The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1917-11-01
WEIGHING DEVICE.
By Frederick


WoIgnG. "A carefully kopG rcCOTu
covering 2 years test of thou
sands of scales of all kinds in gen.
eral retail use showed less than 4
per cent giving short weight; 81
per cent credited as correct; "a per
cent, or over third, giving, or
having tendency to give, over
weight-to favor the customer!
Reasons for this are numerous,
worn or chipped bearings, dirt and
rust being the chief causes. Much
has been said of dishonest dealers:
to Judge all merchants by a dis
honest few is erroneous. By far
the majority, we may say that
with very few exceptions, business
men are conscientious and honest.
Good business and competition de-
mands it.
In the early nineties the first
computing scale was put on the
market. It was multiple beam
platform scale of heavy capacity.
Its value and price per- pound
beams we're mounted on carriage
which could be moved back and
forth and set for the desired price
and value. AS an example,; 25
cents worth of tea at so cents a
pound would be computed by set
ting the beam in the 60-cent notch
and the counter-poise at 25 cents
other weights in like manner. The
use of the beam gave the weight in
dollars and cents. Another beam
constructed lower down, could be
used for pounds and ounces. The
scale gave either the weight or the
value in money, not both at the
same time. To illustrate; piece
of bacon at 30 cents a pound shows
$1.65 when weighed on a comput-
ing beam. How heavy is itg A
reweight. this time on the weight
beam, shows 5 lbs. 8 or. The not
giving of both weight and value
simultaneously was one of the un-
desirable features of this scale al
though at the time it was consid-
cred marvel and was used extern
sively. Its low multiple, 16 to l,
made it quite sensitive and accur-
ate. By multiple is meant the ratio
between the indication and load,
thus 16 to 1 means that l lb. on
the poise counter balance is Is lbs.
on the platform.
A year or so later new ar
rangement was perfected: the
computations were obtained by
moving the sliding poise, on which
the prices per pound we're given,
along on fiat chart which had its
surface marked off into money
values. This chart was part of the
beam and its upper edge was di-
vided into pounds and ounces. Both
weight and money values were Civ
en- at the same time. For example,
80 cents worth of rice at 8 cents a
pound was obtained by setting the
poise 50 that the 8 cents per pound
pointer covered the desired Sc
cents. In so doing the poise also
indicated that a, 6 Id. or. draft
was being made. Today it seems
a very simple device. Many of our
modern appliances seem simple
now that we are familiar with
them, but back of their conception
and perfection were laborious hours
of thought and experiment we fail
to credit. The graduating and
tabulating of this first chart turned
a brilliant man into monomaniac
His one idea was to divide, and
proportion, pounds and ounces,
and dollars and cents, So that they
would harmonic, and to incorpor
ate the results into a serviceable
scale. The key to the problem,
excepting the mechanical construc'
tion, consists in taking the pound
as a unit and dividing the space
allotted to it on the chart into az
many equal divisions as there are