The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1914-03-24
Expert Gays Hilo and Honolulu
Buyers Are frequently Vic
tinized by stSfekeepers.
IMaIl speeiGI % ave AdverIiser.l

mail speciel TO The Advertiser)
HTBo, March 2O.--That the comm.
nifty Of Hilo is being gouged right and
left by unscrupuiors storckeepers, main
ly Orientals, through the means of false
weights end measures, and that Htno-
lulu is little better treated, is the ate
ment made by Z. W. West, a scale ex.
pert, who came to Hilo recently to ex,
anime and repair the big track, cane
and juice scnles which are nsed by the
various rIantation m Us and other con-
oo-ss or this Island. The arrival Of
West, who is the only expert of stand.
ing OF this Kind who has visited this
Island, MS far as can he learned, ut
this particular time seems almost a
special d'spensation of providence, in
view Of the fact that II was Only re,
Gently that the supervisors authorized
the sheriff TO employ an Inspector of
weights ana measures. This position
win Ne filed by George Richarfsdny
who has been given the appointment
by Sheriff Pua, and be will take up
his work as soon as he has resolved
the proper test weights and other nee:
essary parsphsrna1ia-
Petty orookedness.. - =
While West lasaab been engaged in
looking after scales at the Hilo Iron
works anil otLe-, tllaeas. he has kept
his eyes open while walking about town,
IS ~ tgp,t Ne has seen many
bits Of petty crpokedness going on
among the small merchants.
81 have seen Ave sets of doctored
scales IN this block alone, said West
the other day, indicating certain
Nloek on FroAt street "These scales
have been adjusted by the merchants
with the dellberate intention Of lie,
ffanding their patrons They show !
weight greater than they should. It
makes a lot, OF difference to the buy,
ers, too You. 60 to hug n chicken.
You get tw6-popnd bird, and the
scale shows a weight Of three pounds.
You pay for an extra pound. and you
are stppg say thirty5fye or forty cents
on this one little, traRsaetion alone,
Whrn you run np against such instances
every day in your life. the aggregate
sum which you are mu'eted in a year
amounts to quite m item. The aggre-
gate which the community pays for
stuff IL does not get, but which IL Is
charged through the use Of false scales,
must be n very tidy sum.
.1,F Past Masters 1T Doetofing.
al have alsC seen. some false meas.
ures employed here. Your Oriental
merchants are far smarter than YOU
think, and many of them are past mas
'crs at i"ctorino both scales and meas.
IIres.. Their metal measures. for, in.
u ance, they often have fixed by hay-
ing corrugations made in them, or by
having the bottoms curved inwar,ls.
Every inward lump, curve or eorruPa'
ton means smaller measure for the
buyer. Some Of the unserupulous mer.
chants even go so far as TO employ tin.
smiths 10 alter their measures for them,
80 yor see there can be no doubt about
thoir deliberate dishonest intent. Short
yatdstiGks and other false measures are
also very common in most places where
there is no inspection, and / have nc
doubt but that YOU will, find many OF
them here. | saw much of that IL
Honolulu, where ] STAYED for several
months before coming here.
t..... Short Yardstieks.
t'You should have regular and exper,
inspection of your weights and meas
ures, but even IL You have that youI
public should be educated to protect
itself BY exercising ordinary care when
II makes its purchases, for there ar.
many tricks employed by the dishonest
dealers, even il Their measures are cor
rect. In measuring cloth an expert
cheat can, when he uses the yardstiek
so shift the cloth as he slides the meas
ure along It that he takes seyera
inches OF the cloth he has just meas
iired and includes il in the next talk,
he is measuring, thus measuring thu
sane strip OF inches twice and charging
tho Luycr accordingly. found thai
in Honolulu some poultry dealers mi,
bl1eH sand and similar weighty stuff
with the feed they give the chickens
they are about to sell, and one ear
often find several ounces of such stuff
in the crop Of bird. When you sci
many chickens at the rate which p al
trv commands here, even such pety
trickery becomes immensely profit
al 10. -. -. -. 'i#.