OCR Text |
Show H TESTING OF SCALES BY GOVERNMENT. In ihe closing days of the last session ses-sion of congress an appropriation was passeri providing for the testing of railroad scales throughout the United States. The purpose of this test Is disclosed disclos-ed In a statement made by a government govern-ment officer. The annual freight revenues rev-enues of all the railroads of the coun. try' reporting to the Interstate commerce com-merce commission Is approximately 12,900.000,000. If railroad scales are only 1 per cent In error, either overweight over-weight or short weight, the loss to the shippers or to the railroads of the country will be 520,000.000 a year. Scales are frequently much more ihan 1 per cent In error. Several weeks ago mention was made of the eflect of short weights and measures on Increasing the cost of living, and an oflicial government report was quoted, showing that in one commodity com-modity alone there was a Iosb of ?8. 000,000 borne bv the American people peo-ple each year This estimated loss is In the purchase of butter sold in prints, which are short In weight. The United States bureau of standards, on lests of more than 30,000 miscellaneous miscellane-ous scales and measures in all parts of the country, found that 4.1 per cent were J per cent or more In error, mostly faoring the dealer. It can be easily seen that If many of the railroad scales which hereofore, have never been Included In any general system of luapcctlon, are much In error er-ror that there Is a possibility or a tremendous loss to shippers, In case 'he Bcalos favor the railroads. The series of tests of scales used to weight commodities for interstate shipment will be started by the bureau bu-reau of standards of the department of commerce, after July i next, when 'he appropriation authorized by con gress is available a. Fischer, chief of the division of weights and measures, will be In charge of the work under direction of Dr. S W. Stratton. chief of the bureau. In the meantime the investigation of scales used In weighing coal by railroads at the mine which has just been started by the interstate commerce commission commis-sion will he continued " |