Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-26
THE BUTTER PROBLEM
What Becomes of That Ounce
in Every Pound?
AND WHO PAYS Fur IT2
FIGURES THAT WILL OPEN A
HoUsEKEEPERS EYES.
Results of Young Wife's Calculations
Profit for the Western
Manufacturer.
AND WHO PAYS Fur IT.?

yes. robbed; Tor that s the very WORD tnat
expresses 1t, in order that the big manu-
facturers may ride In automobiles and have
private cars on the railroads"
The speaker was lingering the chewed
stub Of a lead pencil as she sat and frown-
ed over a sheet of paper covered with fg-
ures. Her sleeves were rolled to the tops
of her dimpled elbows, her complexion was
heightened by the exercise of an unusually
intricate piece of calculation and her hair
disheveled to just that extent which
makes simpletons of men under some cir
cumstances. 1t occurred to her visitor at
that moment that her hair must have looked
that way when her husband proposed to
her for 1t was almost Irresistible. To
thwart the impulse that must have actuated
her husband at the time before he became
such. her visitor asked her what was
wrinkling her brow and causing such an
unusual outburst of philosophy along the
lines of domestic economy.
why it's just this" she exclaimed.
showing the sheet of hieroglyphics upside
down. here they are robbng me of cents
a week with the sang froid of Claude
Duval. and 1 can't do thing to prevent
them
Pardon me, but 1 don't quite get the
idea was the rather weak rejoinder.
why. it's butter?' she exclaimed BUT
teri
yes. And some one has been stealing
your butterP'
Short Weight at That.
"oh. no: don't be silly. HereI ri show
YOU Today I went into a grocers and
bought half pound of butter The price
was 30 cents a pound Well. that makes
is cents for a half pound, for the grocer
always charges you the extra half-cent
and never thinks Of taking the shortage
himself Well, just to crafty my curiosity,
while the boy was getting my other things
/ dropped that half pound Of butter on the
scales. IL weighed exactly seven ana one
half ounces! Now, what do you think OF
that? There l was paying for eight ounces
of butter and they were only giving me
seven and half. On pound Of butter
that makes an ounce and on every sixteen
pounds buy lose a whole pound. or IS
cents Now don't you call that robbery"
Her visitor looked thoughtful and agreed
with her.
Now. the grocer happened to see me
the matter. I told him the butter was
short weight, II his scales were correct.
Well. of course, he wouldn't admit that
they were wrong. because that would have
gotten him into trouble with the authori-
ties, he had to frame up some excuse
for the makers of the butter. He told me
that the half ounce was lost by evaporation
during the time the butter was In transit
from the dairy to the store He said It had
core from the west and to prove that It
was evaporation he weighed several more
of the half-pound packets and found them
all to be exactly half an ounce short /
asked him why. If this was a generally
known fact, should be expected to pay
for what had evaporated from the butter
during It's transit to the east. and why the
makers of the butter did not put in half an
ounce extra TO allow for the evaporation.
i argued that they didn't have to pay for
that half ounce of air and that they ought
not to charge me for It,
Eye-opening Figures.
We'll. don't you know that grocer stood
up for those robbers and said they couldn't
be expected to put in more than half
pound at the factory because the evapora-
ton didn't always amount to the same. But
1t ended in his throwing off half a cent on
that print of butter and charging me only
IT cents for 1t. Still. that doesn't Justify
the action Of the people who make the but
ter. When came home began to figure
1t out. and I've found certain things that
have opened my eyes as they were never
opened before. 1 don't know what the peo-
pie who make this butter get for 1t. but
believe it ought to be half what the con-
sumner pays. At that rate they get, let US
suppose, 10 cents a pound. That's a cent
an ounce and is easy to calculate. Other
wise I'll have to go into algebra and my
algebras rather moth-eaten since 1 left
school.
well, then, the makers sells the butter
for IL cents pound and on every sixteen
pounds they make an extra pound at the
rate of the half ounce OF air they put into
every half-pound print. See? They put in
an ounce of air to every pound. That makes
sixteen ounces to every sixteen pounds of
butter, doesn't 1t? Well. the air costs them
nothing. therefore, they make that extra
pound with every sixteen they manufac-
ture. Now, let us suppose that the COM
pany turns out sixteen thousand pounds of
butter a day. That doesn't seem to be very
much for Il big company. does it?'' she
asked, her eyes widening innocently.
Profit in Air.
Her listener was unable to enlighten her
as to the average output of butter fac
tories but for the sake of the demonstra-
ton In which he was deeply interested, he
agreed that sixteen thousand pounds of but
ter did not seem to be an over-estimate for
a big factory-provided the factory was
healthy. full-grown plant and not an ex
pertinent.
IAN right" she acquiesced: "then IL
they make 10000 pounds of butter every
day and save one pound in every sixteen
they make. because of that free air they
put in and which isn't there when the
butter reaches the consumer, why. they
must make an extra thousand pounds OF
butter every day. don't they? Why, Of
course they do. It's simple A G..
And If they get 10 cents pound for the
butter. always including free ar, which I
pay for, why they must make 1000 times
sixteen. don't they? And that's LOO
cents which makes SEQ dollars And
that's for air; Just plain air, which costs
them nothing and which / don't even get
when 1 pay for 1t. because 1t isn't there
when the balance of that package gets to
me. They charge me for air and then
don't deliver the goods Is that slang?
Oh l thought you smiled Well. my hus-
band says that, so you see / thought 1t
was all right. Well it's true just the
same: they don't deliver the goods they
charge me for. and II makes me very tired.
No / don't mean that for slang. 1t really
does make me tired for I'm all worn out
figuring this thing out.
What It Costs Washington.
ooh. went farther than that" she con-
tinued. as she made little dabs at the
paper before her. Now I'm going to
show you what the people of Washington
are paying for western air-which they
don't get mind you because 1t isn't in the
package by the time 1t gets here-because
these butter factories think they are so
smart l think the figures will startIe you.
BY consulting the city directory have esti-
mated that there are about sixty thousand
families in Washington 1t seems to me
fair to estimate that each family will con-
sumo two pounds OF butter. on an average,
every week.
Many OF them eat more than that every
day and many OF them don't eat so much
In a month. But take an average, and be-
Heve my estimate is fair, IL anything under
the actual facts. ALI right then. The 10000