Shipments should be checked at every stage in the process of filing the order, by everyone who handles the goods. The stock man should check his part of the order as he assembles the goods, and again before he forwards them to the shipping room, or the next floor. When received in the shipping room, the goods should be checked against the shipping clerk's order, and again just before they are packed. It should be a positive rule that all goods shall be checked when they are placed in the cases. The items should be called off by the packer as he handles them, and checked on the order by a checker. This is a safer plan than calling off the items from the order, as it insures a positive check on the items actually packed--not what should have been packed. All order blanks should be provided with a separate column in which to check the items actually shipped, and quantities should be entered in this column even if the order is shipped in full. The checking column on the order blank is shown in Fig. 8. If the system of entering orders includes a copy to be used as an invoice, the items are entered in this column after the shipping order is returned to the office. The initials or numbers of both packer and checker should appear on the shipping order. It is also a good plan to place in each case a packer's slip, shown in Fig. 9, giving the number or initials of the packer and instructing the customer to return the slip with any claim for shortage or damaged goods. In some houses, it is the custom to make the packer's slip a duplicate of the order, listing all items packed, in which case, it makes a convenient receiving slip for the customer. [Illustration: Fig. 9. Packer's Slip] While not offering positive insurance against mistakes, a thorough checking system will reduce errors in packing to a minimum, and will most certainly pay for the labor involved. In large houses shipping a large number of packages over several different railroads, a further complication arises through the liability of deliveries being made to the wrong freight house. Where several hundred shipments per day are made, it is not uncommon for a teamster to leave a package at the wrong road, finding himself short on his deliveries at another road; or the mistake may be made in loading the drays. One well-known mail-order house has overcome the difficulty in a simple manner. This house is shipping several hundred packages a day by freight, over eight railroads. The basis of their shipping system is a color scheme, each railroad being designated by a different color--that is, the New York Central is represented by green, the Erie by blue, etc. [Illustration: A FORTY-FIVE FOOT CABIN LAUNCH ON CAR Showing Method of Loading Boats for Shipment at the Shipbuilding Plant of the Gas Engine & Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury & Co., Consolidated]