Prior to 1906 the control of trademarks and brand names had been a colonial responsibility. In view of the trouble with the Bare Island concrete, and that Mountain considered it necessary to comment, tampering with cement was probably not unusual. With the advent of aluminium, stainless steel and plastic containers the coopers' trade has dwindled to a fraction of what it was at its prime about 100 years ago. In the UK, the branches of coopering were wet, dry and white coopering. Both terms, cask and barrel, were used in Australia for cement containers.
Barrel remains as the unit of volume for oil production.
A stevedores' dispute lasting three months in 1911 about dust from cement packaged in jute bags, which led to dust-proof cement bags.