Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-19
TORTUREs FOR POOR HENS


TORTUREs FOR POOR HENS
Agonies They Suffer I'm Our Markets-
The Fresh Egg Problem
Quack, quack! Cluck! Cut-cut-ca-daw-cuti
squawk! II was only stack Of poultry crates on
the pavement outside the market A dozen of
them there were, perhaps, piled on top OF
one another in the hot sun. The feathered
occupants were crowded IN them too closely 20
turn around and the feebleness OF their cries
betrayed their moribund condition. In fact,
at this very moment one young pullet that had
been gaspIng for breath with its head thrust
out through the bars Of the bottom crate gave
up the ghost in time to cheat the dealer
As Tor the rest Of the chickens in the pile Of
crates they stood out in the sun all day waiting
Tor people to come and buy them. There were
a few ducks. too, that seemed TO endure thirst
better than the hens. The latter, as ell country
folks know, always need large supplies OF
water. Yet not drop was given them all day
long, and the agonies they endured for want OF
it must have been pitiful They had come by
freight from distant points, had been side
tracked here and there for hours along the
route, and no good Samaritan was on hand to
give them water. Upon their arrival at the
market you might suppose that the dealer TO
whom they were consigned would have relieved
this want; but no. he had not thought of tit
was business with him, and business that 10
business is never merciful.
INTENSE SUFFERING.
1T may be necessary that these poor feath-
cred creatures should die for our benefit" said
an old gentleman with . gray beard and sew
eral bundles to STAR reporter, who spoke
ON the subject. "But l don't see why they
should be made to undergo the tortures of the
damned preliminarily. Walk along this block
from one end to the other and OF the thousand
chickens that are exposed for sale you will
hardly see ono provided with either food or
water. 1t does not matter much, compara-
lively speaking. about the food: but the agony
OF extreme thirst ID the most intense suffering
conceivable. Yet these fowls will be kept here
Tor days together without a drop Of water.
Why II is that the Society for the Prevention
OF Cruelty TO Animals does not interfere ia q
mystery to me-"
WHAT wAsHINaroNIANs WANT.
Washington people have more OF q fancy
for buying their poultry alive than folks in the
cities further north" said one OF the fowl mer-
chants to the reporter moment later. The
same thing applies TO meats of all sorts. You
viii never see 1--we sheep and calves in the mar
kets Of New York and Boston the way you do
here. In hot weather the poultry in this mar
ket Is mostly brought in living for another
reason-because the birds won't keep fresh
when killed for more than twenty-four hours
without ice. The chickens in the market at
this season come chiefly from Virginia and
Maryland, but IN winter they shipped in
great quantities from Chicago and other vest
ern cities. Out there the cold-storage business
I mas grown mt TO enormous proportions Ice is
kinds OF meats are kept frozen hard for
months, at the end Of which they can be thawed
out and are found in good condition as when
killed, but more tender, the flesh seeming TO
prairie chickens had only a short season for
the consumer, but now you can buy them all
the year round fresh from the freezer"
ABOUT EGGs.
Are many Of the eggs sold here stale?" asked
TIE STAR reporter.
Il should think several per cent" re-
piled the poultry dealer. I'm this hot
weather an egg will last fresh perhaps ten
days, and doubtless 80 per cent Of the eggs in
this market are more than that number Of days
old. Now, why should il take SO long a. that
70 convey them from the hen yard TO the con-
sumerT The reason is very simple. Pretty
nearly all OF these eggs come from the
roosts OF farmers in Maryland and yir-
ginia. No one of these farmers has more than
few hens-it has been found impossible 10
keep very many together profitably-and 30 the
supply must be gathered by driblets as YOU
might say. Farmer A saves up his spare eggs
for week, let us suppose, and then takes six
dozen IN to the village store to trade them for
some dresses and gewgaws the womenfolks
wasn't. for the hen money is usually the pin money
-.
Storekeeper b. keeps these eggs three DAYS,
until he has the thirty dozen necessary to All q
case; then he sends them to the city market
where Consignee c. has them on hand for any
time, from twenty-four hours TO a month be-
fore they are finally disposed OF TO the con-
sumer. Men make business Of driving about
the country and collecting eggs from the fsrm-
mers to send TO market. but IN any event the
farmers require time for accommodating them,
and by the time they appear upon the city
table their freshness is apt to be dubious
BARRELED EGGS.
"How about bsrreled eggsY"
The fowl merchant paused q moment ssd
shook his head doubtfully. Perhaps
oughtn't to give away one of the secrets OF
the trade" he said but the fact is that good
many of them are offered at this season o.
'fresh-laid.' You see, in the spring there 10
always a glut of eggs. and during that season
hundreds of thousands of them are stored in
the cold houses. When eggs scarce, in
July and August, they are brought out and
sold In winter, of course, great quantities Of
barreled eggs shipped from the west
The only way Of testing eggs effectively 10 to
examine them in a dark room with the aid Of .
candle or lamp. each one being held for sn
instant between the eye and the light"
WHAT EGGS ARE MADE OF.
To find out what an egg was actually made
of, The STAR reporter looked it up in an ency-
clopedis and was informed that the outer shell
aifflOst carbonate OF lime. Inside OF
this is a delicate albuminous membrane and
between the two. at the larger end, is an air
space for the respiration of the Unmatched
chick. The proportion OF oxygen in this space
is greater than in the atmosphere outside.
Within the membrane il q viscous liquid. nearly
pure albumen, which incloses the yolk The
latter contains a great variety Of constituents,
among others A per cent Of water, with trace
OF iron and milk acid. The round, yellowiah
white spot on one side of the yolk ID the germ
OF the bird, which first feeds upon the white"
OF the egg and then upon the yolk- The largest
eggs known are found in Madagascar, where
they were laid BY fowl long extinct, twelve
feet in height They Sre SIX times - big q
ostrich eggs and hold ,egaIons each
The st. Louis Walters Strike Spreading.
The walters strike in st. Louis 10 spreading
and three more large restaurants we're forced
TO close their doors Thursday. Thirty walters
walked out Of the Grand restaurant in 9TH
street because the proprietor refused 20 sign
contract with the men for year. The Famous
restaurant lost twenty men and closed and the
commercial. in Chestnut street, lost all iD
walters and closed The St Louis Typograph-
ical Union sent word 70 the Walters Union thst
the members of the former union would NOE
patronize any Of the restaurants in which nom
union men or girls we're employed. Several
restaurants opened with girls a. wsiters, but
could not handle the busines& The strike VIII
probably spread 10 the hotsls.
AZ meeting of the board Of managers Of the
n. t;c..I U<v,.e for niGabled Soldier. haIa A.