Evening journal., 1893-03-31
AN ENGLISH BILLION.
FEW APPRECIATE THE REAL sl6NlFl-
cANcE OF THE WORD.


home to their inner consciousness the
real significance Of that little word "bil-
lion. (which we have so often seen used
In your columns There are indeed few
lntellects that can fairly grasp it and di-
gest it as whole. and there are doubt
less many thousands who cannot appre-
riate its true worth. even when reduced
10 fragments for more easy assimilation.
Its arithmetical symbol is simple and
without much pretention. There arc
no large figures-just a modest fol-
lowed by n dozen ciphers, and that is all.
Let us briefly take glance at 1t 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 865 days and in every day just Co.
400 seconds of time. Hence, in return
ing in thought back again TO this year Of
grace, one might have supposed that l.
OOO, 900, ,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 22 hours
IS minutes and 8 seconds to constitute
i.000, 900, 900. 900 seconds Of time.
II is no easy matter to bring under the
cognizance of the human eye a billion
objects Of any kind. Let us try in imag-
nation to arrange this number for in
Epecton. and for this purpose would So
lect a sovereign as a 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 a sort Of
wall 90 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, long street. We must then keep
on extending these walls for miles, nay,
hundreds of miles, and still we shall be
far short Of the required number. And
it is not until we have extended our
imaginary street to a distance of 23s6i
miles that we shall have presented for
inspection our ,O0O, ,000, 900 900 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 hemi-
sphere. through the trackless ocean, re-
trace our way again across the equator,
then still ON and on until we again ar
rive at our starting point, and when we
have thus passed a golden chain around
the hugo bulk of the earth we shall be
but at the beginning Of our task. We
must drag this imaginary chain no less
763 times around the globe.
If we can further imagine all those
rows of links laid closely side by side
and oysry one in contact with its neigh
Dor. we shall have formed golden band
around the globe just 52 feet Q inches
wide and this will represent our 1,00O,-
600. 900. 600 of coins. Such a chain, if laid
in straight line, would reach a fraction
over Is, ,82s, ,445 miles, the weight OF
which, if estimated at one-fourth ounce
each sovereign, would be 6,975, ,447 tons
and would require for their transport nc
less than 2.325 ships, each with a full
cargo Of 5000 tons. Even then ther,
would be residue Of 447 tons, repre-
senting l.0s1. 800 soyereigns.
For measure Of height let us take {
much smaller unit as our measuring rod
The sheets Of paper on which The Time
is printed, If laid out fiat and firml.
pressed together as in well bounI
book, would represent measure o
about one-three hundred and thirty
third Of an inch in thickness. Let u
see how high a dense pile formed by
billion Of these thin paper leaves woul
reach. We must in imagination pill
them vertically upward. by degree
reaching to the height Of our TALES
spires. and passing these the pile mus
still grow higher. topping the Alps an
Andes and the highest peaks of the Hin
alayas, and shooting up from theme
through the fleecy clouds pass beyon
the confines of our attenuated atmo
phere and leap up into the blue ethC
with which the universe is filed, stan,
ing proudly up far beyond the reach {
all terrestrial things-still pile ON yor
luOuednuh anu ullillOua VI tllA AcstNc
for we are only beginning to rear Il
mighty mass. Add millions on million
of sheets and thousands of miles c
these, and still the number will lack i
due amount
Let us pause to look at the neat plow'
edges Of the book before us. See no
closely lie those thin flakes Of paper; no
many there are in the mere width Of
span, and then turn our eyes in imagin
ton upward to our mighty column
accumulated sheets. 1t now contains j
appointed number. and our 200 900, 90
600 of sheets of The Times superimpos'
upon each other and pressed into cor
pact mass has reached an altitude Of Al
34S miles
Those who have taken the trouble
follow me thus far will, / think, agr
with me that 900 900. 900. 600 is fearf
thing, and that few can appreciate
real value. AS for quadrillions and TT
lions, they are simply words, mere WORD
wholly incapable Of adequately imprel
ing themselves on the human intellect.
Sir Henry Bessemer in London Times.