The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-06-03
JHILE talking of Captains of In

" dustry In Honolulu. IL one over
looks Yee Lee there has been m
omission which Will be hard TO ex'
plain. for OF all the raisers OF ducks Ye'
Lee is easily the peer. For twenty
three years has he given his attention
10 ducks. and such a point has ht
reached that now he does nothing but
hatch and sell the ducklings. leaving 70
others the rearing OF the downy little
balls which prove so toothsome later
In life.
Yee Lee has never done things In a
retail way: he always looks for the Die
figures. II BY any chance there could
be gathered together all the ducks he
has turned out OF his incubators In
the term OF his service with eggs. there
- Ould be- In the neighborhood OF seven
ty-five ducks for each man. woman and
child In the City OF Honolulu Every
resident OF the Islands could have
something near twenty ducks. and IL
the fiock could be sent TO sea and made
"a swim around the southern islands.
the head OF the procession would pass
Hilo before one-haif the ducks had
taken TO water. and the line would ex-
tend clear about the big island and
back here before the last swimmer had
been wet
IL il not putting IL too high. perhaps.
TO aacribe TO the incubatOrs and the
careful and skiifui hands OF Yee Lee
the lives OF 3.sos.o0o ducks during his
career. for. according 20 his figures.
there have been often more than 5000
duckiiugs n week taken from his hatch
cries. for during the term the old man
has resided IN several places and al
ways found 10 possible 10 make n very
handy living out OF the Industry which
~ almost his own And during the de-
veIopment ne has reached The most
economical and perfect form OF incu-
bator. and by reason OF his system he
has solved perhaps the question OF the
handling OF eggs In a hot climate and
securing the largest percentage OF life.
Eggs are not counted In Yee Lees
establishment by the dozen; that Is
small: II takes hundreds or thousands
To- interest the proprietor and his tried
assistants. There are at this minute
more than 10000 eggs and ducklings In
the establishment. and all OF these are
in the various stages OF development.
1'aese might well be divided roughly as
follows: In the preparatory stage. be-
ing examined and made ready for the
heating. 10000: heating preparatory to
being put into the incubator. 10000; in
the incubators proper. 10000. These
figures. II Will be seen. are exceptional
In that there Is too large n proportion
In the preliminary stages. but that oc-
ours sometimes. and II is not inprob-
able that there will be within n short
time the full capacity OF the incuba-
tor In the various receptacles, about
$1,000 eggs.
w. 4 n n
after the sanitary fire. In which he lost
everything. there being at that time
some 5000 eggs In the house. finally
located himself at "A store building in
Pauahi street. No. 100. and there to-
day II being conducted the largest busi-
ness In eggs that Is done by any es-
tablishment In the city. There are
four helpers employed 10 look after the
egg business. for there are more fea-
lures connected with IL than the mere
putting into the incubator OF eggs and
taking out peeping ducklings. The APP
pearance OF the ground floor OF the es-
tabiishment Is unique. The store room
Is not more than Is by 20 feet. but
everywhere are eggs. Great baskets
stand about. some filed ard others only
partially so. with eggs. bright and
darkened. shaded with green and clear
are experts In the handling OF the eggs.
these four helpers OF the old proprietor.
Yesterday was one OF the big days.
Tor only on three alternate days OF the
week do the receipts OF eggs really
reach lars. figures Mondays receipts
usually are OF 1900 eggs. These are
brought In by the coolies from the
duck ranches. the eggs being trans
ported in the baskets depending from
either end % n carrying pole. They are
counted into the largest OF the storage
baskets as they are brought in. and
clerk seated behind the counter puts
down the number and pays the bearer
no the rate 81 81 for sixty eggs. once
he receipts become large enough TO
Justify the commencement OF work. the
three or four men sit down and begin
The task OF sorting the eggs into va
-iouE baskets which Indicate the kinds.
There f. n dizziness and n delicacy OF
touch which comes from long practice
srfy. and The way those Chinese tell
Lust whether or not the eggs are per-
'ectiy sound. whether OF not there II
/ crack which rnirht escape the casual
but would tell IN the JOS
linz about which they IRE given three
u n slime. IN The hand % the worker.
8 insercstlrr. TIE touch Is 80 light
rat not an erE g. broken by II. but
ne sound o. 80 Gear that the very
.i-htsst crn-'- IN exc SHELL Is discov-
I'D. Thea ctss1 there e darkness
about the feg which F.ec'ufes SIS be-
nE % the vcFy freshest. and so care ,
uiiy shading q; inst1n'a1eOusly the
orter is able 90 put aside the speci- 7
nen. 80 that u - out OF the way. In
- own basket. where Il awaits the
purchaser who knows that he can have
he eggs which are not good enough I
or the incubator a n reduced price.
The percentage % eggs broken IN the /
e-rying g. small and the number Of
cred for sale - correspondinEiy out
4 all ordinarily conceived relation 20
hose which arc accepted for the hatch