Evening star., 1925-08-16

wished to increase their net earnings
they met together and agreed to shave
down the weight of the popular size
of bread loaves by one to two ounces
apiece. This was done without any
warning whatsoever TO the buying
public. The consumer exchanged his
. cents for a loaf of bread which
yesterday weighed 16 ounces and
which tomorrow might weigh only IA
ounces. The only way that he could
ascertain the discrepancy was by
weighing his loaf.
When the 1921 law was in the
process of construction the District
authorities saw to il that this popular
bakery practice was baniShed forever
Here is the way the present law
reads:
That the standard loaf OF bread
manufactured for sale, sold, offered or
exposed for sale in the District of
Columbia shall weigh one pound
avoirdupois, but bread may also be
manufactured for sale, sold, offered
or exposed for sale in loaves of one
half pound, one pound and one and
one-half, or multiples Of one pound. but
shall not be manufactured or sold in
other than these weights. Every loaf
shall have affixed in a conspicuous
place legible label stating the weight
of the loaf in pounds or fractions OF
d pound, whether the loaf is standard
or not. The business name and ad
dress of the baker must also appear
on the label. Every District baker
also must keep tested scale and
whenever requested by the buyer
| must weigh the respective loaves to
demonstrate their fun measure. ANY
| loaf OF bread weighing within 10 per
! cent in excess or within 4 per cent
| less than standard weight shall be
deemed Of legal weight"
Please do not form the hasty opin-
ion that the District inspectors
! specialize on the detection of the
crude methods of fraudulent practice
commonly attributed 10 push cart
| peddlers For the reverse is the
truth, as visualiZed by study Of
! District methods. George NJ Roberts
and his corps of curious detectives
| seek out the refined and highly com
| plicated trickeries developed by a few
! successful business establishments.
You would be surprised to find that
some stores shave down the individual
| purchases the rnerest trifie, so that
! they still qualify as bona fide under
! legal requirements, yet which are not
| full measure in the broadest aspects
| of the definition.
| However. most Washington firms
deal fairly with their customers. The
use of questionable methods and
sharp practices is the exception here
rather than the rule. The abatement
| of these questionable practices is now
one of the end points toward which
! the District inspectors are aiming.
Intricate systems Of cheating have
| replaced the old-time methods. EX-
perts who foster postgraduate
| crookery in merchandising are politely
called business strategists." To in
clude even the weight of the paper
| in which the goods are wrapped is IL
legal in figuring the salable weight. yet
| a few Washington dealers have even
| attempted this deception TO gain an
extra dollar or TWO income each day.
| One illustration of a refined prac
| tice of unfair dealing is where price
cards. including fractions OF cents,
| are displayed. or where the prices
quoted include such fractions. After
! the customer has made selection,
the salesman will place the commod
! ity on q scale and very quickly viii
! announce a total price in excess of
! the proper amount for the weight de-
| livered. The fractions and odd cents
readily confuse the ordinary purchaser
| who attempts in his head TO calcU
| late the quantity and amount. Be
| cause of this confusion. in case of
doubt of the correctness of a trans
action, the customer often hesitates
| TO question the salesman's arithmetical
accuracy. An uneducated person is
! often unable even to make the calcu-
| lation. Four statesmen were prose
cuted and three convicted in one day
in a certain Washington store for at
tempting such Justification.
COMPLAINTS from purchasers who
had bought valuable precious
stones which are underweight led TO a
careful study of a few jewelry shops.
1t was found that some dealers use
very ambiguous statements in their
advertising and selling talk. They
would refrain from making a definite
statement about the exact weight of
certain diamonds. They would say
that the stones weighed about one
karat" or about one-half a karat"
| Such methods will mislead the ordi-
nary buyer. Notwithstanding, it is
probable that an action for false
weight subsequent to any such pur-
chase would not be maintained. 1t
| is gratifying to empha size that the
ma jority of local jewelers. frown upon
such methods and are eXerting every
| effort to free their trade of such black
sheep.
For the information of those who
are interested in the exact number
of business establishments that oper-
ate in the District, the following data
are offered. They are authentic and
are the latest available statistics of
this character which have been tabu-
lated. Stores handling groceries and
similar foods, ,961: meats and poul-
try, 355: fruits and vegetables, 204;
bakeries and bakery products, 40;
restaurants and hotels, 127: hardware,
153; dry goods and department stores,
251: druggists. wholesale and retail
23S; garages and gasoline stations,
406; automobile supplies, %; defica-
lessen and confectionerS. 393: fish and
other sea foods, IA; dairies and dairy
products, 20; transportation and utility
companies, 80; coffees and teas, IL; fuel
and ice, 139 flour and feed, %: house
, furnishings, 40; building materials and
contractors, IA: hospitals, s; ice manu-
facture and cold storage, II; paper,
publishing and stationery, "a; junk, 81;
, leather and leather goods, 13: Govern
ment departments or divisions, S5; and
miscellaneous establishments. 1l6.
/; The District transient vendors include
397 fuel and ice dealers; fruits and
vegetables. AL; miscellaneous farm
products. 116; junk. %; meats and
poultry, Is; gasoline and oils, IL; and
miscellaneous commodities. a..
The District rule which provides
that ice vendors weigh the different
blocks of ice at the time of delivery
has proven invaluable in preventing
short weights. The enforcement Of
! this branch of the weights and meas
! ures law has been extremely difficult,
because of the large number of deal
ers who handle ice. The general
tendency of many of these Is to guess
/