The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1916-03-02
bad eggs"
Barred From Interstate Commerce
BY Federal Act-Fine and
Jail Sentence Penalty.


probably with sixty days the ship
ment Of bad" eggs from point in one
state to one in another state will be
a federal offense punishable by fine,
and where repeated by Jail SEN
tence. The new program promises to
work such a complete revolution in
long established trade customs that
1916 will go down in the history of
the egg industry as making an epoch
in the trade. Cooperation between
the federal pure food officials and rep
resentatives of the National Poultry,
Butter and Egg Association, also Of
the Chicago Egg and Butter Board
acting for the trade both east and
west, has finally brought to a head
plans which have been under discus
sion for several years to put an end to
the bad" egg before it reaches the
market as a commercial proposition.
Those who attend the Ohio egg con-
1 NtiltlOu Ihio NeSh VIII near int HISt
announcement of the new federal
rules. These will be repeated at In
dianapolis, Detroit, Decatur, Kansas
City and Des Moines. BY the time the
circuit is completed all hands will I'M
derstand what can and what can not
be done legally. At the same time,
through the cooperation of the Post
Office Department, several thousand
postmasters will have the necessary
posters tackled up on the bulletin
boards of their Offices so that thou
sands of shippers may quickly learn
what is expected and what will be re-
quired Added to this and spreading
the information even more rapidly,
several hundred agricultural newspa-
pers will tell the story in detail to
several million farmers.
Chief Alsberg assured the confer
ence that the government realized the
necessity of educating the shippers to
the requirements under the proposed
rules, hence first offenders would be
officially warned, but where such
warnings we're ignored prosecutions
would quickly follow.
Such terms as current receipts,
fresh gathered and the like will mean
nothing in the future. The broadcast
allowance will probably be 6 per cent
at first for undergrades or grades low
er than the brand. But such allow
ance will not allow of the shipping of
any bad eggs such as heavy blood
rings" black spots" or "moldy eggs. "
The farmer must candle his eggs
before he hauls them to the country
store. For the country merchant who
ships the eggs must brand his name
on the case, thereby Identifying the
packages. Under the federal ruling,
he, the shipper, thereby becomes re-
sponsible for the quality of the eggs
he ships. Shipping rots and spots
will inevitably bring him into the
federal court-he is simply forced to
, candle every egg before placing it in
, the shipping case. Self protection
will demand that he ship promptly,
since holding the eggs for even few
days will not be accepted as an ex-
PLANTATION for shipping bad" eggs.
This means also that the country
merchant who intends to stay in the
egg game will not only candle all the
eggs he buys but will turn back all
the spots and rots to the farmer. I'm
der the ruling having such eggs in
ones possession is an Offense unless
they have been denatured so as to
make it impossible to offer them for
sale for food purposes. II will take a
little time TO impress the farmer so
he will understand that in handling
any eggs but sweet, sound stock he is
simply wasting time aud losing mon
ey. In turn this win teach him the alb
solute necessity for gathering his
eggs daily, keeping them in a cool
place and market them frequently.
Express agents and messengers, as
we'll as railroad agents. Will come un-
der the law since negligence in CIV
ing the eggs the proper care will sub
ject the carriers agent to prosecution.
The careless station hand who puts
case of eggs out on an open platform
exposed to the midday sun during
summer heat will come in for a stir
fine. Equally so If he temporarily
stores the eggs in a hot, close ware
house. shippers who become respon-
sible for the quality OF the eggs by
having their names branded on the
case will naturally keep sharp look
out as to the methods OF the local
railroad and express agents. He has
quick relief through a complaint to
the nearest federal pure food inspee-
tor. Self protection viii make him
seek this relief
Egg receivers will be forced 10 give
their daily receipts close attention.
Careless truclmeh will hardly be al
lOwed 10 HANDLE aaqa m ana frona