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Show By ELMO SJOTT WATSON Drawing by Ray Walters. 3 I 1 I I mf li our Present units of M.it Jf weights and measures ' yyi C 'll cin yu name and give j?i3S I V ?their relations to each PS ur--C( trb-a-ci other? If you can do S crPif liiiinnriir that or a" ot them' UN JjL you're a most exceptional " HtW person. And If you S should set out to learn them beware ! 7 By ELMO SJOTT WATSON Drawing by Ray Walters. FF-HAND, how many of 'B our Prese-nt units of kj.Ji W weights and measures k can you name and give W) their relations to each kir other? If you can do liiiihWiir that or a" 0t them' UN JjL you're a most exceptional WW person. And If you should set out to learn them beware ! It was Sir Hiram Maxim, the great Inventor, who once said, "1 cannot understand un-derstand why we stick to these weights and measures. There was only one man who knew the English weights and measures; he studied them for thirty years and he just knew them all when the poor fellow went mad and died !" Long ago we simplified the currency system and in 17S6 led the world in adopting the decimal units of money in place of an absurd coinage of pounds, shillings, pence and farthings. But for some strange reason, we have lagged behind the rest of the world In extending the decimal system, whlaii is so simple and easily computed, com-puted, to other factors in our dally life. When James Watt, the Scotch Inventor, announced the plan In 1783 upon which the metric system is based, Washington, Jefferson, Robert Morris and Gouverneur Morris immediately immedi-ately Indorsed its adoption for our weights, measures and coinage. Washington, Wash-ington, in his first message to congress, con-gress, urged its adoption, but Its application ap-plication to our coinage only was made. In 1S66, through the efforts of I Charles Sumner of Massachusetts the metric system was made the legal system in the United States. But the average American, seemingly seeming-ly wedded to an outgrown tradition, has preferred to go on using the old cumbersome system. In the meantime mean-time more than .100 countries of the world have adopted the metric system sys-tem and are enjoying a great advantage advan-tage in commerce, education and common com-mon world understanding thereby. Only in Great Britain and America are there human beings who are out of step, commercially and economically, economical-ly, with more than 1.000.000.000 ot the people of the world who are trad ing on the metric basis. That we are conscious of this handicap Is shown by the agitation by various organiza- i tions and individuals which has been under way for some time for general adoption of the metric system. The states of Illinois. California. North Dakota. Tennessee and Utah, with a combined population of 16,000,000. through their state legislatures, have memorialized congress to adopt metric i standards. The General Federation ot j Women's Clubs, which has a membership member-ship of 3,000.000, at its national con vention at Grand Rapids, Mich., last year, passed a resolution calling upon congress to enact metric legislation as soot, us possible. More than 100. hk petitions, urging the same legislation are pending bef re congress and some time ago Congressman Fred Britten of Illinois announced that he expected to introduce in this. session of con gress a liberal metric standards bill and press its passage. The need for a new set of standards Ht-I 1 1 1 ! II H'H 1 I l..H..l..l..;..l....H"l"I"l"l"l"!"l"l'M'l I HHIHl MM I III-.; Which Do You Prefer: :: WlsOag :: THIS: OR THIS: " ) Apothecaries Weight . .. 20 grains 1 scruple S scruples 1 dram 8 drams 1 ounce N 12 ounces 1 pound .. Avoirdupois Weight (Short Ton) ., II 27 11-82 grains 1 dram 16 drams 1 ounce . 16 ounces I pound Metric Weight 25 pounds 1 quarter 10 rilligrams 1 centigram II 4 quarters 1 hundredweight 10 centigrams 1 decigram I, II 20 hundredweights 1 ton 10 decigrams - 1 gram 10 grams 1 dekagram Avoirdupois Weight (Long Ton) 10 deckagrams 1 hectogram 2T 11-82 grains 1 dram 18 hectograms I kilogram II 16 drams 1 ounce ., 16 ounces 1 pound 112 pounds 1 hundredweight 20 hundredweights 1 ton I Troy Weight 1 1 1 1 24 grams 1 pennyweight . , I. 20 pennyweights 1 ounce 12 ounces 1 pound THIS: OR THIS: Long Measure 12 inches 1 foot " ' ; ; s tt - i yard I ! yards I rod or pole 40 rods 1 furlong Metric Length g urlongs 1 statute mile 10 millimeters 1 centimeter ' 1,760 yards 1 rnile 10 centimeters 1 decimeter " "I 820 rods " I mile 10 decimeters 1 meter .. I 8 miles 1 league 10 meters 1 dekameter 10 dekameters 1 hectometer Mariners' Measure in hectometers - 1 kilometer 4. g feet ' 1 fathom ' 120 fathoms - 1 cable length 754 cable lengths 1 mile !! 6.280 feet 1 statute mile S.085 feet ' nautical mile THIS: OR THIS: Dry Measure :: Pint' I SedT Metric Capacity " "' ! necks - 1 bushel 10 milliliters - 1 centiliter l .. 4 pecKS . 10 centiitcrJ i deciliter Liquid Measure 10 deciliters 1 liter 4 gills t P'nt 1( liters 1 dekaliter " 2 pints 1 quart 10 dekaliters 1 hectoliter " 4 quarts 1 gallon 10 hectoliters 1 kiloliter 8154 gallons - 1 barrel 2 barrels 1 hogshead t I j-H-H MI M 11 11 I 1 'I Ml M I I '1"I M M I 1 I I 111 Ml 1 1 IT M II 1 is shown by the fact that this coun try suffers a loss of millions of dol lars every year in its ' world trade be cause of delays and losses due to the Inequality between our standards and the metric standards of other nations and the difficulty In translating one in terms of the other. The purpose of the proposed metric standards bill, as stated by Congressman Britten. Is to give to Americans "the world language of quantity." It proposes tu estah lisb a standardization of terms, so that our units of weights and mea sures may be alike and invariable throughout our land, and also fortu nately in accordance with those of the world at large. The advance to the metric system under this bill wilt not so much affect the making of things as It will govern the merchandising merchan-dising of things by measure In contrast to our present standards, stand-ards, which are complex and unrelated, unrelat-ed, the metric system Is simple and. based upon the decimal system like our currency, its units are logically inter-related. There are three fundamental fun-damental units, the meter, the liter and the gram, and all three are decimally deci-mally divided or decimally multiplied. Both multiplication and division are automatic. You move the decimal point and presto! you have It. |