The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-02-12
HOW I~NACCURACY
OF WEIGHTS ROBS
BUYER OR SELLER

changes were made IN the YARD SUCK.
international Aspect
In response to an invitation by the
French government, Austria, Ecuador,
France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy,
Norway, Peru, Portugal, Russia,
Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the Unit
ed States and Columbia, Is countries
in all, sent representatives to a con-
ference held in Paris en- August 8,
/ 1870, to consider the ACCESSIBILITY OF
/ constructing new metric standards.
] This conference was of short duration
! On account of the war raging between
France and Germany. On May 20,
1875, II countries signed for the es-
Enlistment Of an international bureau
CT weights and measures, in accord
ance with the terms of the cOnven-
ton. The French government set
aside a plot Of ground in the park Of
st. Cloud just outside Of Paris, and
upon this ground, which was declared
neutral territory, the international
bureau Of standards of weights and
measures was established. The meter
and kilogram, which agreed most
closely with the meter and kilOgram
of the archives, and on which there
had been much discussion, were de-
cided to be the international meter
and kilOgTam. These two standards
with certain other meters and klO-
grams were deposited in a subter-
ranean vault under one Of the build
ings Ct the international bureau,
where they are accessible only when
three independent officials with diff
ferent keys are present. The other
standards were distributed by lot to
/, the governments contributing to the
support of the international bureau.
Fischer and Hassler
The late Louis A. Fischer, whose
accomplishment in the field of me-
~teCrOlOgy won for him international
recognition as an authority on all mat
tiers relating to weights and measures.
is probably more than any other
single individual responsible for the
widespread development of weights
and measures accuracy in the Unit
ed States. He became one of the
worlds most famous experts. It can
truthfully be said that Mr.. Fischer is
the father of what we know today OF
weights and measures control in the
United States. F. R. Hassler was
also instrumental in his contribution.
toward scale betterment. The Creates
factor today in this work is the bu
reau of standards, which originated II
1901. Through their efforts tn.
United States is on a basis equal O.
better than the rest of the world il
the way of better equipment from
the manufacturer, and in advocatin,
the urgent need of better ~supervisio
= by trained men along the prone
- lines. In 1909 this bureau undertoc
an Investigation Of the general cond.
~ ton of weights and measures in con
: mercial use in the United State
which showed that nearly As e ceT
of all small scales tested were 3 N
- cent Or more in error, and that in
number Of cases the error was 121
:. per cent. When we take into acccu1
the rapidity with which the trade
~ man sells his goods, even a 8 q,
cent error is a serious thing, whetb,
it is in favor of the tradesman or Il
consumer. In one Of the large citi,
Of the United States 16% per cent I
all the scales 1ested during 19e
were condemned, and only &c Der ce1
Of all goods reweighed were found
the exact weight claimed. Fort
nine per cent Of the packages wei
over weight, while nearly % per cel
were short weight. Of more than "a
0o0 small scales tested in Indiana IA.
year, % per cent were found ina
curate. Even in cities throughou4 n
country where regular inspection h.
been carried on for a number Of wear
%inaccuracy Of this type win run fro
10 to Is per cent.
Attention Vital
Judging from the reports availabr
these facts indicate beyond a dor,
that more attention must be given
the proper maintenance for the M
chant as vel I as the consum.