JUST TOO BAD

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 127, Issue 127, 9 July 1941, Page 5

JUST TOO BAD

| CONTROL OF THE EGG TRADE! I _ YOU CAN'T GET FRESH THEN" Trying his best to look bu£y so that passersnby would think a big "stoop" was to appear in the next issue, and hoping for some calamity to occur under his very eyes, a newsless news-hound wandered along the Strand yesterday. The morning was wet, nothing exciting had happened, and then lie entered a grocer's shop* The first remark overheard was far from being one to raise his hopes. A lady customer in time honoured fashion asking the storekeeper, "Have you any fresh eggs to-day?" His reply, of course wasi the usual, "Yes, fre<sh 'in this morning," (said, too, without the bat of an eye or a shut?.der!) But going to show that a rolling newshound occasionally does gather some news, likewise that you should never judge a storekeeper by his stock phrases (or, it seems, an by its shell) the conversation continued while the scribe pa,tiently awaited his pen-north of matches. "Yes they are fresh to-day" quoth the man behind the counter! seem-* ingly to like that little bit, "but it won't be long now." Thinking to be beaten to HER knowledge the other participant in the enlightening conversation intercepted a breath and rattled oft', not without some noises signifying m-' dignance—"l was in another town-, handy to this lately and now th-ai the Government has taken over the egg business putting all the hen-, product through a central depot one can never depend on eggs being fresh—the last dozen I bought in that town included two bad ones.'* Two bad (pardon)—but. how rotten Well in went the storekeeper to state that recently Whakatane had had a visit from a Government inspector (probably quite fresh too), who was investigating the establish-* ment of a Government egg depot from where all suppliers would deposit their eggs, (the people who own the hens —not necessarily having the hens laying or lying, there) and from where the stcies would b<? stocked. He thought that the stabilisation of the price would not be a bad idea but that the bad egg problem would be a fresh difficulty which would be rather rotten. Is that .quite clear. Well he said that in doing away with the present system storekeepers would not be able to cease buying from those peopiei who had dallied about with the eggs until they were not fresh, and thus train them to briny the fruit along n-ew laid. The eggs -would go to the depot and might lie there for a long lime (presumably pidgeon-holed and tied up with led-tape) and then be issued to the stores and there kept until bought by some unsuspecting customer. This is happening in other l owns where the StP.te has*, become egg-minded (we don't mean by that easy-cracked either). Then, with this wastei of time and lack of personal interest of each retailer, chefs may have to hurriedly alter the menu from "boiled eggs" to "chicken.?" In .fact according to the storekeeper the system is one which will not be in the interests of the consumer. No consumer likes paying for bad eggs let alone eating thofm. Eggsactly.