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

Is not turned toward you, be careful to
watch the hand of the butcher when he
turns the scale around, so that you can
| read 1t. Be sure that ne has not taken
hold of any part OF the scale which can
affect the weighing. Be sure also that he
is not holding the scale In ian awkward
position SO that pressure can be placed
upon the runner" If 1t is a hanging
/ spring scale.
A computing scale is scale which has
mechanical adding device, and which
tells the operator automatically how much
the commodity should cost at every price
per pound. In a great many instances
this type of scale is set at a point where
the weighing platform is ON a level or
close to the counter and so far from you
as to be almost concealed and out of view,
and unless you watch very carefully while
your meat OF any other commodity Is
being weighed on this type of scale, II
the merchant is dishonest he will have
knife point bearing upon the platform of
the scale or In some other manner putting
pressure on it, thus adding to the weight
of your commodity in fraudulent man
ner.
These scales are highly sensitive, but all
of them have attached to them what Is
known as clash pot. /" and If the butcher
or merchant Is dishonest, there is no reason
why the scale should be over sensitive
You can judge the sensitiveness of the
scale by the rapidity with which the hand
or dial or weighing indicator moves. For
| your information you are informed that
| one OF the practices of dishonest butchers
or grocers is to keep the scale as highly
sensitive as possible, so that the hand or
the computing dial or weighing Indicator
will move so quickly as to afford him an
opportunity and reason for bringing the
scale to stop with his hand, and In this
way deceiving and defrauding you. No
| scale should be so sensitive as to create
an unreasonable delay In waiting for the
hand to come to stop, and where the
cause of the desire of the merchant to
have it that way.
If you must use the telephone In order
| ing your foodstuffs. you must also take
extra precaution to see kyou are not being
defrauded. Avoid whenever possiblrS
however, using the telephone in ordering,
because the telephone order has proven
great temptation to defraud to the dis
honest merchant.
Don't allow your grocer or dairyman to
weigh In the wooden butter dish when
weighing your butter. These butter
dishes frequently weigh, In accordance
with their size, from an ounce, to three
ounces. You will observe some of them
very prettily decorated with tin on the
edge Remember, If they weigh these in.
they are selling you the tin and the wood
at the price of butter.
Don't let the fancy package goods
fascinate you, because you are frequently
paying very heavily for the fancy pack
age and In most cases getting considerably
less of the product than Won would If
buying 1t loose. Butter put up In prints
is sanitary, but be sure you are getting
sixteen ounces of butter without the
paper or the carton.
| Don't buy In careless manner. That
is, always ask for whatever the commodity
is by known weight or measure Avoid
asking for a cupful, cents worth, or 10
cents worth, a package, handful,
glass, jar, bag, basket, bucket or a
quart or a gallon, or whatever amount
| you want.
Don't buy in small quantities If you can
avoid it. To illustrate the danger of this,
call your attention to the following:
The poor people in the city, who are
forced ito buy In small quantities, pur-
chase butter quarter of a pound at a
time. If wooden dish weighing one
ounce Is weighed In with the butter, the
purchaser has been defrauded out of one
ounce in every quarter of pound thereof,
losing one-quarter of pound by the time
full pound is paid for, whereas, even If
a merchant had weighed In a one ounce
butter dish with full pound purchase of
butter, there would only have been a
fraud of one ounce. This holds true of
all commodities.