The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1899-09-15
EGGS AT BIG PRICES.

over a month ago and going so fast that
the huckster who had brought them to
market couldn't keep up with the demand"
Come off, protested doubling listener;
"they weren't eating eggs; they were some
of these fancies for raising prize chickens
from, I've been in the egg business my.
sell"
"Not much," contended the drummer,
"were they for raising chickens from. What
was raised from them was good deal live.
lier than chickens. 1t happened one day
in one of those local option towns of the
south, where even tobacco is hard to sell,
and at the same time they are SO darned
dry that anything wet will cause a STAN.
pede among the men like trough of water
will among a herd Of oversalted cattle.
was in a store just closing up pretty good
bill, when / noticed a huckster back one.
horse wagon up against the curb and begin
to sort a lot of truck out on the tailboard.
1t was mighty rocky looking stuff, there
wasn't anybody on the street to speak of,
and l could not help admiring the sublime
courage OF the man who would begin busi.
ness under such unfavorable auspices. One
or two people dragged along through the
street and smiled as they passed the huck-
ster's display, for they had well-stocked
gardens at home, and his withered stuff ex-
cited their ridicule rather than their sym.
pathy. Presently he went down into his
wagon and came up with q small box, in
which were a dozen or SO Of bantam eggs,
and small even for that kind. In New
Jersey they would have been taken for
mosquito eggs. Over these he stuck a label
inscribed 1 cent and pretty soon man
stopped lazily and began to look over the
stock.
Mighty little ags for a cent, amt
them? he said, nodding towards the box.
It's not the size of an egg, but it's
meat that makes it valuable responded the
huckster, in language that didn't quite seem
to belong to him.
"'They amt hatchin' aigs, then? said
the visitor.
Ono replied the huckster, and the pas.
senger passed on.
"1n three or four minutes a very much
better type of citizen came along and
stopped to look at the eggs.
"'You don't give much for cent, do
you? he laughed.
"The man looked into the honest face Of
the huckster moment and, laying down
a copper, picked up an egg and walked of
with it. l don't know where he went to
try the egg, but in about five minutes he
was back again, and with him were two
other men. The legend on the box had been
| changed in the meantime, and two cents
now showed above the egg box.
i" L thought the price was cent apiece%
| he said, questioningly.
~ just received a telegram from my
uncle the bishop of Georgia. responded the
huckster, that the Methodist conference
will meet in this county next week, and
that all the chickens are taking to the tall
timber. Eggs have gone up correspond
ingly., m -.
er, and the huckster handed over the box
and took the money.
"The purchasers departed, and as soon as
they got around the corner the huckster
brought out a bushel basket full of fine
large goose eggs and set it on the tailboard
| of his wagon. In a few minutes one of the
| party who had been in the combine that
| cleaned out the bantam stock appeared,
and when he saw the goose eggs his eyes
sparkled. Then all the sparkle went out
when he saw that they were marked %
cents apiece.
"'Ain't that mighty high for goose eggs?
he inquired, as if he had never seen the
huckster before in his life.
"That depends on the eggs replied the
| huckster. There's eggs and eggs, but my
kind is yard wide and all meat
"'Anything like them bantamsT in.
| quired the man.
"''Better; the bantams were only few
samples
"'Gimme two said the man, laying down
90 cents; but it's mighty dern high feI
goose eggs
| HE got his eggs and went away and pres
emily three men came up and laid down q
| quarter apiece and took it out in eggs, which
they slipped into their pockets and carried
| Off Ten minutes later string Of men be-
gan stretching out of the alley near the
| mouth of which the huckster's wagon was
| anchored, the front end of it resting on the
| goose-egg basket, and in an incredibly short
time more than bushel of eggs had been
disposed of and I had become 80 curious
that joined the string and paid my quar-
ter like the others. l took it into the store
and laid it ON the counter till the pro
pretor could get through with a customer
when l was going to give it to him to take
home and fry for his supper to see what
there was remarkable about it, but some
one jostled the pile of boxes on which
had put it, and it was knocked to the floor
suffering the usual fate of eggs when go
LTedIeu' however, luSIedu Vi tne usual yer
low and white insdes of an egg, there wai
dark-yellow liquid running out of it, and
when l stopped down to see what it wal
/ caught the smell of cheap whisky, and al
the same time caught on to the popularity
of the huckster's eggs at quarter apiece.
"The whole thing struck me as such
good trick that got out as quick as l could
to see the huckster, but by the time
l reached the door he had taken alarm al
something and was driving off as fast as he
could, leaving a dozen or more customers
likely to kill each other in the rush. He
might just as well have remained longer, foI
the authorities didn't get on to it until -four
or FIVE prominent citizens showed up on
the streets whooping like Fourth of July
procession. l staid in town that night, and
/ was reliably informed that the place
hadn't passed such night in years. The
lookup was filed to overaowing, the few
policemen were busy all night, the streets
were overrun by men with jags, and the
surface of the earth was covered with ego