The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-04-06
DID YOU SEE THAT OMELET7
Than Hundred Miles Long by
Fifty Miles Wide.

I Ie was old and shaggy. His hair
was long and his beard tangled His
eyes were bleared and his nose had
been hinged by the suns Of many sum-
! mers, SAYS the n. Y. Recorder. Even
! his clothes were rusty
Dead broke, he wandered through
the streets wondering where he could
sneak the next free lunch. NV king
dom for a scheme" he cried, and there
upon pondered.
At last, after profound silence. he
started from his seat. cried Il have it!'
and disappeared in the direction of the
market-hOuse.
"Canst thou inform me-" he inquired
of an open-faced, wholesale dealer in
produce, chow many eggs are con-
sumed in this metropolis each day?
VERIFY would know for specific pur-
pose"
The dealer, after consideration, re-
piled that,as near as he could estimate
1t 5000 600 eggs were devoured each
and every twenty-four hours in New
York
Thank thee" said the schemer,
that is what | wish 10 know"
Then he took a faded memorandum
book and a stub Of a pencil from his
pocket and silently figured.
Hast thou ever considered what 81
100000 eggs day means, my friend ?"
he asked.
The dealer made no reply.
suppose, my friend, that one hen
had to lay all those eggs: she would no
longer be a spring chicken when she
finished her contract, would she? If
that hen were to undertake to supply
the city every day, dost thou know
how many She would have to lay
every minute to get through in time
to begin anew the next day? Just D.
0S3 1-2.
Stop and consider it, friend-2, 0S3
II. An evident impossibility! a
well-regulated hen produces on an
average about ninety eggs n year.
Therefore if one hen had 10 lay them
all. it would take her about thirty
eight thousand eight hundred and
eighty-nine years. and when she fin
ished she wouldn't be fit for even a
lunch-countGr sandwich, would she,
friend?
-'c''i II IIiNtsi iII hS pun OhlIle sIstNlt-
This daily supply cannot be obtained
from less than 6,000,0 900 hens. Let us
imagine that all these hens should
come to New York to supply the de-
mard, and should march down Broad
way in files ten deep. 4 rooster leading
each file and keeping them three feet
apart. how long do you think it would
take the procession to pass the city
hall, if one file passed each seconds?
just one hundred days,if they marched
ten hours day, or sixteen and two
thirds days if they didn't stop to rest.
And, friend, if they became squatters
on city ground, each taking a square
foot for 4 nest, they would cover sixty
six blocks, each 800 feet square. And
every morning, when the eggs were
collected, if they were placed side by
side. they would spread over 41,739
square feet. If those same hens
marched away in single file, the head
of the procession would be 4,55O miles
away by the time the last hen fell into
line.
Il tell YOU, friend, this is a great
problem greater than thou imaginest.
Thou knowest that an omelet made of
two eggs is about five inches long by
two inches wide. Suppose, just for an
instant. those 5000, 900 eggs were made
into one immense Omelet- How big
dost thou think it would be?"
The dealer shook his head
just ll8 - miles long and Al Il
miles wide and methinks it would
taste well. | will admit, friend, that
it would taste only too well to me just
now. IL gives me an appetite to think
of IT,
But we must 90 further, friend.
Three million eggs a day means 1,O95,-
OJ3. .OJJ year. Placed end TO end
they would make 4 circle around the
earth and a double row from New
York 10 China. Now. the average OF
a mans life Is II years and if he saw
all the eggs thas came to New York
during that time he would have seen
The dealer led him to Il restaurant,
where he ordered him an omelet Of six
eggs, filled with ham and fled before
more figures could be evolved by the
now active brain.