Evening star., 1918-02-17

.HE Department Of Commerce is
not putting UP stop-look-a and
I'll listen signs on painted white
4 posts at the street corners to
-n men and women OF the hourly
dangers to which they and their cnA-
ar~n are subjected In the household
h,,, n ia carrying on an active ana IN
E....,,,r campaign through the bureau
~ standards, asking householders to
Start a safety-frst movement IN tneir
- .or,as ard set up a private bu-
.san for weights and measures, IN or
der to economically keep the nome hiee
burning. and send food and suppi'es ~
the soldiers across seas
To educate the public in simple ana
nractical methods of preventing accl-
dents in the home. the use OF materiais
-, the household that the best ana
most Satisfactory results may sx system w
~ weights and measures how the most
can be gotten from given amount 10
tha hasis Of this campaign.
Ststiafics show that moro than nam
az as occur in places of abode, that
the cases Of electric shock ana acci-
dents through gas could pc largeIy ue-
creased by q common-sense ana "oIh
ING Knowledge OF the forces and appn-
ances controlling these modern con-
veniences in daily USE matcnes nie
one of the necessities OF oemestic .iie;
and yet they are the cause OF un.oIo
sufYering and loss. owing to careless
ness in their use and children being al
lowed to play with them.
4
This is not a time when such vague
directions as pinch of salt, speck
of pepper, sweeten to taste and hand
ful of rice" can be followed by house
wives, for condiments are luxury and
rice Is an article Of food. the great
va,ue of which for soldiers was shown
nv the Japanese during the Russo-Jap-
anese war. America, with her wealth.
,s realizing for the first time in her
history that there must be the most ex-
set nrecfsion practced in every depart
ment of the daily life of her citizens
nrecision in measurements, buying,
heating, the economical control of the
menage of the rich and poor alike-so
that stores in large quantities may be
sent to the United States troops and
their allied armies. So close is the CO.
ordination of every branch of trade and
industry of a nation at war that to
draw too heavily on one may paralyze
the usefulness of the other.
II short the bureau of standards
points out that it is useless for the
government to collect great stores Of
wheat and Other DEeaQSC0uS 1Of snip
ming to the armies in France unless the
means OF transportation is at hand:
that in order to forward the moving of
cars and the sailing of ships, fuel must
be conserved by every householder.
That this can be done without great
suffering is possible if care is taken in
watching the temperature in the house,
and il the safe and sane use is made of
Eas and electricity. Train children In the
small economies and minor sacrifices of
the day as patriotic service to their
country.
There is a group of buildings situated
in the outskirts of the District of Co
lumbia, surrounded by great forest
trees and rolling landscape, which Is
frequently taken for a college. These
buildings constitute the bureau of stan
dards, looked upon by the majority OF
persons as a purely scientific bureau,
where problems OF weights and meas
ures are worked out to the confusion
of the ignorant in such matters. That
1t is the government custodian of the
fundamental standards which are au-
thorized to fix the standards of weights
and measures in order that the stand
ards throughout the country be uni
form Is not generally known.
1t Is also news to many that this
scientific bureau has grouped together
for the use of homes a set of neasur-
ing appliances. suggestions as to
schemes for interior decoration SO that