Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1893-04-12
AN ENGLISH BILLION.
FEW APPRECIATE THE REAL sIGNlFI-
CANOE OF THE WORD.

Few illustrations In Order to Convey t.
the Reader a Comprehension of the Enor
nifty of an Expression.
1t would be curious to know how
many of your readers have brought fully
home to their inner consciousness the
real significance of that little word Dbl
lion, which we have so often seen used
in your columns There are indeed few
intellects that can fairly grasp it and di-
gest it as a whole, and there are doubt
less many thousands who cannot appre-
ciate its true worth, even when reduced
TO fragments for more easy assimilation.
Its arithmetical symbol is simple and
without much pretention. There are
no large fgures-just a modest l fol-
lowed by a dozen ciphers, and that is all
Let us briefly take glance at it as a
measure of time. distance and weight.
As a 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 years we
have 1866 days and in every day just &c.
400 seconds of time Hence, in return
ing in thought back again to this year of
grace, one might have supposed that l.
600, 0O0, OO0, 900 Of seconds had long since
elapsed, but this is not so. We have not
even passed one-sixteenth of that num-
Der in all these long eventful years, forit
takes just 81 .6S7 years II days % hours
IS minutes and . seconds to constitute
1000, 0O0, 000, 900 seconds Of time
1t is no easy matter to bring under the
cognizance of the human eye billion
objects of any kind Let us try in imag-
ination TO arrange this number for in
spection. and for this purpose would Sc
lect a sovereign as familiar object.
Let Us put one on the ground and pile
upon it as many as will reach 20 feet in
height Then let us place numbers of
similar columns IN close contact, form
ing straight line and making sort of
wall 20 feet high, showing only the thin
edges of the coin.
Imagine two such walls running par
allel to each other and forming. as it
were, a long street We must then keep
on extending these walls for miles, nav,
hundreds of miles aud still we shall be
far short of the required number And
1t is not until we have extended our
imaginary street TO a distance of 2,3s6t
miles that we shall have presented for
inspection our 100000 900 600 of coins
Or in lieu Of this arrangement we
may place them fat upon the ground,
forming one continuous line like a long
golden chain with every link in close
contact But to DO this we must pass
over land and sea. mountain and valley.
desert and PLAIN. crossing the equator and .
returning around the southern henri
sphere, through the traokless ocean, re- /
trace our way again across the equator, .
then still on and on until we again az
rive at our starting point. and when we
nave thus passed a golden chain around .
the huge bulk Of the earth we shall be
but at the beginning Of our task. We
must drag this imaginary chain no less
1853 times around the globe
II we can further imagine all those
rows Of links laid closely side by side
and every one IN contact with its neigh
Dor, we shall have formed a golden band
around the globe Just 50 feet 6 inches
wide and this viii represent our I.OOO.-
600 O00. 200 Of coins Such chain, if laid
In straight line would reach a fraction
over 1898, AS miles the weight of
which. If estimated at one-fourth ounce
each sovereign. would be 1916, AZ tons
and would require for their transport no
less than 2,325 ships. each with a full
cargo of 5000 tons Even then there
would be residue Of 447 tons, repre-
senting 64.0Sl 800 soveregns
For a measure Of height let us take
much smaller unit as our measuring rod.
The sheets OF paper ON which The Times
is printed if laid out fat and firmly
pressed together as in a well bound
book, would represent measure of
about onesthree hundred and thirty
third of an inch in thickness Let us
see how high dense pile formed by a
billion of these thin paper leaves would
reach. We must in Imagination pile
them vertically upward, by degrees
reaching to the height of our tallest
spires, and passing these the pile must
still grow higher. topping the Alps and
Andes and the highest peaks of the Him
alayas, and shooting up from thence
tAAouSh AhC uCtNl Nipllus pass UtyOlu
the confines of our attenuated atmos-
phere and leap up into the blue ether
with which the universe is filled, stand
ing proudly up far beyond the reach Of
all terrestrial things-shll pile on your
thousands and millions Of thin leaves,
for we are only beginning to rear the
mighty mass Add millions on millions
Of sheets and thousands of miles on
these, and still the number will lack its
due amount
Let us pause TO look at the neat plowed
edges Of the book before u.s. See how
closely lie those thin flakes of paper; how
many there are in the mere width of
span. and then turn our eyes in imagina-
ton upward to our mighty column Of
accumulated sheets II now contains its
appointed number, and our l .000, 900, 900,
II AZ D