The southern sentinel., 1903-09-11
ACCURACY SAVES MONEY.
Government Bureau OF
at Warrington Does an lm-
portant Work

A. the bureau of standards they tninK
nothing of measuring the weight OF the
CRIME from your thumb which you may
place on a clean sheet OF paper. 1hey
weigh the sheet before the grimy thumo
Is applied and then after. Likewise tney
will measure the width of human nan,
of if YOU want them to they Will tell
Won how much the heat of your BODY eA-
pauds the delicate mechanism OF the
watch in your pocket, says the Ne"
York Sun. -,
Their work is intensely practical
though. Hundreds of surveyors Chains
come to the bureau to be tested. Many
have been used for years under tne ini-
preston that they are absolutely accu-
rate At the bureau they are found 10
vary from the standard from an incn 10
half foot.
How important the accuracy OF the
surveyors chain is was demonstrated
recently in Philadelphia, where an en-
tire subdivision was thrown into court
on the very point of accuracy OF sur
yeying. The variations Of the chain
used by the different surveyors was not
more than three inches. but this was SUI
ficient in the large subdivision to bring
hundreds of square feet OF valuable
property into question.
In Brooklyn there was long standing
DISPUTE growing out of the same condl-
ton. For years owners OF ADJOINING
pieces of property battled in the courts
over the possession of IL inches OF
ground which an inadequate survey nao
left outside the boundaries.
The bureau credits itself with re-
cent saving Of $4,000 to Uncle sam.
The gunmakers had heated one OF the
great steel gun castings to the degree
which was believed to be just right for
shrinking on the jacket. The bureau
of standards instrument was used and
1t was found that the temperature was
OF several degrees-suficient to have
spoiled the gun when the jacket cooled
The damage to the gun would have cost
the government Just $4,000.
Recently, in Baltimore. milk dealer
wac charged with not giving full meas
uls to his customers. He contended
that his measures we're correct and re-
sisted payment Of q fine. The chief OF
the bureau of standards discovered that
the milk dealer and not the city had the
correct standard.
In the capital. not many months ago.
there was q controversy between the
venders of milk and the authorities as
to the size of milk bottles One dealer
was even ready to make hero Of him
self by going to jail. An appeal to the
Recent tests of the electric light fur
fshed to one of the eastern cities
showed that the candle power was short
about one-fourth Of that called for by
contract. The annual expenditure of
the city is s., 900 900 and the tests OF the
bureau thus showed that the power fur
rlshed is short In valuation $500, 900 q
year.
The uses of the bureau Just given are
really the minor ones from the stand
point Of the bureau officials. It II es-
pecially for the more complicated work
that new laboratories are about to be
provided for the bureau at q cost Of
quarter of a million of dollars.
To make exact measurements the
buildings Of the bureau must be of spe-
cial design. and perhaps the most elab-
orate system OF heating. ventilating and
ever known will be in
stalled. There is q balance In the pos
session Of the bureau so delicate in its
poise that the heat of the body alone
affects 1t. although it is tightly encased
in plate glass. No one is permitted to
come within Is feet Of It.
When something is to be weighed,
It is placed on one of the pans Of the
balance. The case Is closed and "a
hours are allowed to pass in which the
weights, balance and object, reach the
normal temperature inside the case and
the air which was disturbed resumes
its equilibrium.
The manipulation Of the balance IL
OS0S ~ AASoAS Va AOhG uoAS, WHICH, S1.
tend Is feet from the balance. Even
after these precautions are taken q
dozen different calculations are made
to correct known variations in the ap-
paratus.
The international bureau Of stand
ards. which has headquarters at Paris.
has furnished to this government a
standard meter and standard kilogram.
The Standard meter has never been
touched by human hands since It
reached its present degree Of perfection.
1t rests in a glass case in a vault. The
comparisons with it are made through
the use of microscopes. The standard
kilogram Is Of platinum-iridium. The
metal in 1t cost about s., 900.
What Nerve.
Taddles-I used to think q good deal