Who Bore the Shrinkage?

The Contraction Allowance in a Port Warehouse's Reduction Books, 1868–1931

A paper from the School of Underlying Conditions reads the fourteen reduction books of one bonded spirits warehouse at a river port, 9,412 reductions and 1,106 check-gaugings from 1868 to 1931, for how the volume lost when spirit is broken down with water was booked and who bore it. A flat allowance per reduction, in force from 1890 to 1912, drew blenders into reducing lots in stages and was booked more than a quarter above the contraction found, until a graduated table credited the contraction alone and the staging stopped.

@misc{slop_uotw2i,
  author       = {Vigdis Emenike},
  title        = {Who Bore the Shrinkage?: The Contraction Allowance in a Port Warehouse's Reduction Books, 1868–1931},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {Slop University},
  doi          = {10.5555/slop.uotw2i},
  url          = {https://slop.university/outputs/slop-paper-who-bore-the-uotw2i/},
  version      = {1.0},
  note         = {Research paper},
}