The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-03-13
Gambling Eggs.

"There are few articles of farm produce
which are so easily affected as eggs by
damp, foul atmosphere, and the extremes of
heat and cold. The shell of an egg is ex-
ceedingly porous, and when the place of
storage is too warm and dry the albumen
evaporates, and when too cold and damp the
egg seems to lose its vitality and rapidly be-
comes stale. The porous shell also admits
OF absorption, and single rotten egg, the
shell of which happens to be broken or
cracked, will contaminate whole dozens of
eggs iu the same package. AS remarked in
recent article the almost universal custom
now is to ship eggs in cases expressly pre-
pared for that purpose. This system of egg
carriage, which was designed simply to pre-
vent breakage, has done great deal to i'm
prove the market quality of eggs. They do
not come in contact with each other, and
after they are once packed no ;.mount of
knocking about will addle them.
''fhe system OF inspection is called can
ding and the method may be described as
follows: A dark room is provided, or cor
ner is curtained off from the store, in which
no ray of sunlight is allowed to intrude
Within this enclosure single candle, oil
lamp or gas jet is provided so that the can
der may face it conveniently and have the
light on level with bis face. If the lot of
eggs which he is about to inspect is known
to be good one, that is, having come only
short distance, and from party who has
good reputation, the operator grasps three
eggs in each hand, from case at his side
and quickly passes each egg between the
light and his eye. Those which are good
have clear transparent shell and wildly
rosy light shows through them. An egg
which is perfectly fresh seems TO carry its
freshness with it and appeals to the favor of
the sight at once.
ga rotten or added egg is perfectly
opaque, black in color and is detected at once.
Not so with those that are little old or,
having remained on one side for a consider
able length of time, begin to show signs of
decay. In these cases small, sometimes a
very faint, black spot is seen, and to the
quick glance OF the inspector this is enough
to condemn 1t and consgn it to lot which
is to be eaten at once, probably by the Gus
toners of cheap restaurants and boarding
houses. In no case where the least sign of
decay or age is visible, is the egg placed in
the respectable set apart for those of the first
quality and known as fresh Should the
consignment be found to run bad or come
from long distance, the inspector goes
about his work in a much more deliberate
fashion, for experience has taught hin to be
conscientious, and his work is much more
difficult. In this case he only handles two
eggs at time, one in each hand, and the
N-S~SSSeNAAAJ
scrutiny being necessary.
with the best of packing and the utmost
care some eggs in every case or package are
sure to crack. These the GAMBLER places to
one side, generally with those which are
slightly damaged or old, and all are sold
together. In making his returns for the
consignment the rule is for the dealer to al
low one half price for these, and this rule
is found to work quite satisfactorily In
Chicago and some other markets egg can
ding is followed as regular business by
men who have become gexpert at the trade,
for trade it really is These men charge
regular price of ten cents per ease of thirty
six dozen, and when they are at work are
enabled to earn as much as $500 per day,
or even more In Boston the inspection is
done by some one in the employ of the seller,
or by the seller himself, and no charge is
made for the work. 1t may be safely said
that our dealers as rule are conscientious
and furnish their customers with only fresh
or tirst-class eggs. There are some, how