The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-14
EGG TESTING A BUSINESS
Experts Employed TO Separate the
Good From the Bad.
Old and New Methods Employed in
Asserting Thcm-HOw Their Mar
ket Value Is Determined-Clean
ness n Necessity-Vie,vs of "a Dealer

| Old and New Methods Employed in
Asserting Thcm-How Their Mar
ket Value Is Decentralization
ness n Necessity-views of "a Dealer
There is only one thing worse than bad
egg. according to leading local produce
dealer, and that is a bad oyster. People
do not know" said the dealer to a Times
reporter. what pains are taken TO keep
bad egg from getting away There are
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 tran
scends the boundaries of the physical and
enter the psychical part of mans 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 a 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 demoTalized
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 bad egg.
There is no middle ground possible. Ii
is war to finish.
In time of peace prepare for war is
the egg dealers motto. The public is ig
norant of what a 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 n 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 a swelled head long and be
happy.
There are a number of ways oy which
to tell 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
to the tongue. if bad 1t 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 am egg to the light
An old way was to hold the egg close
to the flame of 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 ha''
AL E.. a~=F..
test Of eggs and qtlickness in handling.
l have a man in a dark room who exam
ines 81 dozen eggs a day. In front of him
is an electric lamp covered by 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 good II VIII
lee semi-transparent; If bad 1t will be
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 well fed or poorly nourished; |
whether IL was laid by a fowl of common |
stock or from high-bred bird In hand
ling eggs as much as we DO We can Ten |
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. IT |
is done in this way: When the egg is
placed before the light We turn it 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 TO get tGin 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 y perfectly |
sound and newly-laid egg will be so firm |
that the yolk is held in the centre OF the |
white and will not float This condition |
and high-bred hens and brings d higher |
price in the market, not only because |
there is more substance to IL but also be
cause it tastes better.
AT the blunt end of every egg there is |
a hollow spot Immediately beneath the |
shell. In an egg laid by high-bred and |
hen, this hollow spot Will |
he 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 will 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 gre porous and the gases OF
DECOMPOSITION will pass from the inside
of the unbroken bad egg and pass into
sound fresh egg and ruin 1t. Eggs take
on odors the same as butter and milk. II
an egg is laid among rank-smelling weeds
the odor will be taken up by the egg and
will inpart 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.
will eventually reach the contents inside
and spoil the egg for use.
by preventing the spelling of eggs by
careful examination you can understand |
what civiliZing 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
will be encouraged and So |
ciety will be the gamer thereby through |
the thoughtful care and consideration of
the egg man..