one generation 1t will be
huge estimate 70 every man women
and child a grave five feet By two. or
ten square feet You want for YOUR
graveyard then 15,Ooo, 0oo. 600 square
feet of ground A square mile
contains something less than =, 900. 900
square feet You want. then. 4 grave
yard not IS miles long BY 10 wide for
your whole generation Now multiply
this by $50 AMI you have your burial
ground foe 5000 years Of mankind That
*. a strip Of land l. 800 miles long BY 81
miles wide will be ample. In other
words cemetery containing ZOO. 600
/ square miles would BE- sufficient for the
entire human race 20 lie side by side.
/ The estimate which have given you of
continuous population il obviously enor-
/ Hiously large The estimate Of the size
of each grave Is very large. 4 strictly
eorrect estimate would reduce the sine of
/ the required cemetery more than one
half But enormous ~ il - you could
/ lay cut your burial ground for all men
wno have lived on earth. 50 that they
cold lie side By side. in Arizoua or in
California or you could Law il out in
Texas large enough IN accommodate the
race OF e.1o years past. and
also the race for 60oa years yet
70 eone- al sleeping in the soil Of that
one state Of this Union Bat some one
says the rare Of man has been On cath
100000 years- This il 4 pure magma
ton and there Is not. - far a. know.
4 fact On which % rest it. But suppose
II = true and suppose the population al
Ways what IL now * You have provided
Tor 5000 years OF it. You want nearly
l. times as large n cemetery for the
/ generations Of n Thousand centuries
That i. you want |. roo 600 square miles
IN II Lay IL out whenever you please
i-7o0 miles long by I.0oo wide. IL IS but
a part OF the United States. And sa
enormously large have been the rough
estimates thus far used. it Is safe 10 sa,
that II the human race has been in ex.
lstenee 100000 years, 4 separate grave
could be provided for every individual
OF the race within \ part Of the United
States east Of the Mississippi river.
The fact Is, nv friend YOU
need but very small piece Of the
earth ; surface TO lie down in And vos
occupy but very small space while YOU
live Stand in = corner, with your back
10 the wall. and your shoulder against
the side wall Put book against the
wall outside your other shoulder. close
70 II Let some one hold a stick across
IN front Of your body. 80 YOU will
measure how much room you Oceupv
when standing up in a crowded aSsssn-
MY lou Are large man if you req lire
two square feet The average rs-tuirr-
ment Of generation Of men. women
and children Is not one square foot and
half- More than $4,000 900 persons
can stand on a square mile of surface.
Now see how small a crowd after
all would be an assembly Of all men
out Of all ages and kindreds and peo-
pies. were they gathered together
carry your arithmetic still further. YOu
laid out a cemetery for the i-soo. ooo. 0oc
Of mankind now living. Build a citv
for them 70 dwell in Average families
NJ i've persons 10 a family, ami give each
family house and lot 20 feet by 100.
-FOUR cemetery gave five persons Sc
square feet for graves Their city LOTS
forty times as large Your city must
therefore be forty times rs large as vcur
cemetery Add 20 per cent for rood
streets. / will not save Won or Won,
schcOl-going child the trouble of do
ing the figures Impress the truth or
your mind By three minutes work with
pencil and paper, that the whole Hvina
human race could be gathered in
elty 50 small in comparison with
what you have imagined And low re-
member that all the estimates On which
we have gone are TO large. This city
lot might as well &c 20 by 50. People
live In Eats without back yards. and in
stories one above another. Your city
modelled after the latest fashions in
cities need not be a quarter the size our
estimates have made IT, When VOC
have bGilt your city. inquire and be sur
prised 20 ind the vast space for garden
relds and forests you have left aeeessi-
BILE 20 il. whence could eouse all the ne
cessities and Injuries Of civilized life
W e Prime, LID, IN n. u. Journal n.