Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-03-11
NOT A VAST CEMETERY
Figures Showing TIA, a.,
Than Burial Gr,,,,,, - wore

' ~ mural Ground
:, sa'n ana again this old poetic fancy
VI the earth as one great can,os'.',
ouileu several times deep with daa5
n'.n ana women and children bas ~.
a.'aeu by figures But great q errn,
anu VIII prevail, unless tba tsna' -
wen and steadily upheld no 1sn p'
onn y 1he earth Is now about /. 500 ooo
ny suppose the human race 10 ham.
'his'eo Tor 5000 years, and TO have hens
arrays as great as now. In q 0oo ,,o,,''
"" nave % centuries. In each ca,,.,,',
sou may count three Qeneratious :,
''""h ihn' or one hundred and eigbt,
generations in all, each being ,,a,,
efation OF 1,500, 600, 900. Nov Ia,
cemetery for one generation n iii ="
nuge estimate to every man. women
anu chiid grave Ave feet by two a,
ten square feet. You want for g,,,.
graveyard, then, $1,000, OOO. 900 so,,ara
.eee % ground. A square milo
contains something less than % ooo ooo
square ieet. You want. then. = ora,o
yard not 30 miles long by 10 vidc e.,
your whole generation, Now rnnIti.,i
this by $50 and you have your burial.
GROUND Tor q, 1000 years of mankind Tia,
Is a strip of land 800 miles LONG h, ~
mics wide will be ample. In othor
"ords a cemetery containing ion n1f
SIuare miles would be sufficient for tho
ehtife human race to lie side nv side
ne estimate which / have given Won ~
continuous population is obviously enor-
mousiy large. The estimate of the si,Y
Vi each grave is very large. A strictly
correct estimate would reduce the size ot
the required cemetery more than one.
nan. but enormous as it is, you could
lay out your battle-ground for all men
VINO nave lived on earth. so that tho,
could lie side by side. in Arizona or IN
'alliornla, or you could Law ii out in
ieAas large enough to accommodate the.
race OF 5000 years past. and
also the race for &, 900 wears vet
10 come, all sleeping in the soil of that
one State of this Union. Bat some one
says the race of man has been on earth
1907 900 years. This is pure magma
ton, and there is not. 50 far as know
z TACT on which to rest il. But sunno.e
IL is true and suppose the population al.
ways what it now is. Yo,. have provided
Tor 5000 years of it, You want nearly
II times as large cemetery for the
generations Of thousand centuries
nat IS. you want LOO 900 square mile,
In 1t. Lay it out whenever YOU please.
l,7Oo miles long by Loco wide. II is but
part of the United States And so
enormously large have been tn rough
estimates thus far used. it is safe 10 saw
that If the human race has been in ex
istence l0o,0 900 yeas, separate grave
could be provided for every individual
of the race within part of the United
States cast of the Mississippi river
The fact is, my friend, Won
need but very small piece of the
earth surface to lie down in. And YOU
occupy but very small space while YOU
live. Stand in corner, with your back
to the wall, and your shoulder again,i
the side wall Put a book against tn,
wall outside your other shoulder. clos,
to it. Let some one hold a stick across
in front of your body. SO You viii
measure how much room YOU occupy
NhtH Stdlli4l4 up III u crowded assem-
bly,. You are "a large man if you require
two square feet. The average REQUIRE.
.nent Of ID generation OF men. women
and children is not one square foot and
a half. More than $4,000 600 person,
can stand on square mile of surface.
Now see how small a crowd aftel
all would be an assem- bly, of all men
e al
pies were they gathered together
Carry your arithmetic still further. You
laid ont cemetery for the ! 800 600 00C
of mankind now living. Build city
for them to dwell in Average familie.
at five persons to a family, ami give cach
family house and lot 20 feet by 100
Your cemetery gave five persons 81
square feet for graves. Their city loti~
forty times as large Your city mu,l
therefore be forty times as large as Won
cemetery. Add 20 per cent for good
streets. | viii not save You or youi
school-going child the trouble of do
ing the figures" Impress the truth on
your mind by three minutes work with
pencil and paper. that the whole living
human race could be gathered in
city so small in comparison witt
what you have imagined. And now re
member that all the estimates on which
we have gone are too large. This cig
lot might as we'll be 20 by 80. People
live in flats without back yards. and in
stories one above another Your city
modelled after the latest fashions In
cities need not be quarter the size GU,
estimates have made H. When you
have built your city. inquire and Ice sur.
priScd 10 find the vast space for garden.
fields and forests You have left arcessi-
Bile TO il, whence could come all the ne
ccssitie, and Injuries OF civilized life
". {. Prime. LID, in y. y. journal OF
if,,nuar.u