The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-09-08

few days ago, took the nrst step in Fe
eral legislation toward the control
measures and weights for the count
at large. A standard barrel henC
forth. in any part of the United Stat,
will be OF certain prescribed dimension
This. however. is only the beginnin
We are to have almost immediatel
Congressional enactment.
standard national barrel for all dry col
mOdities. including vegetables al
fruits. Containing l05 dry quarts. IT "
26 inches between heads. and
inches in greatest outside circumference
In all States Of the Union ii will ser
as the sole lawful Container Of its kind
Later on, and before long. the san
idea is to be extended to all kinds
measures and weights. For everybody
roteCtiUn-especially that of the niue
afflicted ultimate consumcr-there is
be system uniform throughout II
whereby accuracy Of reckonir
shall be insured as a basis for all buyi'
and selling
Beyond question. the ultimate col
sumner is the principal victim Of the pre-
INT lack Of system in this regard. Whio
means, OF course, the housewife; for
S she who purchases practically ever.
hing VEGETABLE and measurable tn;
ONES into the domestic establishment
rom the ice to the meat, and from Il
oil to the cloth for her ON
md her chIldTen's clothing. The eXteI
o which She is cheated by false weigh
md dishonest measures, as shown by r,
cent official INVESTIGATIONS. is nothin
short OF astonishing.
Buyers Got short Weight.
Inquiry by a legislative Commissio
appointed at Albany showed that. in
lumber Of cities Of New York Stat
8 per cent OF the scales. 81 per cent {
he weights. and - per cent Of tn. meas
Ires Of capacity gave a loss to the buye
'or the whole OF New York City. 80 Pc
ent of the scales. IL per cent Of III
Weights. and - per cent Of tn. Capacit
measures were short by One-tenth Q
'vrr
Here. obviously, is matter OF Yer
'reat economic importance For it ma
'e taken for granted that conditions /
his resp Ct are much the same all owe
he United States: ard. indeed. care
NJ investigation by the government Blu
eau of Standards has proved that sue
; III" case. There can he no questiO
hat the high cost Of living. of whiC
her" Is So widespread a complaint.
lie in not inC0nsiderable measure TO tn
eavy tax upon every household in tn
and by dishonest measures and falls
eight Packages
Take for example m. item Of butter
nd everyday household necessity. Tn
OuSewife nowadays commonly buys I
I ''prints.' supposed 10 weight poun,
, h4lF a,
Yrs I" her to weight the prints. but
she did 50. She would lind that the
IRE short" in a majority OF instance
Y half an ounce 70 two ounces. Al
Important addition to the profit of tn
'anufa Cturer, hut correSpondingly Sc
ous loss to the ever-unfortunate ulti
late consumer.
New York Statistics.
IN New York. 40 butter prints wer
fC.aIly weighed at forty-foUr diferen
-ocerIcs and other shops. and SIl Z"
'"m wcrs found short" by an averaC,
an ounce in the pound. The butter
sold. showed an equally wide discrep
Toy. pounds being in many cases Shy
as much as three or even four ounces
.anks To- false weighing and to III,
-actiCe Of weighing in the woodcr
dy. Such trays weigh from une-fourtt
ince To one and one-half ounce. and il
a common practice to soak them ir
Inc t. make them heavier. Butter SOLD
crooks is usually from 10 to 81 pei
Mt short Of the alleged weight.
Thor" seems to Ike no such thing as 4
a ndard loaf # bread Tie popular
opposition j. that loaf should weigh
Nteen ounces. But in New York d.
ayes. weighed at forty-eiEht places
rIed from twenty-five ounces = cents
pound. to eleven ounces t. $40 cents
pound. EiGhty-threc per cent of them
ere under sixteen ounces. and !" Per
Mt under fourteen ounces. II was as.
rtaiHcd that many bakeries turn gu,
ayes in two sizes differing by two
nces-the heavier ones being for sale
er the country. and the short-weight
ayes for delivery at houses. The rca-
II for this is that delivered bread is
t sCrutinized.
\ quart Of milk should weight thirty
- ounces As n matter of fact. how
cr. the bottled quarts. as delivered ~
st0mcrs. are usually three or four
noes shy" The official investigation
td" in cities Of New York State show
that ~ per cent of the quart milk
tiles and 81 per cent Of the PintS were
ort measure.
Loss to Householder.
I is easy to see that such little cheats
rried through MANY kinds OF mer-
andizinG must signify a large total
5 annually to the everyday house
lder. In the absence Of restrictive
vs.. they have been developed into a
;hly complex and most effective sys-
n. For instance. the fvv-pound pail
lard usually contains only four pounds
ounces. and sometimes much less
xes of ice cream are nearly always
hort" by at least one-eighth Of the
antity they are supposed TO contain.
ckaGes of sugar sold at the corner
pCery as five pounds and two pounds
y or may not be full weight: often
y are not. The pound of cheese paid
by the housewife is liable TO be an
nee Shy" As for Ice. il is nearly al
VS. under weight. the twenty-five
ind piece delivered to the householder
ng in reality not more than twenty
Inds. and often only fifteen pounds
e old Joke about weighing in the
lEs" is made fact every day and con-
ntly by the average ice man.
me of the most aggravating swindles
TO do with flour. which is Customarily
in short sacks. For example, the
nlve-pound sack usually weights only
pounds. InasmuCh as there are six
n such sacks to a barrel. this means,
every barrel. a loss of thirty-two
!nds to the housewife.
quart Of raw OYSTERS costs 81 cents
the dealers quarts commonly run
to the gallon, so that what the Gus
Ter really pays is % cents a quart.
the dealers profit on every dollars
nth of oysters he sells is q cents on
short measure alone. Beer Yields a
ulous profit to the manufa cturer. but
latter is not restrained thereby from
king his quarts and pints 3 per cent
; than the honest quantities.
opuiar ignorance has a great deal 10