The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-26
A FAKE AND A FACT.
BEING A STORY or MACmNE-MADE
EGGS IN JERSEY.
a Newspaper Hoax Gave a smart
Chemist an Idea Upon His lie Has
wrought with success.

cOvery OF a peculiar and dangerous species
Of worms in cakes OF ice, ana the country
exchanges, without for one moment con-
sidering that worms could not live in ice
even if they wanted 10, gretl4iy stole the
story and printed IT as a discovery OF
their own. That amusing fabrication was
one OF the many odd couceits OF G. T.
Lanigan, the well-known "Ahkoond Of
Swat" Before he illumined the Record
he was a valued contributor to the col
umns Of the New York World. and IL is
one Of the stan of that Journal who is also
the author of what is known as the ar
tidcial egg hoax. The reason for reviving
this now will subsequently appear
Walter H. McDougaI, the New York
Worlds artist, is also bright writer, and
frequently the articles which he illus
trates have issued from his own pen. He
lived, at the time of this narrative, in
Newark, New Jersey, where also resided
his brother, who was correspondent of
the New York Sun. About ten years ago
Walter McDougall, being possessed with
some gnischieVous purpose. wrote to the
Sun, over his brothers signature, a very
entertaining narrative of how there had
been started in Newark factory for the
artificial preparation of patent hen s eggs.
The process by which these remarkable
products of Jersey ingenuity were created
was very graphically described, the mode
of preparation seeming entirely feasible
and the artificial eggs Were described as
being superior to the natural oval that
they initiated in that they never reached
that period where il was difficult to dis
tinguish where the egg had ceased to eX-
list and the chicken had begun TO have a
being. For the new process IL was proud
~ claimed that thereafter victims of the
wiles of clearinghouse mistresses need
no longer look upon the omelette with
suspicion, nor tremblingly apply on olfac-
tory test to the hard-boiled and soft-boiled
eggs that might form part of the morning
meals. 1t was further declared in the pub
lication which appeared in the columns
of the sun that the new scheme was such
a success that five hundred dozen OF the
artificial eggs were being sent weekly to
the cities of New York and Philadelphia,
where, in view Of the popular prejudice
against manufactured products of either
dairy or hennery they were disposed of
as the freshly-laid and natural articles.
At the bottom of the letter appeared these
lines:
Samples may be had by express upon
application by mall to H. c. McDougall,
Sunday Call Office, Newark, N J.
When this wonderful piece Of news ap-
peared in the New York Sun Walter H
McDougall laughed with fendish glee and
II. G. McDougall awaited in fear and
trembling the outcome Of the practical
joke, with whose perpetrator he was ac-
When the eyes of the country editors OF
this great republic fell upon that innocent
tale the poised shears stabbed gashes in
innumerable copies of the paper that
shines for alp and for Chas A. Dana,
and at the expiration of that long period
of time that elapses between the country
EDITORS communing with his exchanges
and his manipulation of his hand press,
the artificial egg story blossomed again q
thousand fold in the columns of the rural
publications. Three weeks after the ap-
pearance of the story in the Sun, II. G.
McDougall received his first communica-
ton upon the subject of artificial eggs,
and from that time forth there flowed into
the office of the Sunday Call hundreds and
hundreds of inquiries from all parts of
the country about the new product and
hundreds and thousands of orders for
the wonderful egg that had never known
a hen. Many of the letters contained
money and money orders, the senders re-
Questing in return a dozen or more of the
coveted articles. One man actually re-
quested that in selecting his eggs Mr..
McDougall would be careful to see that
at least ten of the dozen contained female
germs, as he wanted to hatch them. As
the published article did not claim for the
manufactured goods generative qualities,
but simply spoke Of them as being inter-
esting additions to the food supply, this
last request might have been looked upon
as joke had not the writer enclosed the
money to pay for what he wanted. Nc
Dougall did not know who had written
noyance, but he did become fearful OF
getting into some sort of legal scrape on
account of the money he was the recipient
of, and for two months he was kept busy
returning the cash and the post Office
orders to the senders.
In tnme the entire occurrence was Tor
gotten, but the facts of the case fingered
in the minds of a few Jersey newspaper
men, and a few years later three needy
ones among them determined TO revive
the hoax in a way that would bring money
into their purses. One day there appeared
simultaneously in all OF the New York
newspapers and some Of those of Phila-
delphia, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati and
elsewhere a detailed narrative of the
arrest of man in Paterson New Jersey,
for selling artificial eggs. The story as. it
was told-and upon investigation the
truth of it appeared to be substantiated-
was to the effect that stranger appear
ed in Paterson, who went to hair a dozen
grocers and sold them eggs winch, ne
said. he was peddling through the country,
he induced them to make purchases by
placing a very low figure upon MS wares.
A customer of one of the grocers, who
happehed to be a newspaper reporter,
boiIeht some of the eggs and took them to
his home He soon returned to the
grocer with the information that the eggs
would not cook, and ne Sald thaI ne was
convinced that they had been artificially
made One of them was broken in the
store and when fractured 1t presented a
peculiar appearance that made the grocer
believe that the fepui LCA , ettNhodt4OAl el9
to the genuineness of the article was
correct. A police officer was at once
placed upon the track Of the peddIer, who
was found at the railroad station about
taking a train He was Immediately ar
rested and taken before Justice of the
Peace. whereupon he confessed that the
eggs were artificial, made at factory
in Newark. and that he was one of a
hundred sales agents employed by the
Notwithstanding firm. He was fined
+vventy-fve dollars, which sum he paid,
and was tnereupon released.
The truth of that part Of the story is
that the pretended egg peddler was also
q renorter. The conspiratoTs in the
scheme provided him with a sufficient
ouantitv of natural eggs that had been
nartIv boiled and the texture of the shell
and Of the egg itself slightly changed by
treatment with some sort Of acid. The
renorter VINO made the purchase was, of
course. one of the consplrators, and the
insfice of the peace who imposed the fine
was also in the scheme, and 1t is very
doubtful If that sum of S25 was ever paid
INTO the treasury of Passaie county. New
Jersey. The profits Of the conspiracy
came from selling the story Of this sur
nTisine arrest to twenty or more newspa-
pers al the rate of so each and the ag-
aregate sum was divided among the three
in, q 10 al h. De-