[USMA:26406] Newton Kansan Online - Some measures don't add up 07-16-03.htm

[Nat Hager III]

Title: Message

Sounds like a metric advocate in the making!   Nat   News Home Front Page Sports Accent Communities Calendar Editorials   Viewpoints Reminiscing People Obituaries Births Birthdays Anniversaries Engagements Weddings Health Market Place Today's Ads Classifieds Business Agriculture Web Services Archives Subscriptions FAQ Links Recreation Movies Dining Guide Virtual Tour Education Chalkboard Religion Religion Church Directory Some measures don't add up Mike Morton I got to thinking about measurements the other day because I ran across the phrase "seven league boots" while reading. I realized I wasn't sure just how long that would be, so I looked it up. Well, it turns out even the dictionary isn't too sure, because a league means different lengths in different countries. Isn't that a fine kettle of fish? The whole world can't agree on the length of a league. The closest the dictionary comes to giving a definite length was to state in English-speaking countries, one league measures about three miles, which isn't too exact, so I guess it's just as well that we don't refer to distances in leagues much these days -- and I haven't worn my seven-league boots in years, so I guess everything's copacetic. But that just started things off, and the next thing I knew I was discovering all kinds of new/old information about measurements -- or maybe I just forgot some of those things when I was daydreaming in class. For example, I was reminded it takes 2.54 centimeters to equal an inch; handy information, since the rest of the world is on the metric system, and we are one of the few diehards being left behind. But what about some of those other, less frequently used terms? How much is a span, or a "hand," as in the horse that stands 14 hands at the shoulder? A hand turns out to be exactly four inches, so the horse was 56 inches tall at the shoulder, or four-foot-eight, and a span is nine inches. Measurements like the inch, the hand, the foot and the yard date back to medieval times, when an English king decided measurements had to be standardized. No one knows who the guy was, but the inch was set as the width of his thumb, the same with the hand, the foot -- well, that's obvious -- and the yard was the length of his arm, fingertip to nose (and look straight ahead, please). A mile was the distance a man could walk in a given period of time. Apparently he tuckered out at 5,280 feet. A "stone" was one that happened to be lying around, and turned out to weigh 14 pounds. But the stone is only used in the United Kingdom these days, and that's probably just as well. With that one exception, almost all the other measurements use these as a base. But people soon started throwing monkey wrenches into the system because those standards weren't exact enough. Land surveyors decided to use a chain for measuring and settled on one that had 100 links. Problem was, the links were 7.92 inches long, so the chain was 66 feet long. It didn't correlate with anything, but at least the surveyors were happy. Newspaper writers and editors measure things in column inches, while their typesetters measure in terms like picas, ems (a full space) and ens (a half space) -- but we all know how strange newspaper folk can be. Apothecaries (chemists, today) use minims, drams and ounces, which smoothly translate into pints, quarts and gallons, while for dry measures they're talking in grains and drams, but throw in one measurement they can call all their own. Did you know 20 grains equal one scruple? Just think of all those years we've been unscrupulous and didn't even know it. In land measures, we are confronted by rods and acres, and while most of us know one acre equals a six hundred and fortieth of a square mile, we don't really know how long or wide it can be. Well, it's 160 square rods, and a rod is five and a half yards long, if you want to figure it out. Otherwise, just picture an acre as being a square of land containing 46,035 square feet, which would measure a little over 214 feet on each side -- and now you can run out and check on whether your building lot is really a third of an acre, like the salesman said. Now, when we get into things like nails, we go back to medieval times again. An eight-penny nail indicates a set weight. It takes eight of them to weigh as much as an old English penny, and while there are billions of nails around, the old English penny doesn't exist any more, except for collectors. Buying a cord of wood for the fireplace isn't all that complicated. Just make sure you get 128 cubic feet of wood, or a stack measuring 1 by 8 by 16 feet. Celebrating? You can get a magnum of champagne or even a jeroboam, depending upon the size of your guest list. A hogshead, however, may be a little more than the budget can bear. It holds two standard barrels, at 31 and a half gallons each, which would make quite a party. And if the party is on a cruise liner, there are special measurements there too. A fathom is six feet. Remember Mark Twain? He was in 12 feet of water. A nautical mile is equal to 1,000, which makes it 6,000 feet long. Why it can't be the same as a land-based mile is anyone's guess, but if you're going to meet someone, make sure whether it'll be on land or sea. Otherwise, you could miss each other entirely. A "knot" is not a unit of speed. It IS a speed, as in "traveling at 12 knots," which is defined as 12 nautical miles per hour, so, if someone says "12 knots per hour," he's "all at sea," because he just repeated himself. But it's time to dismiss the class -- or maybe "release" would be a better word. However, having found out all these things, we now know, if that horse happened to be Sea Biscuit or Secretariat, it would have to race eight furlongs to cover a mile. By the way, did you notice? Not once was the size of anything compared to a football field. Mike Morton writes weekly for the Kansan. Feedback Office: 121 W. 6th Newton Kansas, 67114 Phone:(316) 283-1500 Have an opinion? Write a Letter to the Editor at nknews@ thekansan.com Comments or questions? Contact the Managing Editor at nknews@ thekansan.com Site Problems? Contact the Webmaster at nkweb@ thekansan.com Missed Paper? Privacy and Usage Policies Contact Us All information, text, graphics and data are © Copyright 1998 - 2003 by The Newton Kansan & Morris Communications.  All rights reserved worldwide. Word Search Find it in the Kansan! Enter a key word or phrase in the text box below. 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