The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-11-04
MEANING OF MILLIONS.

1
lionaires few centuries ago people
thought in hundreds of thousands, but
now one thinks in millions. says the
English Mechanic and World of Science.
If one studies political economy, finance.
astronomy the atomic theory. the age
of the earth. the vibrations of heat
waves, bacteriology. or even the water
supply of towns, one must think in mil
lions. for each generation of mankind
must be trained to think on a higher
scale than the preceding generation. in
order to make progress.
If the national expenditure, taxes and
rates continue to increase annually in
| the future as they have done in the
past, the people of future generations
will think in billions. or in millions of
millions
In the United States of America and
| in France people already speak of bill
lions: but a billion in these countries
means thousand millions.
One million persons collected together
| in a crowd, with an allowance of three
square feet per person, would cover an
area of 68.S acres-say, 20 acres-or
could be contained in a square having
sides 577.6 yards long; or. If one allows
| eighteen inches per person. standing
shoulder to shoulder. 100000 people
would extend a distance of 2S4.1 miles,
or from London TO Alnwick.
The population of the county of Lon
don amounts to 6,549, 900, and, allowing
| eighteen inches per person, standing
shoulder to shoulder. il would form a
human wall 1850 miles long; or the
whole population could be placed on an
area of OF square mile, or on a square
having sides of 0.S4 Of mile
New York has a population of 3.437, =
900, which would cover an area Of OBJ
of a square mile, which is equivalent to
a square having sides 0.60 of a mile
long
Paris contains 2.714.0O0 persons. who
could be accommodated comfortably on
0.29 of square mile. or 0-54 by 0-54 OF
mile; and the people of Berlin number
2.040. 900 souls. who would cover an area
of O.22 of a square mile. and could be
contained in square having sides 0.47
of a mile in length.
The population of. the United King
dom consists of about As, 100000 persons,
and if an area of three square feet be
allowed for each person to stand on,
this great crowd could be accommo-
dated on an area of 4.62 square miles,
equal to a square of 2.15 by 2.15 miles;
or. If standing shoulder to shoulder,
would form a human wall IL, $50 miles
in length. which would extend halfway
round the earth at the equator.
One million cubic yards of excavation
is equivalent TO a cube having sides 100
yards long; or il may be represented by
a bank of earth measuring one yard
square and 56s.2 miles in length.
The excavation in the construction of
the Manchester ship canal amounted to
81, 006, 900 of cubic yards, of which H.
600 00a consisted of red sandstone rock.
The total of 1000, 900 could be depicted
by a wall of material one yard square
and 30,6S3 miles in length; as the cir
cumference of the earth at the equator
is about 24,SS4 miles, this wall of exca-
waited material would be sufficient to
form a girdle round the world: or il
might be represented by a cube of ma
terial having sides 37S yards lOnd.
One million tons of rock following
fourteen cubic feet TO the toni can be
illustrated by a cube having sides about
241 feet in length
In the United States the coal raised
per annum totals 350, S21, 900 tons, which
are equal to a cube having sides IA
yards long; and in Germany the guam
tity raised is 119 349 900 tons. equivalent
to a cube with sides PSI yards in length.
One million building bricks. if piled
carefully together so as to form a cube,
could be contained in one whose sides
were 1913 feet, or, say, 40 feet long, al
lowing sixteen bricks to the cubic foot,
laid without mortar, or 100000 bricks
can be depicted by wall six feet high.
nine inches thick and 2.6 miles long.
In connection with the study of as
tronomy il is difficult TO realize the
meaning of millions of miles, but some
idea may be gathered from the time
that would be taken by an express
train, or the shot from cannon, to
cover celestial spaces.
The distance or the earth from the
sun is about 100000 miles. and light
travelling at the rate OF 1870 miles per
second in vacou traverses this distance
in 81 minutes; but railway train go
ing at a speed of ninety miles per hour
would take IT'S years to reach the sum-
The circumference of the ellipse form
ing the orbit of the earth round the sun
is about 5F7, 100000 miles In length, and