The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-14
egg TESTING A BUSINESS
Experts Employed to Separate the
Coed From the Bad.

Old and New Methods Employed in
Asserting Them-Row Their Mar
l,ct Value liz Determined-CIeani
! ness n ACCOMMODATIONS of a Dfnie +
| There is only one thing worse than a bad
| egg. according to a leading local produce
dealer and that is bad oyster People
do not know, said the dealer to Times
reporter, what pains are taken TO keep
/ a bad egg from getting away. There are
J a number of professional egg testers en-
| ployed here by the cold storage concerns,
! and they command good salaries. The
| possibilities of a bad egg for evil are in
finite and the field of its influence tram
sends the boundaries OF the physical and
enter the psychical part of maas ma
ture. 1t is perhaps in the latter the great
| est effect Of a frisky egg is to be found.
Nothing, except a bad oyster will so
disturb mans equanimity like the alb
rupt obtrusion of an unhealthy egg upon
his attention. He instantly loses his equi-
poise and lets go all moral restraints and
bursts out into profanity whose intensity
is limited only by his vocabulary Nor is
this psychic chaos confined to him alone.
Quite to the contrary. Whoever happens
to be present when this demoraliZed
ovum makes its presence known, is seized
with the same hysteric condition and de-
ports himself in the same frenzied way.
There is no compromising with a bad egg.
There is no middle ground possible. ii
is war to a finish
In time of peace prepare for war is
the egg dealers motto The public is ig-
norant of what useful factor in society
the egg man is. He is one of the main
stays of the churches, although he may
never know what the inside of a church
looks like His influence is for Christian
ity and all the side virtues it stands for,
and that includes them all
NO. the egg dealer never gets swelled
head. due to meditations upon his useful
ness to the community in which he lives,
for two reasons: First, because he rarely
realizes his Importance; and, again, be-
cause other people have such an effective
way of taking the conceit out of him, he
could not keep swelled head long and be
happy.
There are a number of ways Dy which
to tell a bad egg. 1t used to be the Gus
tom to touch the tongue to the egg.
If The egg was sound IT would feel warm
10 the tongue if bad it would be cold. But
this method, as YOU will see, would soon
wear out the tongue where thousands of
eggs are examined and would eventually
deform the shape Of the mouth Besides
there is something unpleasant in the
thought. The most effective and quickest
way is by subjecting egg to the light
An Old way was TO hold the egg close
to the flame of a candle. But this had its
objectionable features because it would be
almost impossible to keep the shell from
being blackened by the flame. Since the
electric light has come into use We h2Ns
all the conditions necessary for a perfect
test of eggs and quichness in handling.
l nave man in dark room who exam
ines 25D dozen eggs day. In front of him
is an electric lamp covered by a shade in
which there are several openings close to
gether through which the light shines
Several eggs are placed before the light
and examined. If the egg Is gooh II VIII
lee semi-tranSparent; II bad, X VIII he
dark. The difference is clearly marked
and when once seen is never mistaken.
The test is so accurate that we can
tell by the looks Of the egg whether the
hen was Wei fed or poorly nourished;
whether il was laid by q fowl of common
stock or from a high-bred bird In hand
ling eggs as much as we Go, we can tell
the breeds of the hens which laid them.
We can tell the age of the egg and wheth-
er the decomposition has begun or not II
is done in this way: When the egg Is
placed before the light We turn ii around
quickly in our fingers. If the egg. al
though good, shows a dark shadow float
ing around inside we know that the white
of the egg is beginning 20 get thin ana
watery-that is. that il is beginning TO
decay When the white gets thin the yolk,
which makes the shadow, is allowed to
float about from place to place as we
turn the egg in our hand. perfectly |
sound and newly-laid egg will be SO firm
that the yolk is held in he centre OF the
white and Will not float. This condition
is always present in the eggs of well-fed
and high-bred hens and brings higher
price in the market not only because
there is more substance to il but also be-
cause il tastes better.
At the blunt end of every egg there is |
a hollow spot Immediately beneath the
shell. In an egg laid by "A high-bred and |
well-nourished hen, this hollow spot will |
be small. But as the egg begins TO get |
old and decomposition has begun this hol- |
low spot will become larger. the outlines |
of which can be plainly seen under the |
light 1t viii be a shadow which con- |
trasts strongly with the pink translucent |
light Of the rest Of the egg.
"A bad egg works like yeast In bread. |
Egg shells are porous and the. gases OF |
decomposition will pass from the inside |
OF the unbroken bad egg and pass into a |
sound fresh egg and ruin 1t Eggs take /
on odors the same rs butter and milk. II |
an egg is laid among rank smelling weeds |
the odor will be taken up by the egg and |
will impart a bad taste to the meat A |
single bad egg will destroy a whole case |
full Of sound eggs unless removed. Eggs |
must also be kept clean. A little speck of |
dirt if left on the outside of the shell |
viii eventually reach the contents inside /
and spoil the egg for use
BY preventing the spelling of eggs by |
careful examination you can understand |
what a civilizng agent the egg man |
really is. One OF the causes which pro- |
woke profanity Will be kept in allegiance. |
the mean side of human nature will not |
be evoked. and mans self-repose and |
equanimity will be encouraged and So |
ciety Will be the gamer thereby through |
the thoughtful care and consideration of
the egg man.