Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-07-17
UNCLE SAN 5 Ol..,.O
Attempt to Show What a
Billion Silver Dollars
Looks Like
FREAKS OF A FIGURE SHARP
In Silver the Stack Would Be Hun
drcd and Ninety-seven Miles High.
Bills Would Reach Four Times
Around tho Earth and Then Some.

SI'o vvoNiu 'NSoN'' WV '''''~S
Around tho Earth and Then Some.
A billion dollars 81 ,o0o,OOO,O0O!
Very nearly this much was appropri'
ated, by the congress of the United
States at the session just ended for the
running expenses of the government
during the fiscal year 1908. OF course
not all Of this generous allowance will
be spent In the twelvemonth, but the
appropria ton constitutes nevertheless
charge upon the revenues, as the
wise folks at the capitol call 1t, and
must be charged to the expenditure
account for the period In question.
But billion of dollars-a thousand
Of millions! The figures mean so very
little to most people, says the Wash
ington Star The average mind isn't
Of caliber that can reach out and
mentally surround the idea Of a billion
of anything Even the genial head OF
the house of Rockefeller confesses to
possessions aggregating less than one
third Of this amount and 1T is safe to
assume that even he hasn't the faintest
idea of what the sum would look like
in real money.
Up at the treasury department, where
men handle money with shovel, some
mathematical sharp occasionally turns
himself loose In the realm Of figures
and comparisons in an effort to get
some idea Of what such vast sum as
a billion would look like-in cash. This
was the case the other day just after
congress adjourned.
Imagine, IL you please. column
made Of billion silver dollars piled
one on the other skyward. The Wash
ington monument, although the tallest
structure Of its kind in the world,
would seem like darning needle at
the foot Of such a slender silver shaft
The monument Is 655 feet high,
The column Of dollars would rise l97
miles in the air.
Laid side by side. Just touching, the
dollar would make silver streak 2.3OG
miles long
Just suppose the billion is in one dol
lar bills. Laid end to end the line of
greenbacks would make riband of
wealth 1881 miles in length, a riband
long enough to go four times around
the earth at the equator. with nearly
enough left for fifth turn. II an am
bilious citizen started out right now to
follow the greenback path to the end
and walked faithfully and persistently
three miles an hour, eight hours day,
every day in the year, he couldn't pos.
sibly finish the journey before some
time in 1922.
1t would take even the fastest rail-
road train, running sixty miles an
hour, twenty-four hours day, nearly
three months continuous speeding to
pass from one end Of the green band
To the other.
These same billion bills il piled one
on the other would reach, as thin as
they are, to height of nearly six
miles. Joined at all four edges, the
resulting area would be almost big
enough to carpet every square foot of
ground embraced within the boundar-
les of the city Of Washington.
Just suppose, for instance, that 9ny
one man had billion dollars, drawing
no interest ut all, and that he decided
to get rid of the principal before he
died. Spending at the rate of $1,000
day-and there are not a great many
men who spend any more year In and
year out-he would have to postpone
his demise for 2,777 years in order to
get rid of his wealth. OF course If he
had the library habit or the education
al fund fad he might be able to de-
crease this term of existence by few
hundred years. But not materially.
This is a great big country, and 1t Is
a far cry from Washington to Helena,
Mont, but billion silver dollars laid
side by side would extend from one
city to the other The billion in ten
dollar bills placed end to end would
reach from Washington to Calcutta,
via London, and there would still be
enough left to circle the latter city
many times In twenty dollar gold
certificates the yellow chain would
reach from Washington to Rio de ia
metro.