142 AGRICLLTL'RE Ol" MAINE. 



to be present here today. He is unavoidably absent and I wish 

 to say for him that his great desire was to meet you here. And 

 I want to congratulate you on the number that you have pres- 

 ent at your first convention. I want to say to the sealers who 

 are congregated here that under the direction of my old friend, 

 Levi S. Pennell, there is not the slightest doubt but that you 

 will become as good sealers, if you follow out his advice, as 

 there are in this country. It is only a matter of a year or two 

 when you certainly will be proficient in your work. Do your 

 work and do it well, become proficient, and you may have a 

 call to something higher. I wish to speak now of the high 

 talent which is sometimes, and I might say quite often, drafted 

 from the sealer's department. I once had a man under me who 

 was a sealer and whose light was hidden for a time in the 

 humble yet extremely important duties of my department. But 

 his light was hidden only for a short time. It became so lumi- 

 nous that it spread out and he became known throughout the 

 country even to the far West. There was a call for the man 

 of the hour, and I tell you, Mr. Commissioner and sealers of 

 the State of Maine, that it was one of the pleasantest duties of 

 my life when I subscribed to the honesty, sobriety and ability 

 of that sealer and today he holds a position of high trust in one 

 of the largest manufactoriesi in the country. I speak of this by 

 way of encouragement to you to persevere and become pro- 

 ficient in your work, and when the doors of opportunity are 

 opened, be prepared to see that they are not closed before you 

 enter. 



In Boston we have a sealer, ten deputies, one clerk and a 

 helper. Six of my sealers are continually performing their 

 work, going from store to store, testing and sealing scales, 

 balances, weights and measures. Two other of my deputies 

 are continually upon the street on inspection work. Dr. Fischer 

 came to Boston at one time and criticised our department 

 because we did not do inspection work enough. I am convinced 

 today that that is one of the most valuable assets of a depart- 

 ment. We have tested and sealed in the last year 85,719 scales ; 

 adjusted 17,315; non-sealed, 115; tagged and condemned, over 

 4,000. Among those scales condemned, and on our work of 

 inspection, we have seized and had surrendered to the depart- 

 ment more than 1,500 scales; scales that were improperly con- 



