Evening star., 1934-03-25

!
Washington or when the kiddies first
! started to roll the beautiful dyed eggs
on the White House lawn are questions
more difficult to answer than to say when
log-rolling first began in Congress. In
deed the latter would be comparatively easy
to solve since might cite the first Congress-
when the South, with a revulsion of stomach
almost convulsive," agreed to the assumption or
funding bill in order to get the Capital OF the
new Nation down its way.
Picking eggs is very old sport around Wash
ington and probably even dates back prior 10
the Civil War. Many years ago, when the pres
ent grandfathers were boys, there was consider
able technique in this method of winning eggs
for the lad who had the egg with the hardest
shell invariably cleaned up the neigborhood and
went home with his pockets bulging out.
Points and then butts" was the way the
eggs were usually picked, though this order was
sometimes reversed, and though the thickness
of the shell went a long way toward winning,
yet skill and ceverness in cheating won many
an egg for the boy who was dextrous enough
to get by with sharp methods. For instance,
sometimes a boy would work in guinea fowl
egg (Which is much harder than the domestic
hens eggs) on some smaller and unsuspecting
lad
Guinea eggs were generally barred, and SO
were duck and goose eggs, except where point
against butt" was permitted with the latter,
or where some other concession was maQe. In
the writer's neighborhood, a few years prior
to 1880, there were some clever egg pickers who
prepared ahead for the season, and were, ac-
cordingly, very successful. George johnson, son
of James Johnson lieutenant for many years
of the old second police precinct, when it was
Seventh street (now Georgia avenue) oppo-
site the ball park, was one of the boys who
for many seasons produced uniformly hard eggs
by feeding his hens-so he said-with crushed
T1rt Ofh
then in use, some of which were probably of
little use. while others were of no value what
soever.
POWDERED resin rubbed carefully into the
shell was one Of the ways believed to be
effective in hardening the shell; soaking it in a
strong solution of lime was another, while bury
ing it in clay soil was considered best of all,
and it is said that when thus buried for two
or three weeks the shell became considerably
hardened In addition to these methods chemi-
Gals were applied to the shell, but 1t is doubt
full if they were of any value.
Eggs were then II cents a dozen and the
grocer permitted the boys to test them out
for hardness by knocking them against the
upper front teeth, and he probably lost more
by it than he gained, for the little rascals
often took more than they paid for. Eggs
were cheap, and many one was accidentally"
crushed on the head of some milk toast boy
when hiding the egg was played and the
searcher found it beneath the hat of some
boy unacquainted with the mysteries of the
game, but who never played it the second
time-unless it was upon some one else
When egg rolling began on the White House
lawn is question not easily answered. Some
place it as early as 1878, during President
Hayes administration, and since the writer
is not in position to dispute this date, he
will only say that he does not think it started
prior to that time. OF course children rolled
dyed eggs here even before 1878, but there
was more vacant ground in Washington then,
and subsequently open fields gradually became
less until, finally, when Easter arrived, the
childrefTere forced 10 go to Meridian Hill
and other places ihsthe northf hf{stFpan soff tine
city to anause4 thenaselres in stanH AnutAl h&s-
time, time, In shs SthsE ssstians Fl tae City