THE WEIGHING OE MARKET HAY. 19 



possession the hay was when the loss occurred. It is usually cus- 

 tomary, and in some cases necessary, for the shipper to present the 

 claim for loss against the railroad, or other agency responsible for it, 

 and he must have the proper facts to present with the claim in proof 

 of its justness if he would be reimbursed. 



The fact that fewer bales were unloaded from a car than were 

 loaded into it, together with statements of the loading and unloading 

 weights, is the strongest proof of a loss, and the shipper is entitled to, 

 and should have, together with an official weight certificate, an 

 official statement as to the condition of the car and the number of 

 whole and broken bales or amount of loose hay unloaded from it. 

 In a number of large markets it is not now possible to give such a 

 statement, because no record is kept of the number of bales unloaded 

 from the cars. 



NUMBER OF DRAFTS SHOULD BE RECORDED. 



A record of the number of drafts weighed from each car should 

 also be furnished the chief weighmaster and all drafts from any car- 

 load should be weighed upon the same scale. An instance was noted 

 recently in a large market which issues official certificates, of a claim 

 by a shipper of a loss of about 9,000 pounds on one car of hay shipped 

 to that market. An investigation disclosed the fact that the hay was 

 weighed over two different scales and there seemed to be a strong 

 probability that one draft was not weighed at all. Conditions making 

 such practices possible should be eliminated, and it is thought that 

 they could be eliminated by proper policing and weighing regu- 

 lations. 



THE WEIGHT CERTIFICATE. 



Because of the difference in the weighing practices at the different 

 markets the form and contents of the official weight certificates are 

 not uniform. In most instances, however, the official certificates now 

 in use give only the car initial and number and the total net weight 

 of the hay (fig. 6). 



The illustrations on pages 20 to 23 are copies of certificates used 

 in several of the important markets. The reader will note that sev- 

 eral do not state the number of bales weighed. Only one provides for 

 the weight of the loose hay, and none of them contain all the infor- 

 mation necessary for the preparation of a claim for a loss or shortage 

 in weight. 



Official certificates would be made of more value to those interested 

 in them if more detailed information were given and if items which 

 would better identify the hay were added. 



