Jeffers & Penney04

WAUPACA REPUBLICAN

August 23, 1883

"EGGS-ACTLY"

The New Warehouse and Egg-Conservatory of Jeffers & Penney Completed

The large and increasing business of Messrs. Jeffers & Penney in buying and packing eggs (or preserving them so as retain all their natural freshness) and also their famous "Waupaca County Potato" trade at last demanded more rooms so instead of renting additional cellars in town they purchased two lots of Mr. Nelson on the south side of the railroad track at the depot, and the Central Company leased them two more and put in a spur track, which when completed will give them twenty-five rods of siding, enough for handling all the cars desired in their business. As soon as the frost was out of the ground in the spring Messrs. Jeffers & Penney commenced laying plans and breaking ground for their new warehouse, which stands today, as nice as a well dressed lady, perfect from top to toe, complete in every detail. It rests on a solid stone foundation with basement some five feet above ground, and has a frost proof brick wall on the inside of the stone work, which serves also to make the cellar rooms which extend under the whole building cool in summer and just right in winter. The basement is ten feet between floors. The main building is 80x100 feet and has an ice house in the east end 14x20. A platform 12 feet wide on the railroad side and one on the road side 8 feet wide extends the whole length of the building. A set of improved Howe Scales, capable of weighing five tons stands at the southwest corner of the building, where a farmer can weigh his grain or potatoes and then, after unloading turn around in the yard and weigh his empty wagon on leaving. A few rods east of the main building is a coal house 15x40 feet just erected to accommodate the coal trade in which this firm have lately engaged. One thing that is particularly striking above the exterior of the main building as noted above is its complete finish. The mason work under the direction of Mr. Atwood, the carpenter work under the supervision of Mr. David Yarnes, and the painting and sanding by Pryor & Clark shows that each mechanical department has been under the control of experienced hands, and upon a closer inspection of the interior you will find this building is just as good as hey make. The building was papered on the outside and inside, the studding boarded and battened on the outside, and ceiled with matched lumber on the inside. A set of refrigerator doors are on the inside of the outside doors, so the whole building is practically an immense summer and winter refrigerator.

The upper room is divided into three compartments, the first two for grain and potatoes, (with basement room under them) and the third for the egg business. In the rear of this room is a dark room where the eggs are "candled", that is, this firm don’t propose to pickle any chickens or addled eggs, so every egg before being sent in the receiving vat is gazed at through a looking machine with a lamp back of it. All the bad eggs are sent to the groceryman where Peck’s "bad boy" spends so much time, in Milwaukee. Here also in the east end of this room is an immense ice compartment with a slat bottom, directly over the basement where the egg vats are situated, and the cellar is kept at just the right temperature during the year so there is not the least possibility of losing an egg. Below are brick vats, laid up on lime and cemented, and have a capacity for preserving 40,000 dozen eggs. Here is the secret of preserving them as told our reporter by Mr. Jeffers and by – Jeffers it must be true: In one end of the ice room at the rear of the building is a large vat, on the outside is a pump; the pump is about two feet higher than ordinary pumps. Jeffers says this is absolutely necessary, because if it was not Mr. Penney couldn’t pump the water and he will insist on doing that. Jeffers mixes the lime, the magnesia, the salt, the borax, the benzine, the drinks, and Penney pumps until Jeffers’ vat "gets full." After the mixture settles the liquid is sent in the preserving vats below and the eggs are covered with it. "Copy-right secured".

Jeffers & Penney keep men on the road constantly buying eggs mostly from the stores in surrounding towns and as they always pay the highest cash price they make the egg trade pretty lively. When winter comes and the firm ship potatoes with stoves in the cars, a few boxes of eggs to market in good shape with every car and it is unnecessary to say they get fancy prices for their fresh eggs. One feature about the painting of their building, every shingle was painted on both sides before it was laid, and then after the shingling was completed another coat of paint and sand put on. The whole building is sanded. There are several good warehouses at this depot but Jeffers & Penney have the best one of all, and with the exception of the warehouse and elevator of Dayton & Baldwin, is the only one on the south side of the track.

The erection of these substantial buildings for storing and moving the products at our section of country, is a source of pride to the railroad company, and a good index to the trade of Waupaca.