Money Bin dimensions---it's all been discussed long ago

[lgiver@postoffice.pacbell.net]

I just re-read the first half of "Return to Xanadu" (my favorite Rosa 
story), in
US 261, December, 1991).  I looked at the letters to the editor page, and
Yoicks!  A letter by J.W. Burns defined a cubic acre just as I did, 
resulting in 9091408 cubic feet per cubic acre.  He was responding to a 
letter in US 256, which estimated the dimensions of Scrooge's money bin 
as approximately a cube 136 feet on each side, and he pointed out that 
was much too small to hold 3 cubic acres of cash.    We're re-hashing an 
old, old discussion!
    I found letters on this topic in US 252, 256, 257, 259, and 261, 
which I had read at the time, but had forgotten.  The estimate of 136 
feet per side was based on the depth gauge of about 100 feet, an 
estimate of 30+ feet head room, and the general cubic looking appearance 
on most drawings of the bin.
    A clever solution to this dilemna was suggested by Brian Schmidt in 
US 256.  He acknowledged that the most straightforward definition of a 
cubic acre is a cube with square acres on each of its 6 sides.  But if 
Barks intended it to mean a cube with a TOTAL surface area of one acre, 
then each side would have only a sixth of an acre, or 7260 square feet. 
 Each edge of such a cubic acre is then only about 85.2 feet, with a 
volume of  618593 cubic feet, only about 7% of the volume of the cubic 
acre Burns defined and I supported.  Three of these cubic acres are then 
1855779 cubic feet, which could be contained in a cube only 123 feet on 
each edge.   But since the depth gauge is about 100 feet, then a bin 
with a square base 136 feet on each side would hold all 3 of these cubic 
acres!     That's amazingly close!  But the blueprints of the Killmotor 
bin have many other things besides the giant money room, so Scrooge 
still needs that overflow bin, etc, in his downtown office building. 
     Maybe next time I can think of something original to discuss.
                    Best wishes,
                                                    Larry Giver.