134 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



The Military & Naval Orphan Asylum, in Bath, has no 

 means of weighing or checking up goods bought, excepting a 

 small brass face spring balance, capacity ten pounds. No 

 checking system is used. 



A visit to the State School for Boys, in South Portland, dis- 

 closed a set of platform scales used in the store for checking 

 up goods received, were balanced with the knives taken from a 

 meat cutter, and with nails fastened with a string to the bal- 

 ance ball and hung down the post leading from the platform to 

 the beam. The value of that manner of balancing scales is 

 somewhat fictitious. An experiment of those conditions has 

 resulted in the conclusion that scales balanced with articles 

 hung on the balance ball back of the ball has a tendency to in- 

 increase the weight of the article on the platform after it has 

 reached a certain number of pounds. A small set of scoop 

 scales also used in the store were found to be considerably out 

 of balance, but might possibly be made to do service for some 

 time after being overhauled by an expert scale man. The plat- 

 form scales in the engineer's room were found to be in prime 

 condition. Excellent care is taken of them and if injured at 

 all for some years to come will be caused by the desire of those 

 in attendance to keep them clean by constant rubbing of the 

 beam. 



At the Augusta State Hospital a large set of platform scales 

 was found to be, on a draft of five hundred pounds, out four 

 pounds. The track scales used for checking their coal 

 in the boiler room were found in a worse condition than 

 the scales used in buying produce for the kitchen supply. 

 A car of coal was run upon the track and, after taking the 

 weight of the coal, two heavy men were put on the car with the 

 coal and the scales balanced the same, thus showing that the 

 scales would balance at any point you cared to make them. 

 The meat scales were found to be all right. Two sets of 

 counter scoop and platform scales and one set of small plat- 

 form scales were found to be correct. 



We have been called upon to make inspections and tests on 

 outdoor platform scales in several places throughout the state. 

 The testing of these large scales involves the carrying of at 

 least five hundred pounds of standard weight. To take those 



