El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-07
D. C., Sept l.


w What is a barrel of apples?
Congress, in deciding this
question a few days ago, took the first
step in federal legislation toward the
control of measures ana Welghts Tor
the country at large A standard
barrel henceforth, in any part Of the
United States, will be of certain pre-
This, however, is only the beginning
We are to have almost INN ediately,
through congressional enactment, a
standard national barrel for all ory
commodities, including vegetables and
fruits Containing los dry quarts, It
will measure &c inches between heads
and 81 inches in greatest OUTSIDE CIR
cumference- In all states OF the Union
il will serve as the sole lawful con-
tainer of its kind
Later on, and before long, the same
idea is to be extended 70 all KINDS OF
measures and weights For every booy 5
rotection-eSpecially that OF the much
afflicted ultimate consum er-there is to
be a system uniform throughout the
country, whereby accuracy OF reckon
ing shall be insured as basis Tor All
buying and selling
ultimate Consumer Is the Victim
Beyond question, the ultimate con
sumer is the principal Vlctlm OF me
present lack of system in this REGARD
Which means, of course, the housewife
for it is she who purchases practlcally
everything weigha bic and measurable
that comes into the QOn66llC eStdbAi :
ment. from the ice to the meat, and
from the kerosene oil to the clotn Tor
her own and her childTenS clothing
The extent to which she is cheated Dy
false weights and dishonest measures
as shown by recent Official lnYeSuga-
tions, is nothing short Of astonishing
INQUIRY by a legislative commission
appointed at Albany showed that IN
number of cities of New York state
Sc per cent of the scales, 81 per cent OF
the weights, ard 50 per cent OF the
measures of capacity gave loss 20 th I-
buyer. For the whole OF New orA
CITY. IS per cent of the scales. 10 per
cent of the weights, and so per cent OF
the capacity measures were snort py
one-tenth or over.
Here, obviously, IS matter OF very
great economic importance. For 1t may
be taken for granted that conditions IN
this respect are much the same all over
the United States; and, indeed. a care
ful investigation by the SoEeIiiIl 4t5-
such is the case. There can be no que9-
ton that the high cost of living, OF
which there is so widespread a com
nlaint. is due in not inconsiderable
1nes s1Ire to the heavy tax upon every
household in the land BY dlsnones1
measures and false weight packages
Take for example the item OF butter
IN eyervGav household necessity me
housewife nowadays commonly buys II
in "prints" supposed to weigh poullu
or half a pound. It almost never o.
ours to her to weigh the prlnts' puS,
if she did so. she would INA ina ny
we're short in a majority of instances
bv half IN ounce to two ounces an
important addition to the proIlt OF ne me
manufa cturer. but correspondence
serious loss to the ever uhloI Iuha10 u
innate consumer
shorfweiEhts in Butter.
In New York. ABS butter prlhls We
officially weighed at A diIIeIentt - 49,
ceries and other shops, and 81 Of therl
were found short" by an average o.
an ounce 10 the pound. The tub butter
as sold. showed an equally wide olscreP.7
ancy. pounds being N many cases s sa
Inv as much as three or even IouI
oTnces thanks to false Weighing ana
to the practice of weighing IN In5
wooden tray. Such trays Welgh from
one-fourth ounce TO one ana oI one It - -.
ounces and it is common practice 10
soak them in brine to make them
heavier. Butter sold in crooks Is usu-
allv from 10 to 80 per cent snort OF the
alleged weight .I.
standard loaf OF bread The popular
s11Dposition is that a loaf shoulo Wel5h
16 ounces. But in New York. 500 loaNs5
weighed at 4S places. Xarleo IToL ON -
ounces g cents a pound) TO II ounces
a RIO cents a pound. E1ghty-threS
Nor cent of them were under 10 ounces,
and As per cent under Il ounces II WdS
ascertained that many DaJ ksI I u 81
.nIIt Ioayes in two sizes, differing oy
tNyo ounces-the heavier ones DelnS LOT
sale over the counter and the short
weight loaves for delivery at houses;
The reason for this is that oeilNereu
bread is not scrutinized- %
quart of milk should welsh %
ounces. As a matter of fact, hoWeVesi
the bottled quarts, as delivered 10 Gus Gus
i'shv" The official Investigation mace
in cities of New York state ShoWsu
that 50 ner cent of the quart milk DOT
ties and SO per cent Of the plnts were
short measure -. Ii++1a
cheats carried through many klnos o.
merchandising must SIGNIFY laIse ~ ~
tai loss annually 70 the everyday
stricfive laws. they have been devel-
oned into a highly complex and more
effective system. For instance the i've
Mound pail of lard usually contains
times much less Boxes of ice cream
are nearly always short by at IeasL
one-eighth of the quantity they al 80
supposed to cantain- Packages OF e gu
gar sold at the corner grocery as i've
bounds and two pounds may or may
not be full weight; aften they are not
The pound of cheese paid Tor oy Ine
housewife is liable to be an ounce
under weight, the IS pound piece os-
iivered to the householder beng "
reality not more than 20 pounds' . alo
often only 10 Poun NOS +o me o - made
fsct every day and constantly by the
average ice man
one of the most aggravauns sW LL-
dies has to do with flour. when IS Gus
fcmariIv sold in short" sacks For eX-
arnnIe the II pound sack usualIy
weighs only 10 pounds. Inasmuch d
there are 16 such sacks TO oeLI -
this means, on every barrel, d loss u
40 mounds to the housewife
Short Quarts.
quart of raw oysters costs 90 ceL IL,
But the dealers quarts commonly ~ ~
SIX to the gallon, so that What Ine
Customer really pays is 81 cents
quart and the dealers profit on etes5
do1Iar's worth of oysters he sells Is =
cents on the short measure alone De-
Yields a fabulous profit 10 the man ~
facturer, but the latter IS not re-
strained thereby from making M
0uarts and pints 80 percent less thar
the honest quantities 80. 40
Popular Ignorance has a great ue S-
TO do with the prevalence OF chsa's -
This kind. The accuracy of weights am an
measures is almost an article OF IalII
with most people; they rarely -HI nA - -
questioning them. Not one person II
1000 know that there are two KINGS y
quarts, the dry and the liquid denCe
the average housewife is entirely sat
isfied when the grocer sells her cram
berries or dried beans by liquid quart
although she loses thereby eXactly j.
percent of what she pays for Notnlns