The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1883-03-10
SELLING HI YEiGHI.

~
systems, by the dozen. by the package
Or by the box, barrel or basket. The
evil of measuring by other standards
than weight. says another exchange,
has become almost universal in this
country, and has given rise TO much
confusion, trouble ana annoyance.
Formerly, instead OF measuring our
cotton and sugar crops by the number
of pounds produced, we measured
them only BY the bale or hOgshead. 1t
is true, that in selling them they were
sold ~ the pound, but in transporta-
ton, freight was paid by the hogs
head, whether it weighed 1000 or 400
pounds, and by the bale, whether it
was i2o or G70 pounds. The forme:
evil in reference to sugar, has latterly
been corrected, but cotton is still trans
ported on many lines at so much u
bale, and the consequence is, that far
mers, in order to take advantage Of
this arrangement, make their bales rs
large as possible and very clumsy and
unwieldly. a bale, to be moved east
iy, ought not to exceed $50 pounds in
ight--inuecd. abroad they are made
even smaller than this; whereas the
St. Louis and Iron Mountain road,
which transports cotton at so much Il
baie, is frequently compelled to handle
bales exceeding 600 pounds in weight.
But it is not so much in these staples
that the evil of employing auothcr
measure than that OF weight shows it.
self as in articles of food and domestic
use. We sell meat by the pound, and
meat alone, whereas abroad every
thing is sold by weight alone. y cord
of wood, as everybody knows, may
vary greatly; in France and Germany
you bay your wood like your coal, ut
so much ton or pound. y dozen
eggs may weigh eight ounces or they
may weigh twenty, yet the same price
is charged 4 dozen for thcHa here, be
they large or small.
In the fruit business, the evil has
reached the greatest limits. and has be-
come SO bad that the mercantile OK
change Of New York is calling on the
legislature to correct it by statute. 1t
asks that Il standard barrel be fixed by
law for apples and q standard basket
for peaches. Every year this barrel
and basket have been shrinking and
growing smaller, until the dealer who
buys barrel Of apples scarcely knows
what he has purchased. 1t may be
two, it may be four bushels; il may be
20 or 10 dozen, so or $50 pounds. He
is buying, in reality, ''a pig in the
poke" because a barrel OF apples is no
definite measure.
In California the correct system is
pursued. AT the markets everything
is sold By weight alone. You buy a
pound of potatoes, of apples, Of pears,
as you buy Il pound of eggs or meat.
1t is tho only correct SYSTEM to be pur-
sued, and is one that we win have to
come to, sooner or later.
The following advice may not be
needed by our local fircmen, but will
no doubt prove interesting, and perhaps
useful, to the general reader: Fire
men would do we'll to bear in mind
that one gallon Of water at the bottom
Of a fire will do more to qucnch it than
ten gallons at the top. "I'iay lOW,'
is the true motto for the ticemon. TO
play on the roof Of 4 house on fire is to
waste water; be sure to play low get
the water near the fire, and then you
need not pour on river. a few gal
Ions at the bottom of Il fire will rise in
clouds of steam when the fire is rising,
and will quenCh il. a gill Of water
thrown into the bottom of a CRATE
equals quart thrown on top. For
similar reason water on the windWard
side is more effective than on the lee
ward. The big blaze on the lee
ward looks fearful, but il can not be
affected by playing on that side.
Throw water in the bed Of Goals under
the retort that is sucking them, and it
will go out-that is TO say, play at the
bottom Of the WindWard side Of fire
and you take the Surest and spccdicst
way to quench the whole Iccwaru side,
blaze included.
a gentleman at New Haven, Con-
necticut, who is interested in Irish af
fairs, says: 81 never was more sur
priscd than when i learned that James
Cary had turned informcr. Why, he
it was that gave counsel to the Ma
tionalists in Dublin. AT his house all
the leaders met for consultation with
each other. He was partner, when l
left Dublin, in one of tho large dry
goods firms of the city, and lived in a
magnificent house in the fashionable
part of the city. Carey was a good
natured, tall, Wcll-built man, and was
a general favoritc for his social rs well
as his mental qualities. His action, as
l said before, is Il great surprise to all
Sx-1 IL y, Il fol