The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-08-23
EGG TRADE SECRETS.
How Hen Fruit Can Be Made to
Keep q Year.

door. The walls, ceiling and Hool
were painted black. and the fnnereal
gloom seemed deeper and blacker un
der the rays of q single gas jet OF
many candle power.
Seated in front of the gas Jet, and
SO close that he could touch the flame
easily with his extended hands, was a
smooth faced, medium sized man,
whose gray eyes had a preternatural
pupil dilation, like those of a cat.
On either side of him was q box halt
filed with eggs, which he was en-
gagged in shifting from one box to an
other.
Taking five in his left hand and
three in his right he juggled the lot
before the light, shifting the eggs
from the top to the bottom of his
hand with astonishing rapidity. For
the level of his dilated eyes. which were
directly opposite the gas jet, and did
not blink in the powerful light. AS
the eggs were thus held each was
skilfuily turned until each portion of
the shell was critically inspected.
Like a we'll constructed machine the
mans arms and fingers worked, and
the pile of eggs in one box decreased
while the other receptacle was rapidly
filed. Finally one box was emptied
while the other was heaping full,
Then the mans arm and fingers
ceased to work and he turned to face
his visitor.
''Yes,n said he to a Philadelphia
Press reporter, Il am an egg tester,
and the process you have just wit
messed is what we call Gambling eggs.
Formerly a candle was used, but it is
not as satisfactory as gas. The burner
we use was made specially for the
purpose and gives a very powerful
light. We have tried electricity, but
it doesn't work. 1t dazzles the eyes,
and after awhile we can't tell a good
egg from a bad one. As it is, egg
testing has it's effect ON the eyesight.
II was reared at the business, and
reckon l am as expert as any mar in
the country. Just before Easter
when a great variety of eggs are COM
ing in, / handle as many as thirty-two
hundred dozen a day. Every egg
that comes into the establishment
passes through my hands.
1.-The lot that | have just examined
contains an unusually large number of
what are known to the trade as float
ers.' You will notice, if you hold the
egg between your eyes and the light,
a dark, almost black substance close
to the shell. This is the yolk, which
has settled through the albumen and
is sticking fast to the shell. 1t is
caused by allowing the egg to lie too
long on one side. In ummer time q
'ioater' would be bad in two days.
Sin the spring and summer we get
a great many swimmers or half
Matched eggs. They have been un-
der the hen two or three days, and in
the albumen is a little black spot, not
larger than a pin head. These eggs
are all right in the winter time, but in
the summer they soon become bad.
when we receive more eggs than
we have a market for we store them
for future use in an alright room,
which is kept in a uniform temporal
ture of thirty-five degrees. They are
packed in flour barrels, in oats that
are extra cleaned. In the bottom of
the barrel we put two or three inches
Of clean hay, then a couple of inches
of oats, on which we put a layer OF
eggs with the flat side down. Be-
tween the layers are oats, and on the
top of the filled barrel we put more
hay. The barrels are placed OF their
sides and they will keep in that con
dition for eighteen months perfectly
fresh and good. These eggs are not
worth much now. When we fetch
them out next winter they will bring
twenty-three or tw~enty-four cents.
Sometimes we wax eggs to pre-
serve them, but this gives the shell a
glossy appearance that Injuries their
sale. In this process beeswax is
melted, and when very warm the eggs
are dipped into it, and the pores OF
the shell are thus stopped up. Then
there are also lining and picking as
means of preservation. The shell of
a lime egg is always rough, while
that of a picked egg is smooth. Ii
you examine the latter before a gas
Jet the white looks watery, and II
broken and eaten the albumen will
taste salty. You can't boil either a
lined or a picked egg. Both lime
and pickle eat into the shell and
make livery thin and fragile. When
you put them into hot water the shell
cracks open and the albumen oozes
OUT
what do you do with the bad
eggsY"
throw them away; ones that are q
little off bring three cents a DOZEN"
ITO what possible use can those
| eggs be putt"
1.-THE yolks are used by morocco fin,
ishers in their business
sAnd the whites?'
you'll be surprised il | tell yor
that confectioners use them in max
ing fancy cakes. They can't use {
musty egg, though. The best eggs
that are sent to us come from the
West. A frosty egg becomes watery
and cracks. The cracks close though
when it is thawed out, but will oper
again when it is placed in boiling
water. An egg that is six or MIN
months old is graded by dealers a
fresh. Cracked eggs bring two-third
price.
Value of Lightning Rods.
Oflightning rods Prof. Bidwell say
in NdtuWe.-In all cases Of stead,
rain in which a charged cloud de
scending from the upper regions o
the air, or approaching from a dis
lance, might infiict serious injur,
upon an unprotected building, a wei
designed and properly earth con
nected lightning rod is an absolut
safeguard. In a case of ''ilnpulsiv
rush. the rod may often be OF use ii