New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-07-09
"ROBBTNG" TRADE CUSTOMS.

Mr.. DriscoIl, the chief of the cityS
Bureau Of Weights and Measures, is find
ing widely pervasive customs of the
trade which he disapproves and which
public opinion reprobates-short barrels
to hold potatoes and apples; short quarts
for berries; sheets, towels and other ar
ticles Of drygoods that don't measure
within several inches of the size stamped
upon them-imported from honest Eu-
rope. too, with the false measures
printed on them-''spreaders" Of wood
stuck in carcasses and sold as meat at
the present high prices; wooden butter
dishes sold for butter; ice cut and
weighed in the cool Of the morning, be-
fore the sun reduces the cakes in size,
and sold at the 5 a. III. weight, and a
| hundred other devices of the same sort
for deceiving the purchaser. All the
customs of the trade" remarks Mr..
Driscoll, are against the buyer.
They are. indeed, on the surface at
least, and it is easy to calculate just
how much he is robbed" of by paying
for paraffined paper as butter, or by pay
ing for ice that has dripped from the
bottom of the wagon under a blazing
sun, or by purchasing his sheets and
tablecloths in the ingenious belief that
the inches stamped upon them are real
inches. But is he really robbed of so
much? We may imagine the iceman
departing from his early morning habit
and, in fear of Mr.. Driscoll, purchasing
some honest scales and weighing only
the ice the sun has left right before your
eyes. Perhaps he sells it now ostensibly
at so cents a hundred. In the era of
honesty he may raise his price to 30 or 60
Now the loss from melting falls on the
buyer. In the coming time it will fall
on the seller and he will raise his rate
accordingly.
Rates and measures have been to
certain extent at least kindly fiction.
The sellers Of goods by the package. say
at 10 cents package, and the bakers
of loaves at and 10 cents loaf know
that the public does not wish to pay
more than the customary 10 cents a
package or ) or 10 cents a loaf dis the
case may be. Therefore, instead of
making their price elastic they make
the size OF Iue
of the customs of the trade arise from
the same motive, to give pleasant illu-
sion that life is after all not SO expen-
sive. What could be more considerate
than the Italian iceman who spares
you from the dreadful thought that you
are paying 30 cents a hundred for ice
by simply throwing the loss in carriage
upon the customer? Life is pleasant, and
ice may be had for % or maybe so cents
a hundred, after all.
Illusions about the inexpensiveness of
apples by the barrel. sheets, towels, but
ter in two-pound packages, ice, meat
If it is possible to have such an illusion
about tbat-will disappear when the era
Of honest weights and measures begins.
An Illusion of relative dearness will set
in Robbery" will he over, but per-
haps pocketbooks will not be much
fuller. Still, with all their kindly re-
gard for the human instinct for cheap
ness, the short weight and the short
measure are susceptible of abuse and
are oftentimes the means Of real cheat
ing. Though prices may be ostensibly
higher with honest weighing and meas
uring, living will not be any dearer, to
say the least.