El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-05

.
| w While most of the legislation
/ looking toward the standard
ization of weights and measures seems
to be directed against the seller, it
must not be inferred that the interests
/ of the dealer are overlooked. It is
well known that in many of the in
| stances of false weights being proved
/ against the dealer. he may be quite in
| nOcent of any dishonest intention He
! has used the scales and measures fur
/ nished to him, for which, in many
! cases, he has paid a good price, and
] he has personally no means Of testing
] their reliability When he is convicted
| of giving short weight or measure he
I may be made TO suffer unJuStly IN
| two ways.
1 If his conviction becomes known,
/ and there is a tendency TO have such
! occurrences given as much publicity as
] pOssible for the protection of the buy
l ing public ne suffers a loss Of public
! confidence. a quality absolutely essen
I tial to his business, and for which no
/ financial rating is equivalent Many
/ dealers throughout the country have
! been forced into bankruptcy within the
I past five years as a result In many
cases these dealers had been as great
! " imposed upOn as the customers who
/ receive short measure or weight his
Z second loss is in the cOnfiscatiOn of
/ his scales.
| The average dealer has no means Of
knowing when the scales he purchases
! are accurate. He has only the makers
2 word for that. 1t is quite possible for
I him to pay a hundred dollars or more
I for a fine looking instrument which
/ will look ell upon his counter, and
I at the same time be so inaccurate IN
/ weight as to excite the positive lndlg-
/ nation of the first sealer or weight
/ inspector who visits his store The
/ scale is promptly contested and the
( dealer is not reimbursed Tor the money
l il cost him. There IS prODaDllly
! amounting to a certainty in some OF
: the more progressive states. that he
I may also be heavily fined for having
[ an incorrect scale in his possession
Plan Protection for Dealers.
I For the protection of the dealers,
Z the conference of weights and stan
dards,- the membership of which in
! cludes the official seaIers of most Of
{ the larger cities as well as state and
I national officials interested in the sub
( ject Of weights and measures, are rec
Ommending the enactment of q national
l law providing a heavy penalty for the
{ manufacture and sale of scales or
I measures which fall short of the cor
! rect standards It IS known 70 Ine
I government officials dealing with this
matter that many scales are sold which
do not bear the name of the maker
! because they are known to be inaccu-
rate and the manufacturer, having
[ good reputation, does not desire 70
: endanger ii. At the same time he
/ does not wish to lose the sales called
forth by the demand for cheap scales,
and so he floods the market with in
struments he knows to be incorrect
and the credulOus dealer who buys
them pays the penalty At present
there IS no law penallZlng the manu-
/ facturer of short weight scales
At the last conference Of weights
and measures. representatives Of the
more important scale manufacturing
firms were in attendance and evidenced
their desire TO bring the standards Of
their instruments up to the required
accuracy both for the protection OF
the dealers who rely uDOn them ana
for their own business credit The
testing Of scales by the bureau OF
standards has become an important
feature of its work. All Of the scales
used for any public work under the
direction of the United Statest govern
ment are tested gratuitously but the
! services of the bureau also are avail
able to any manufacturer willing TO
pay a small fee TO have an instrument
! tested.
Scales Change Register.
Frequently a scale may change its
register after period of use, and for
this reason it is desirable that the
! sealer inspect it each three months.
as is required by the new laws passed
in some of the states This frequent
inspection is as great a protection to
the dealer as il is to the buyer, a s
accuracy of his scale. In the matter
: of mea Sures there is little If any var
lance from use but great difference
exists in the contents OF measures
supplied by different. manufacturers
and it behOOves the dealer to know
that he is securing those having the
required number of cubic inches What
the standard requirements are for each
sort of measure can easily be asccr-
tanned either from the official Sealers-
in q locality where they exist or
through the state departments Of
weights and measures
The matter Of barrels. baskets and
other wrappings constitute anou1er
means by which the dealer may be
imposed upon by the manufacture.
Z The content of q barrel has been varied
in the different states but the Dill IN
trOdUcCd i'm CONGRESS by. representative I
futile of New Jersey, contains the d.
mansions Of the standard barrel and
dealers can assure themselves that
they are securing this not only for
chased by them for retailing in smaller
quantities are delivered in barrels
measuring up to the required capaclty,
The barrel fixed in Mr.. Tuttle's bill
is designed for fruit. vegetables and
other commodities other than cram
berries. Just why these last should
be exempted was not apparent to the
conference or weights and measures
which endorsed the bill last month
The length of the StGve of this pro-
posed standard barrel is % - inches
Its diameter at its head should be
Il IA inches and the distance between
the heads % inches Teh clrcumter-
ence of its bulge should be So inches
Any barrel having capacity of tO56
cubic inches should be recognized as
standard, whatever its form.
Lack OF Uniformity Is Costly.
The question of uniformity In the
measures and weights between the diff
ferent states is a matter which fire.
QUenuy has caused loss to the dealer
which he in turn was obliged to pass
on to the consumer. If a dealer in
Ohio buys potatoes from Pennsylvania
he receives only Sc pounds to the
bushel but when he sells them i'm his
own state he is obliged TO give so
pounds. because that is the weight re-
quired by the Ohio law for that com
modify. Some commodities have had
their weight per bushel fixed by law
in number of states and others have
il only i'm one or two. The bureau
Of standards last year prepared a list Z
of 81 commodities which have bushel [
weights widely adopted Beans vary I
from 50 pounds i'm Arizona to So in I
Vermont. Beets range anywhere from I
80 TO so pounds per busheL according
to the locality, buclIwheat from - TO I
50 and corn from "a to 90.
Short Measure in MIX.
In the handling of milk the office |
of a public sealer may serve to pro- !
tect the dealer from short measure /
bottles If ne accepts only those !
stamped as having the proper standard I
after being subjected to official tests [