Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1917-05-09
$7,OOO,OOO,OOO-WHAT 1T MEANS.
Interest Will BE $500 Minute--At
SIS per Acre, Would by U. S.

There are few people who truly re-
alize the stupendous significance of
such sum as s7,0OO,O0O,OO0, the
war budget recently voted by this
United States Congress. G. D. Hamil-
ton, of st. Louis, gives some idea Of
what 00,00O,0OO really means in
a recent article in the st. Louis Globe
Democrat. The article follows:
The interest on the United States
$7,0O0,000,00O wGr budget at 31A
per cent amounts to almost $500 a
minute, according to c. D. Hamilton.
vice president of the international
Shoe Company, who has figured out
a number Of comparisons to show
just what $7,0OO,0OO,0O0 means. His
figures follow:
"There are almost exactly as many
dollars in 7,00O,OOC,0OO as there are
seconds in 222 years. Since the Dec
laration Of Independence, July 4th,
1916, to date, there are less than
100000 seconds.
"Sevcn billions in gold coin is 49,
40 tons and would load nearly 1900
cars, each with $4,000 pounds, and
make solid train 13 miles long.
"Seven billions OF silver dollars
stacked in pile would go toward
the stars to a distance or 1,736
miles. And it would take the United
States mint, working day and night,
224 years to coin the dollars.
AT SIS an acre, this vast sum
would pay for every acre of land in
Continental United States.
'Seveh billions Of dollars in dollar
greenbacks,' end to end, will go
around the earth at the equator near
ly 81 times. And it would take an
express train running 40 miles an
hour, day and night, continuously,
for two and one-half years, to cover
that distance.
Let us look at it in time, or in
distance:
Seven billion minutes is 1918
years, 8 hours and so minutes.
Imagine seven billions of miles! A
rifle bullet has speed of about half
mile second, yet at this great veloc-
ity it would require almost 444 years
to cover the distance!
Had an express train started at
the dawn of the Christian era, going
at the rate Of mile a minute, it
would to-day, nineteen centuries after
Christ was born, figuratively speak
ing. hardly have gotten out of the
train sheds, for it would have gone
only one-seventh Of the distance.
And would now, 1917, have 11,4Oo
years to run to complete the journey
of 7,0O0,0O0,000 miles!
Count it-ridiculous! Imagine
an expert counter Of money counting
this in 81 bills and expert enough to
count one second. Then suppose he
belonged to the union and worked
eight hours a day, Sundays and holi-
days excluded. Then imagine him at
work on the job for fifty years--dy-
ing of old age-the work taken I'D
by another. The first man would
have been dead 100 years when the
fifteenth man Quit the task-each OF
the fifteen having worked fifty years,
and there would still be uncounted
enough to give each, man, woman and
child in st. Louis $500, and leave
$120,000,000 untouched.
Let US look at S7,O0O,000,0OO in
this way: Suppose a man had this
sum in bank--not interest bearing
and every day of the year he drew
his check for $1,O00,O00, he would
after twenty-five years, have $780,
100000 in the bank.
Suppose again that it was invest
ed, paying per cent interest, and
the mans expenses were $1,000,OO0,-
a day. He would, after 70 years
spending million a day-find that
he had fourteen billions left, twice as
much az at the beginning, and might
want to kick himself for pinching
down to a beggerly million a day.
"This loan bears interest at 3k
per cent, and the interest is $245,-
100000 year, nearly $500 min
ute--just the INTEREST,""
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