The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-02-07
Costs Average Family That
Sum IN Short Weight,
~ She Asserts.

Z. rs - 4 ~ * ~ *
flIlI 4ADE1jPHIA. Pa, Feb. 6. For
( neatly i've years, Mrs. Anna B. Scott,
the culinary expert OF the North
American, has been urging women
who keep house, whether or not they
are their own cooks, to buy kitchen
scales not 50 much for the weigh.
ing Of materials to be used in cook.
Ing Is for testing value received when
goods come from the grocer. and
Butcher. Now she has publicly dem
Qpstrated proof Of correctness OF her
hibit In the city hall courtyard, where
the bureau Of weights and measures
~ attempting to teach the public the
, arte Of getting what they pay for. *
Time and again i have warned
AOusewives," says Mrs. Scott in the
North American, that they were los
Ing large Sums Of money through the
Ecafelessness or dishonesty Sof store
keepers and liucksters IN weighing
and measuring foodstuffs. And now,
Tor Two months, every woman in Phil
adelphia, will have a.chance to visit
ne s'Iearn-to -buy' exhibit In city hall
courtyard and there see Just why /
have been 50 insistent on scales ID
every Kitchen
i Every woman interested in fair
dealing and economical living, even
if she has no home OF her own, should
spend a few hours In this interesting
exhibit, looking at the many devices
tixed up to cheat unsuspecting buy
'crs, There are hundreds Of scales doc
tered to weigh less than a pound for
atpound and as many wood and tin
measnres, with false bottom OF so
denied as to hold less than the guam
tity paid for.
Employees Sometimes Careless.
2 And those who think this is mat
( ter Of small consequence, should bear
4 IN mind the statement Of John Virdin,
chief OF; the, newly established bureau
nj weights and measures, who has fig>
lifed that the loss to buyers, because
of false weights and measures amount
ed 10. q total of more than 100000 q
day or nearly 100000 for year 1914.
And this In spite ofthe fact that ma
jority of our merchants are honest in
their dealings with customers.
.. Dividing this loss among the peo-
pie OF Philadelphia, 1T means nearly
80 apiece for every man, woman and
child, or about SIS year for each
family of five members.
$50 1t is by no means a small mat
ter. And N $1.25 spent for good kit-
chen scales will help the housewife to
1 put q stop to such a loss, no one can
!; deny this is fine investment.
No matter how much confidence
you may have in your butcher and
grocer and the huckster who Atops
lin the back street every so often, re-
member that even where -.men are
honest, carelessness is apt to creep
IN among employees, and sometimes
: employees are dishonest. The. only
sure way to tell whether or not you
are getting what you pay for is to
weigh thing as it comes into the
house, in the original package, SO that
/ dfSfhere Is u shortage, the dealer can
mot say you must have lost Some in
transferring the contents or empty
ing the box or bag. &
/. .ls good plan is to have a shelf Just
large enough to hold the scales, pm
at asconvenient height near the kitch-
EN- door. Then have little beading
nailed around the upper edge Of the
shelf SO the scales will not be slip
ping OF, and you do not have to be
I hunting up the scales every time you
want to use them.
Then, as each package comes, SIM
ply lay 1t on the scales before putting
In the refrigerator or pantry or em-
plying into Jar or can, and note care
fully the weight-which always should
lbe a tribe over the amount paid for,
since the weight OF even small pa
per bag amounts to something. II
your tradesman laughs at you for
what he may call such Thickness, ask
him to show you package containing
"a hundred paper sacks. One weighs
very little, but the point is that 1t
weighs something, and you should not
she paying for paper what you are
charged Tor rice or sugar or beans.
I Check Up on the Bnttller.
.When buying meats, always ask
the butcher to send the trimmings.
These are fine for soups and, more
than this. they will enable you to tell
whether or not the, butcher is Civ
Ing you full weight. II you do not
get the trimmings, and make com-
plant about short weight, the, butch-
err will say that the trimmings made
up the difference. This may or may
mot he the case. But II YOU have the
trimmings, he cannot say anything.
You say this is some trouble. Well,
at does add a mite to the work of
housekeeping, but isn'tit worth while?
+ II by doing days hard work you
could save $40, you'd be glad for the
Chance, wouldn't you? And you'll find
that the extra time spent in year
an Weighing each package of food that
comes To- that much-and, according
To the official figures have Just Civ
en- you, your. family's proportionate
+ share OF The loss occasioned through
false weights and measures last year
( was nearly SIS.
Elf; you. find short weight, either
! send back the goods, with word that
afnistake has been made in the weigh
ing, or carry them back and ask the
stradesman to weigh them in your
\ presence. II his scales show less than
(: Yours ask him how lately he has had
I: them tested by the bureau Of weights
and measures. And II he seems in
clined Il. be unpleasant about the mat
ter. Just telephone this bureau in the
s5gity hall or write a postal and ask
that this merchant be investigated.
49, ~ 7. = Ill. =