The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-09
GOLD GALORE
The Gold standard In frsnce-A Tall Column
OF the Metal BeMiIderIng Iignrcs.

From the Courier dcs Etdts-Tnis.
At the present time the gold reserve Of tho
Bank Of France amounts In round number to
two thousand two hundred and Mty-lva mil
lions. or two milliards two hundred end httv-
five millions of francs That certainly Is a
nrodiglous mass Of precious metal II i'byfar
the greatest gold rserve in the world. To
reach such a total il would b. necessary to add
together the gold reserves 81 Germany. Eng
land. Spain. the Netherlands and Italy And
after that, there would still remain three or four
millions TO reach the exact figure. The only
country that can rival France In this matter Is
Russia. whose Imperial Bank foots up n gold
reserve OF Two thousand and seCenty-ihree
millions. or something over one hundred and
eighty millions below that OF France There
fore, the two allies, France md Russia, have
more than four thousand three hundred and
twenty-eight millions in gold out Of the eight
thousand three hundred and elghtv millions
which Represent the entire gold reserve OF all
the banks OF Europe put together.
A we have said. the gold reserve o. the Bank
Of Franoe represents a prOdigious mass. A few
simple calculations by way OF compa-i-on viii
give us an iden Of IL MANY PEOPLE speak Alp
rantly OF milliards, without moving what a
uiliard really represents, Well. suppcs' that
the two thousand two hundred and fftv-nve
millions mentioned instead Of being in
ingots and gold coins Of all sorts. were all in
tyantv-franc pieces. Then we should have ll2,-
$50, 600 pieces. Counting them 81 tho rate Of
two pieces a second, a mnn working ten hours
n dav continuously would take -four years three
months and sixteen DAYS 10 comnleie the lob,
or. TO be more exact, forr years three months
and fifteen d1ys, allowing for the lear year.
That would he n long and tedious TASK; es-
peciallyif tn" emplovee was d'termined 10
avoid IN, the , nos'' Of EBan " a on The Poyar I,S
OF Rothschild'
II fat lie compt,. o csl de SS deuS mlllardS
~ Al le mAiheuteuX S'est trompf De deuN lizards.
II faut Qul fecommencc'
Now suppose that he had to maxi one pile OF
the pieces. or course, even dropping the ,ques-
lion Of equilibrium, the thing would be an
utter impossibility. But Just for curiosity. let
va see what the thing, would amount TO, II i
could he accomplished A twenty.frRnC piece IL
moi very thick, a little less han a mlllimetro and
n third But little streams make mighty rivers,
"olumn' The one we speak OF would measure
no lcss than ii0 SIS metres, or more thar. thirty
times the HEIGHT Of Mont Blanc. the highest
times that OF Gaurisankar, the highest noun
tain of the HimR'ayas and OF the world. How
ever high the. %ceiinRs OF our Tall buildings may
be. we find II hard to Imagine one capable or con.
tanning a column measuring noarly 1--WE hundred
times tn height 81 he Einel Tower. To get
over that little a flculty our man would be
obliGe 10 bring his treasure TITO the open air
That also would present q difficulty, because
two milIards two hundred Rnd htty millions In
gold weigh something Ike 727.J so k~ilocramres,
ar about aR much rs two dozen locomotives
weighing more than 10000 kilos each
SUPPOSE that after the transport 81 his ii2. 100
OOO nieceS. our man took II into his head 10 make
aKne ~ them placing them c'ose together on the
ground They would cover n distance 81 about
a7O kilometres, or. 10 be exact, tho distance
would be 2.S67 klloInetr,s and 80 metres An
automobile travelling at the rate OF siNt, kilo-
metres mn hour would take thirtv-niue hours
and n half r. reach IN" end 81 the line
nv those figures one NAV easily form acme
idea Of what the present ? ,255 millions gold re-
serve Of the Bank NJ Fra"Ce represents. Never
befora was n in POSSESSION Of such n sum IN
10 tho presnnt the record was held by tn gold
reserve Of 1905. The Bank Of Franc then had
2.lSO millions. TINT Is to say. 1906 millions less
than il has now. Sirce 1905. ate passing
through divers fluctuations. he total dropped
10 $50 millions. Rut on April II oi the
present wear. 'he day Of tho lnaugurationof TIE
Exposition. the Rank Of France 10 sessed l.a,2
millions NJ elbow metal The Increase There
fore. must he figured Of alS millions. and a. The
deposits Of gold In the bank scarcclv represcnt
ono-half NJ the total lmpOrt1tions. the other half
being In general circulation. " turns out that
,hare has been m increase Of ?26 millions during
the past four month.
NO MORE CoNCts AGGREGAIONT