The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-12-29

tinues to use this ancient method oi
cheating, and the public permits him
to do 1t. Possibly both might read
the Scriptures to advantage.
Perhaps 1t is unfair to say that the
honest CRATER" has no inventive
ability, for at last, after these many
ages, he has exhibited little clever
ness. The following quotation from
circular which a manufacturing
firm had the effrontery some time age
to distribute among retail merchants
indicates that not only has a machine
been invented that literally makes the
scales honest in combination with a
graft" feature, but also solves the
problem of the ages, of making one
of two things that are equal to each
other show surplus at the same
time:
CAN YOU DO THIS ON a.
YOUR SCALE?
Buy twenty pounds pork
loins at 8 cents a pound, retail
them to your trade at the same
price, and get your money
back?
WE CAN
on our scale, and make you
THREE PER CENT. PROF
1T BESIDES.
If your business amounts to
$40 day sales we can earn you
80 cents in fractions you don't
get now. Thirty cents day .
means you buy this scale every
1870 days. How long have you
been in business? How many
have you bought in that time?
Think of it-one scale lost every
six months. Let our man prove
this.
This scale weighs honestly, at least
as honestly as the average scale can
be made to weigh. 1t would be seal
ed by sealer of weights and meas
,lres as an honest machine. Yet it
Is an honest" CRATER" for while It
does not violate the law it gratis"
1t does what is claimed for it in the
circular. 1t is called a computing
scale. Its beautiful nickel finish
gives a shop an appearance of pros
POiiIJ anu q uColl . W bCCulC IhC DCbJ
that money will buy in order to give
the customer a Square deal" In
Massachusetts, the courts have con-
demned it, but there being no law
under which it may be condemned in
this state, many are still in use. ~
The great advantage of the COM,
putting machine is that it automati-
no1Iu 10 1nrlotno tho nf tho
bill as It weighs the purchase. On
a busy Saturday night it is valu-
able adjunct to the grocery man, or
the meat man. If some one comes
In and orders six ounces of coffee it
would, in the process of weighing the
coffee, automatically determine the
sum to be paid. The way in which
it gratis" is this: Assuming that the
coffee is valued at 80 cents a pound,
according to commercial usage an.
ounce would be sold for two cents.
1t is on this basis that the machine
but only the even ounces are
registered. If a person ordered three
ounces of the coffee, the amount
would be, according to the machine,
not six cents, but eight cents. In
usage the buyer is sup
posed to share evenly with the seller
IN a case where the exact value can
not be paid. If an article is sold at
four cents pound it is obvious that
four ounces or less would be one cent
and eight ounces two cents. Should
he weight be less than six ounces
he buyer would pay only one cent.
# it is over that number of ounces,
,ut under eight, the seller reaps the
advantage and two cents is charged.
According to the computing scales, If
In article weighs the slightest frac-
ion over the unit it charges up the
price for two units.
When the subject of dishonest COM
putting scales was brought up in
the State Treasurer's
made a test of one of the
computing scales charged with being |
IN honest CRATER" The machine
vas set to compute on articles valued
1t 80 cents pound. Three ounces
If beans were placed on 1t. The in
licator read eight cents. Then five
IuhSOO WOiO Aolo Ols hO pk lSO Shdl
showed that this quantity was worth
IL cents. Nine ounces were given a |
yalue of 10 cents, thirteen ounces 26 |
,ents and one pound nine ounces 40
,ents. This gave total for the five
Imall transactions of $1.13. When
he total weight, fifty-five ounces,
vas placed on the scales, the amount |
registered was $1.05. The eight |
,ents difference was the profit on
small sales' which the dealer OBJ
aimed by the use of these scales.
t was shown also that when seven
cen ounces, or one ounce more than
! pound, was placed on the scales
hey registered "a cents. The appar-
titus was found to be perfectly hon.
sst In its capacity OF weighing ma
,hine. 1t was therefore decided that |
t could not be interfered with untll
he law regarding Just scales was
,hanged. Like every other honest
yrafter," IL kent within the law.