Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-11-16
HOUSE WIVES ARE
The VICTIMS FOR
DISHONEST SCALE
Northefn Section of New Jer-
sly Gulled Right and
Left.
INVESTIGATORS DISCOVER
kMANY FLAGRANT CASES
Sewn Out of Ten Scales in Jer-
sey City and Orange
Wrong.
Especial to the Newark start

0TRENTON, Nov. 16.-According to a
report made by the Robert l.. Stevens's
Fund for Municipal Research in Hobo
ken many parts of New Jersey, partic-
ularly in the northern section of the
State, are flooded with weights, meas
ures and scales which are worse than
useless insofar as purchasers are con-
cerned. This fund is for the purpose of
Investigating weights and measures in
Newark, the Oranges, Hoboken, Jersey
City and a number of other cities in
which members of the commission
made research. 1t was found that.
scales and weights are incorrect in al
most every instance where investiga-
tom haye been made, and that the
whole fault seems to lie in the Legis-
lature, which has, according to the re-
port of the fund, failed to make pro-
visions for the mutual protection of the
retailers and consumers of the necessi-
ties of life. The men who have carried
on the Investigations are c. Alfred
Burhorn, William r. Jenvey, Thomas
B. Stillman, William H. Allen. Henry
= Bruere and Frederick A. Cleveland.
The report is in great detail and
makes many important recommends
tions. including %freuqent inspections, OF
which users of scales n weights shall
have no warming; advanced State law
on the. subject of weights and meas
ures; real stamps and seals of some Of
fetal significance; seals of lead instead
of paper, as are now used in Newark,
Jersey City and Hoboken. The general
scope of scales that sIve the purchaser
the raw end of the deal is indicated
by a sentence from the report of the
fund which says the purchaser in Jer.
sey City n Orange may take 1t for
granted shat seven out of ten scales
will give him less than he is paying
for. In Camden 5 per cent. of the scales
are wrong. In New Brunswick and Ho-
oken Sc per cent. are fast" Newark
..ds 81 per cent fast and Orange and
Montclair have 50 and 81 per cent, re-
spectively, of scales which are fast"
These scales give the purchaser short
weights.
Then the commission made tests OF
packages ready for sale and they found
that out of 1924 tests made AZ had
overweight and there were Is under
weight for each one overweight. The
commission inspected 5000 packages,
weights and scales and "a per cent. III
these showed loss to the purchaser,
While s. per cent. showed loss to the
dealer.
Remedies Suggested.
Remedies suggested to insure proper
weights and measures are:
First-A revised and adequate State
law.
Second-A properly equipped State
bureau of weights and measures which
viii guarantee.
Third-Adequately equipped bureaus
of weights and measures In all large
cities. Strong argument for this rem
edy is the conclusion of the United
States bureau that conditions in cities
having local inspection service. even
when this is inadequate, are much bet
ter than in cities having no inspection
at all.
FourthzEither State inspection of
weights and, measures in small COM
munities and rural districts, or county
inspection of cities and communities
having a-population of less than twenty
thousand, for example; such inspection
to be insured through county bureaus
of weights and measures.
Fifth-Purchasers should ascertain
whether their dealers weights and
measures are inspected and sealed, and
should also make occasional tests of
quantities purchased to see that four
gallons shall not be sold for five gal
Ions, twenty-eight quarters for a
bushel, thirty-three inches for a yard,
twelve ounces for a pound, or dry COM
modities weighed in liquid measures.