A review of the Lower Market Hall’s salt records found two careful lists that do not meet. The warehouse slip records a barrel at release; the cooperative tally estimates what remained after storage. Neither document carries the other’s reference number.
Savi Merrel followed one barrel from its warehouse mark to the salt arcade. The issue slip named its delivered weight. The stall tally named a smaller amount after the lining was opened, but the clerk had no notation showing whether the warehouse had already deducted expected damp loss.
That gap keeps both accounts plausible. The cooperative may be charging only for a real loss that happened after delivery, or it may be passing on a loss that was already reflected in the release weight. The available papers cannot distinguish those explanations.
Yara Deth has asked the warehouse to stamp each issue slip with the barrel’s storage lot. Buyers have asked the cooperative to put the before-and-after weights on the price board. Neither request changes the current price; each would make the next dispute easier to examine.
The cooperative says its next board will list delivered weight before and after storage. Merrel will compare it with the stamped slips. Until the references match, the public has a tally of loss but not a complete account of who absorbed it.
