The Washington herald., 1911-02-20
START CRUSADE
ON SHORT WEIGHT
Continued from Page One.

Bureau of Standards, it was decided to
have enacted into law regulations COM
pelIing the manufacturer in particular TO
give honest weight At the present time
weight and measure inspections are IN
force in nearly every State east OF the
Mississippi and about half Of the States
west OF that river. Colorado, NeVaoa'
California, Oregon. New Jersey, Pennsyl-
yania, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin. Min
nesota, Montana, and Washington fe
considering laws prepared by the bu-
reau Of Standards for inspection OF
weights and measures.
In the opinion OF the Bureau or stand
ards, the most fiaring short measure re-
ceptacle in use in this country Is the perry
basket 1t is seldom that one OF the
baskets is found to be correct. Anotner
practice unjust to the consumer Is the
method of western meat shippers. This
does not consist of what might be termed
short weight. but is. nevertheless, an
item to be reckoned with. 1t Is the snip
Ming of meats to the Eastern markets
with skewers, and charging their weight
TO the head of cattle in which they are
fastened This little item costs tne CITY
of New York a little more than $l@S.VVO
a year, according to the hgures ol 'iie
bureau.
War Against Cereals.
One of the greatest warfares the bureau
is waging is against the cereal companies
When :he cereals first came on the mar
ket they weighed about two pounos 10
the package. Every year the manutac-
turers have been making the packages
a little smaller so that at the present
time very few of the so-called two-pouhd
cereals weigh more than twenty ounces
The packages are not marked as TO the
net weight and they are immune from
any prosecution But the fact that they
are making the packages smaller every
year is, in the opinion of the government
officials, a deception. Representative
Mann. of Illinois, has at the present time
a bill to force manufacturers of package
goods to put the weight of the article
| on the package, but IL is doubtful II II
will go through this session.
when we start a crusade against the
manner of putting articles of food up in
packages il is not because we think the
same article put up in bulk would be bet
ter" said Mr. Fischer yesterday. I'VE
are thoroughly in sympathy with putting
many articles of food up in packages
that are not now put up in that manner.
| For instance when we say that bread
should be put up in packages l think
| the entire country is with us on the
matter from a sanitary standpoint"
AT the present time the people pay
twice as much for goods put up in pack
| ages as they would for the same guam
| tity in bulk. and in lieu of the fact that
much OF the food stuffs used by the
American people to-day are put up in
| packages 1 am OF the opinion that it is
| cne of the causes of the high price of
living
Consumer Pays for Ads.
THE big corporations pay about 81. .0Oo,-
! OO0 a year each for advertising. The con-
sumner pays for this. Every time a per
son reads a fiaring sign in the street car,
telling of the merits of certain break
| fast food or preparation. il would be
well to have him say to himself. I
wonder how much I am paying for
| that"
Among the articles that rarely ever
attract the eyes of the keen municipal
superintendent OF weights and measures
are spools of cotton. shoe laces. babies
! milk bottles. and other small articles
! which it would be supposed could not
be short in measure. The Bureau OF
|
| spool of thread supposed to contain 70C
| yards was 3 per cent short of that
| measure Shoe laceS supposed to be
! tyenty-six inches long were found on
examination to be but twenty-fou inches
long. Even little babies, the govern
ment found out, were being cheated In
the quantity of milk they received OF
account of erroneous markings on the
| bottle.
One of the most common frauds prac-
ticed is the canned lard. Many people
buy a five-pound can of lard and get
only three and one-half pounds One ot
the cases that came to the attention oi
the government was that of woman
! who bought a five-pound can of larc
| and after she had used It, had the car
refiIIed from bulk lard and the cost ol
the last tin of lard was less than one
half of the original can.
I'VE get police protection, and We are
| protected against counterfeit money,
said Mr.. Fisher, why should We not bt
protected against short weight?''