The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-02-06
Some Pointa on Measurers.

, Jersey SO that they will be able to aid hi
In his work Of detecting the short weight
and Furnishing short-weight merchants
State Sealer of Weights and Measure
William L. Waldron has just issued
pamphlet entitled. what Every Hous,
wife Should Know"
The pamphlet is exhaustive in its treat
ment of the subject and contains detaile
information as to how housewives shout
market. Some of the instructions read a
follows:
To properly protect yourself against be
ing defrauded, it is absolutely necessar,
that You provide your household with
good scale and set of accurate dry ant
liquid measures. When YOU buv you
scale or measures, to be sure that they ar,
accurate, you should send them 10 tn,
Weights and Measures Department anC
haye them tested There is no charp,
made for this test. Every purchase vol
make, when it reaches your home should
Immediately be re-weighed or re-measureC
In order to ascertain whether or not youl
merchant delivered to you full value fol
your money
| To be absolutely fair with your mer
chant, the scale you buy should be of Of
good Q type as you can afford. The reason
for this must be obvious to you. Since
you are judging the honesty of your mer.
chant by the re-weighing of his commodity
on your scale, you should be absolutely
sure that your scale Is right, lest YOU
should misjudge an innocent and honest
| person.
A Yard-stick should be used In preference
to tape measure in measuring dry goods.
The tape measure Is generally made of a
| cheap muslin or cotton cloth and Is usually
subject to shrinkage by reason of the
printing thereon and the ever-preseut
possibility of Its becoming moist or damp.
The same tape measure. by constant use,
is equally liable to expand. At any rate,
1t is not safe or accurate measure A
good yard-stick can be obtained cheaply
and, with reasonable amount of care, is
not likely to become inaccurate If 1t is
accurate when purchased. To be quite
sure that the Yard-stick you purchase is
accurate, send 1t for test to the Weights
and Measures Department
When you make purchases, whether 1t
De In the butcher store, the grocery store
or the dry goods store, insist upon the
bill which you get having plainly marked
thereon the weight or the quantity of the
article purchased. Fer example: If you
buy chicken, do not be content with the
butcher marking on the bill or the ticket
you get, Zone chicken, &c.; insist upon
him making the bill read, so many pounds
CT chicken (whatever the weight of the
chicken may be- and then the price paid
for it.
To understand the Importance of this.
your attention 10 called to the fact that If
you buy chicken and you discover at
home that you have been short-weighted.
you will have difficulty in proving this
fact unless you can show by competent
testimony that you asked for a certain
weight or your butcher told you that the
chicken was of a certain weight, and the !
best evidence in case of this kind is |
ticket showing the weight and the price |
charged.
This is true of every purchase you make. |
You will be greatly helping yourself IL |
you will further insist upon the merchant
putting on the same ticket the price per
pound, in addition to the weight thereof. !
A great many butchers In the city have |
a rule prohibiting their clerks from
placing upon the ticket furnished the |
customer the word 'lb" or ''lbs." While |
some of these butchers may be honest, |
there is, however, a possibility that their |
motive is dishonest Guard against this |
yourself by insisting upon the ticket |
showing the weight, the price per pound |
and the total cost.
When you purchase vegetables by the |
dry measure, that is, a quart, peck or
a bushel, be sure to examine the measure |
the merchant uses before making your |
purchase, and after you hold your com
modify. The reason why you should |
examine the measure before is to be |
sure that it has not false bottom. The |
object of your looking at it after, is to be |
sure that he has not held some of your
purchase In the measure.
When you order vegetables by the dry |
be sure and ask for definite |
quantity, such as quart of beans or peas
or peck of potatoes or a barrel of pota-
toes, otherwise II you have been defrauded |
the merchant will always contend that he |
did not intend that the quantity supplied |
was to be of definite known quantity. |
He will always refer to it as basket or |
pail or a package of the commodity, and |
your chances Of prosecuting him would be |
minimized unless you can testify that you |
asked for quart or some known guam
titY, which you did not receive.
The same care should be taken 10 |
liquids. Do not be content with |
asking tor large can of olive oil. Ask |
for known quantity, such as a quart,
a gallon, two gallons, etc. Nor should /
you be content with asking for a bottle of |
vinegar, but should insist on getting a
pint or quart bottle of vinegar, etc.
When you buy quart of potatoes by |
the dry measure, or any other vegetable,
the law requires that you get heap meas
ure. This means that the measure itself |
must not only be full to the brim, but it |
must be heaped In the shape of cone as |
high as the commodity itself will permit |
Many butchers are very accommodating |
and obliging In their desire to trim the |
meat which you purchase of them, after |
the meat has been weighed and you have |
paid for every particle o. 1t. For example: |
You order steak at % cents pound. |
The butcher cuts the steak and places it |
upon scale. He then informs you of the |
price OF the steak. If the steak weighs |
three pounds exactly. it will cost you "a |
cents. Thus you are paying for every |
particle Of that steak. He then removes |
the steak to-the block and proceeds to |
trim" the steak, cutting away certain |
portions of fat and meat and bone. He |
then deposits all he has cut from your
steak In box beneath the counter, all of |
which you have already been charged for
at the rate OF % cents per pound. On the |
these trimmings, for which you have paid |
at the rate OF % cents per pound, for g. Z |
aud cents per pound. In the meantime, |
you have taken your steak home, aud If |
you are careful you have weighed 1t upon |
the scale In your kitchen. If the butcher
has been dishonest, you discover a variance |
between the weight charged for and the |
weight OF the steak on your home scale. |
If you go back to complain to the butcher,
he will promptly tell you that the differ |
when he sold 1t to you and the weight of |
the same steak on your scale has been de- |
posted In the box beneath his counter as
He has removed all possible |
trace of the necessary evidence In a short |
weight case.
The Weights aud Measures Department
advises you and urges you In all cases to
Insist upon the trimmings being given you
or sent you with the meat. There are
many uses to which you can put these
trimmings at home. If the butcher can
sell them for various prices per pound,
certainly they must have some value In
your home. The fat can be rendered into
lard; the bones can be used In soup, and
any careful housewife can certainly find
many uses for trimmings Of meat.
1t is very important that you should
know how to read the scale In the shop.
This you can only do by looking carefully
at each scale that you see. The Depart.
ment could not furnish specific set of In
structions In this pamphlet, because of the
different types of scales being manu-
featured.
1t is unfortunate, but nevertheless true,