St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1886-04-03
CHARGING ILLEGAL FEES.
GRAVE CHARGES AGAINST A sEALER
OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

| OE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
The New Orleans Picoyune, of
last Sunday, says:
Numerous complaints have been
made recently by grocers. butchers.
dry goods dealers. and other
dealers Of commodities sold by
weight or measure. Of what they
consider the excessive charges of
the Inspector of Weights and
Measures, who recently made a
tour Of inspection through the
First District. In several grocer
les where two or three scales and q
set of measures are in use, as high
as 81 SO was charged Us fees for
inspection and collected by the In
spector, Mr.. Thomas O'Hara. In
drug stores. where pair or two of
scales were used. fifty cents each
was demanded and paid, although
the only duty performed by the
lntpector was to certify that the
scales were correct, without in
spectins them any turtle; than 10
look at them. Butchers in st.
Mary's. Dryades. Poydras, Pile
and Claiborne markets have been
made to pay IS cents each for in
spection, while in the Fourth Dis
trict no more than so cents was
collected from each butcher.
Section 1913 of the Revised
Statutes says, in regard to the fees
TO which each Inspector is entitled:
For each yearly visi! aud inspec-
ton ola full set of steelyards or of
scales with their weights, or of
balances with their weights, or of "A
bushel measure and its parts. or of
a gallon measure and its parts, or
set OF yardsticks, they shall re-
ceive twenty-five cents and no
more; for sealing each weight and
measure, five cents; for the exam
ination of each platform scale. cot
ton and tobacco scales, and its APP
paratus, fifty cents, and for sealing
the same fifty cents, the fees in all
cases to be paid by the owners of
the weights and measures inspect
ed and sealed. This stamp shall
he impressed and pay ment required
for doing the same only on such rs
have not been stamped. or such rs
having once been stamped are found
SO defective as to require to be
regulated with the standard.
According to this it will be seen
that where only one scale has bsen
and none Of the weights
stamped, any amount charged in
excess Of 25 cents is. to use mild
expression. illegal. Butchers in the
public markets use no weights what
ever but depend upon the spring
scales or steelyards to weigh their
meat, hence no sealing OIL STAN ping
Of weights are required, and unless
the scales are restamped, 25 cents
each is all the law allows the In
'pector Of Weights and Measures
or inspection, aud 80 cents should
. seal or stamp be required. From
his it will be seen that Mr.. O'Hara
las cvercharged each and every
butcher in the public markets. who
lad scales, from 45 to SO cents
more than he was entitled to.
Fifty cents is not a very large
'um of money, it is true, but in the
nal kets in the First District there
re at least 100 butchers, and as
hese have been made to pay say
20 cents each more than they
hould have paid, O'Hara has Just
'ocketed illegally the sum of $50
n this inspection alone.
Add to these all the groceries,
rug stores, dry goods stores. cigar
hcps, and in fact all the establish
nents in which weights aud meas
res are used. all Of which have
doubtless 5een over-charged as lib
rally, if not more so, and Mr..
)'Hara's profits for the first two
,onths OF this year have been large
ldeed.
Numerous protests were made
gainst O'Hala's charges, but lie
dhered to his price. although he
as shown receipts from previous
where the charges were
ne-half less.
Several persons who believe they
ave been thus over-charged will
" Tho ,,okfor haforo fba Grand