Items of Interest November 25, 1916 Issue

Items of Interest

Hankow and its environs is one of the greatest egg producing regions in China, shipping to Chinese and foreign ports over 16,197,000 pieces of fresh whole eggs, valued at $53,531, during the year 1915,—this is in addition to 12,347,867 pounds of frozen egg exports, valued at $462,716. Of the egg products exported, dried albumen is far in excess of the others, totaling during 1915 over 2,207,000 pounds, valued at $737,358. Liquid egg yolk is second, with 7,692,000 pounds, valued at $417,363. Dried egg yolk is third, with an exportation of 2,752,000 pounds, valued at $320,592. Upon the arrival of the eggs at the factory they are subjected to a candle test, then washed and brought into the breaking room, where the yolks and are separated. The liquid albumen is then allowed to ferment for two or three days, during which time the clear liquid settles to the bottom of the barrels and is down off into pails by means of a stopcock. During the process of fermentation the acidity of the albumen becomes rather high, and in order to neutralize this an alkaline substance, usually ammonia, is added until litmus gives the alkaline test. The final stage in the albumen process is the drying of the albumen in shallow metal pans previously coated with vaseline, which takes place in steam heated rooms ranging in temperature from 130 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. When completely dry the albumen is packed in wooden boxes lined with metal, zinc being used as a rule. Shipments are generally made in 100 to 120 pound cases.

Singapore, in the Straits Settlements, has a fortunate geographical position at a point where practically all shipping from Europe to the Far East, and vice versa, must pass. Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 established the settlement of Singapore on a practically uninhabited island, which has today developed into the seventh port of the world in point of tonnage. The port facilities at Singapore are extensive, and have been improved during the last ten years by dredging, filling swamp lands, and the erection of dry docks and warchouses at an expenditure of some thirty million dollars. The harbor is well protected by near-by islands and has improved docking and coaling facilities. Although but eighty miles from the equator, the average mean temperature is only 82.1 degrees Fahrenheit, with practically no variation during the year. The average annual rainfall is about ninety-five inches, well distributed throughout the year.

About eight million four hundred and ninety-two thousand dollars is to be spent in the renovation of a certain quarter of Marseilles, France, which, situated between the stock exchange and the post office, forms a quadrangle of 699,660 square feet in the heart of the business section. In this quarter 534 houses, dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, occupied 473,616 square feet, leaving only 226,044 square feet for thirty-six streets and squares. The new project assigns 397,514 square feet to new streets and squares, and leaves 302,146 square feet for building purposes. Many of these antiquated buildings have already been removed, and plans for reconstruction of this quarter will without doubt be made shortly after the close of the war.

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