A STORY OF ENTERPRISE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 930, 24 September 1910, Page 18

A STORY OF ENTERPRISE.

i - 0 ' BIEAT-FREEZING INDUSTRY. -V; '.'.j... /-■ ■ ■" 1 . . - HOW it WAS INTRODUCED INTO HAWKE'S BAY |M|v- ■; : . ■ I AND WHAT IT DID FOB THE PROVINCE. V- 5 « >'< • • ••; 'v. ; i .• \ ' , : .; i ■. .- "THE HISTORY OF A GREAT FIR®. io AN A

f-//j/Z/Ii:/"the- early .'eighties .''"pastoral. .. / Hawko's Bajvwas in a .<jon- •'. dition, • and set'tlers;- ; were; so'imrd .-put to dispose, of theic sushis slock that it ti"as becoming a question with soino u /Jv/of J them. whether , sheep-f armiiig l 'would a .continue to pay. .. iiV. the.nicks of. time . . came the. frozen meat) industry.. The Ueven'.took /Homfe74oo;* sheep; from, Melbourno.in a refrigerated chamber in '•. v 1880. ' .This was:followed, by/aiiotheii p .'.Australian shipiiieiit bf 1900. carcasso|'| r ~. .;.and then;some enterprising citizens Qf> jjv. ,;,Olago, .' in .1832,. dispatched'. .500!)' ; car-; ;. ' Masses or frozen mutton to London ,47;. K ;ith&Vsailing-ship'; j • relopmeuts were closely ..watched by . '&[ ■ i-;' of . b6ilmg^owii'works .at- Hastings.' .As soon •as it. became clear! that 'the- eni. //i:/ '^rprjse^'.was/practicable,/.Mr. -Nelson;/ ///•; with his. brothers, began"■the ■!erection. of ■ -!a. freezing , plant 'at .Tonioaiiay about .'a .. .-milo ' and a : half out "of J Hastings, and "y '.-isS4V- : the "sailing* • ship Tiirfc //:kiria left; Napier' for Londtfriy/with a '.-.cargo. of ■ 9003 caroasses :: of / mutton'. 1 -'-'Abo)lt 'three. months later the mutton' .••/•".was landed, in London. in .perfect coiidition,: arid:; sold ;at a. satisfactory'.figure.. That is twenty-six years' ago, and from '.'../ t that, day' to; this the great firm of N'elson 'Brothers., Ltd., has never.. looked, :/;>'> ?;:'■. v- '■; > : : i" ' *-.?v Effect on the Farmer. J The success of Sir. Nelson's couragiv.:r:'r:, ©oils' "enterprise ,'brbugfi¥ ? prosperity'and 'affluence; nbt'.only' t'o :; 'liihise!f ; arid i those,-who had joined with him ..'in liisi • -venture, but to hundreds of struggling ! ; • -sheep-farmers throughout.. .iHawke's' ■.: .Bay. ; , The; building., /tho Tomoana, vjworks: marked/a new ; pwnt' of■ departure: ;// jn .the'history oMhe'pronn'ce,'and for. ;/// i;Me/tbing/it^^system'* : 'of:,sheep-breeding.''i'^:^lff^the ; period tho.. farmers'bred'a? heavy/class 1 of sheep, such as Lincolns, for 'their . wool-only,, and had some ■ extraordinary him ■ for " freezing before • tho requirements of . :- :■ London were : realised. The:- average . of the wircasses-.-in the initial shipment. was 75j1b., as .against the present-day V average bf' 581b. .. That 75J1b., moreover, represented tiiuch pref: litninary educative work, for in the tal-i: . -.-' low- days it was not infrequent for. boil- ,• ers to-scale- 1501b.'■ One lino of 2400 ...... .sheep .boiled down "for -Longlands Sta- ... ...tion.in January,-1884,/averaged 10331b.;

-:;It'is worthy of notice that : the ! ;freight' paid oil &selipj)j first shipmentwas 2d. perT : fijij-plus 5' per cent/. prinK .age,v and;, equalled 135.. 25d. : per carcass:: Added, to. this -were insurance costs, at the'rate of £7.75; per cent. '' The extraordinary' clbvelop:uent of .tho firm's ;-business:'iistweU iSliown,; by . ; from . Tomo-; ana' /■/:£■'f/y -.v/- v ';/' /■-'': • " Season' Season v-; ; V:rfUC^ J : Mutton • (carca'sscs). ..v.. 41,105/-II I,OQO ,'Lamb (cai:ca;ss6s);S''vi'../ : 220,000. Mutton (legs-of)- : :■1,0 : 14. -y-r-[.! ; Bcef' (head) :' — .' -.5,900 '.Beer (joints,, in 1b.)... 4,326 - ~ , 'j A Big 'Concsrn. '-firm Nelson- vLtdi,! iby no. means begins and-ends -with the'. %ojn'6ana worlcsp important as ;tl)6y: are/ It .'has works' , very nearly-/as/large ;at: and. also another branch... establishment at.:; Hornby, Canterbury.: .Tng'n 'there.,'are Agencies:' in Wellington. : ai;d • CiirisichurclV. / An<l. in . the : : Old Ctfnfliry/the': fii-m/is intimately associStediiwith:; th^'fCplonial.: Consignment ,and : Distributing.' Company; which.; ; by its ; remarkable, system: of : 'distribution 1 is frequently able 1 to obtain the very ;tp^|prices./for meafc ; The C.G. and D. Company/is r tlio biggest distributing ag^lcyiin London, and. though it has no' there/ are thousands of ;cus- ■ get'.their , meat daily from its/;stores/in all parts of . 'Great Britain.: distributing: r-nally' amounted to',.;the' company ten years' ,ago prepared/a; pamphlet .giving a/'detailedrlist of a typical day's orders outside on London. ■ - The orders came towns, and. for.;'-2103^ph.eep,-'2761' lambs,''44o. .qixar:2390::pieces. of mutton,, and •185 /picMs'iof beef. '!/ Since.'.-that date : the business h'as,. much expanded, and a listi.ofio-day's totals^would doubtless afford 1 instructive, .comparison. The company, into'whoso hands Messrs. Nelson Brothers'rineat. largely. goes has stores' at ;Neis6h'|, Wharf,: Lambeth, and at Croydon, : Manchester, and Birmingham. The Lambeth store has a capacity of and this ;; is now being greatly •increased. ../'Me.v'hea&inartera T<3 f Nelson Brothers are Hn- Londdni; Mr. William . Nelson's -brother,' : Sir ,-E. .Montague.. Neisori, / is chairman- andsKianaging- director,.' and.

Mr. W. A. Porter, secretary. Mr William Nelson occupies the 'position of general manager, and Mr. H. G Watien,. F.1.A.N.Z., who came out a« a cadafc when the works,were started, is secretary in New Zealand. What the Pioneers Endured. Mr. William Nelson, founder of. the company, left Home as a boy in 1862, and came oiit to Auckland by the good ship Devonshire. . He then spent six months tramping ; through the provinces of Auckland; Hawke's Baiy, Wellington, Nelsoil, and Canterbury. As a result of. what lie saw he made - Vp his mind that Hawke's' Bay was the most promising spot to settle in. ■ I'rom this period up to 1880 Mr. Nelson met with varied experiences. Ho made, a start. by ..trying a small farm in the Kereru district. : This ho found to be too small for his energies; and before long hp bought a run at. Waipukurau On tho .new . property Mr. Nelson had the most uncomfortable', time of his lifewhen he took it 'up slioep began to fall in value, . From 20s. a head, they dropped in twelve months, to 10s, aid at tho; end of T three. years they were unsaleable.. This, was bad enough, but worse : ,w'as to come. - As a finishing touch fi'his! struggle at- Waipukuraii,; Mr., Nelson had a .visitation of grasshoppers and locusts. . . ".Tliat visitation," said: :Mr. NelsonJ.'in speaking of .it last .week, "was so vast and ap.palling that it, is useless, to attempt to n'ake . anybody; believe the magnitude of it." ..It may .be- realised to seme .extent by the . fact that .av thousand acres , of pasture in front of his bouse, reproseutiiig -the " only .. piece -of . grass country that he owned, was eaten up and left, as: clean and 'bare, as a floorboard: rin- one. riight.' ! .;,-iMr. Nelson says that-this disaster-has made him realise how cautious .it.is. necessary to be in intrq'du'cing\ : enemies. of the; small birds In the. past forty years lie has seen jgrasslioppprs about in the province - in .comparatively small .-numbers, ' and he ■ is ,convinced that but for tho way'tho femall' .birds .devour"" them' they would have, created frequent, plagues. : The net .result of three, years' .working on' - this ' Waipukurau . ,ntn was-tliat the : large" capital .put' into it' .to. be abandoned;. : . When - further struggle' ' became'':.^seless,-Mr.' : M at- last obliged ■ to hitch up iiis horse, and with a. ( sad heart, fei: drive away, in his buggy; practically,..the only thing he -ownedPersistence Rewarded. In 1869 he .set to work to retrieve his fortunes as a flax-dresser. Anyone old, enough to remember; that period' fill recollect - how.: the flax trade' generally panned out—that is' to say, with: an all-round collapse." • Here Air. Nelson was a little moro fortunate than his . neighbours.' Ho did not. .lose ', his' money, v but ; he" failed to make what lie had, intended to. ; After closing "down on his ilax business he: returned to England', and spent the: following eight years .there, making,.his;-way-,,back ~tb; Hawke's Bay in-1880. In that year : began; l 'Mr;.-; Nelson's-^^connection: with the. meat-; industry;';■for.' under ,-V ' tlie style^oF.^eisqn he ctimhitincedAthe. Tomoaria works as. a

an exceedingly poisonous nature, - and' as it- had no odour it .was very difficult to detect a leakage. A leak ■ in • an ammonia pipe, of course, very., soon makes. itself felt. ■ At a Modern Freezing Works. : Such /in. brief outline is the' story- oi Nelson < 'Brothers, Limited; and, having heard something of-how the works camo into being, the reader will-doubtless; be interested to-take a .look at them as they stand - to-day. Tho Tomoana .works are, situated twelve -miles'. from the -port - ofi- Napier, directly on - tho main, lme of .. railway:- between 'Napier and T ■ llington, and - several railway siding- run directly .in ,among the van.ous>b Jildmgs. ■ On- the left-hand side of, the, railway stand' the offices. Here Mr. .. Nelson, .- tlie- secretary (Mr. " War-, ren), .and the -branoh are to be . found, the building being the headquarters of the. firm for New Zealand. Around the walls, of-Mr. -.Nel-- • son's • private office stretches- an interesting: chart showing:: week by . week' tlio price of meat in London,- and be l low ■'tlie stocks : afloat from' lasia. Starting -away -back in tlie. early days of the trade,', one can walk around the room, and see exactly what .tlie sequence:, of events • has. been ini 1 each. year, right -up' to tho v current week, where.- the - different coloured . lines signifying mutton, lamb; and so on, liavo their. ..temporary resting '-place.'; j j Stretching away to the right is tlie!clean;sheet; over which. those line's creep week liy )-week:ito: the, end of.: the year, .and'-mahy there' whb's would to know now exactly,;. how: thoso lines will .continue 1 : thedr; journey, across, .the clean paper. V; , /'- ■ 'ff- - :

meat preserving and boiling-down es-, . tablishment. . In 1883 he realised , that th'eyfrozen. meat, .trade was to be..the tiling i of.the. future,' The business was accordingly 1 reorganised, , and- converted into . a '.limited."liability, company, and Nelson 'Brothers;. Limited, took .form and being The works were originally built to deal. with . 400 sheep a day.: Mr. .. Nelson, thinking that, he was a ■little bit . more'. far-sighted than .his neighbours, made them so that their capacity could be. increased to .800 a day. -.Everyone in the district looked upon this as utterly ridiculous, and it was generally thought that there was little prospect;of the supply even keeping up.to the 400 head, for which provision was ■ originally; made. To-day the-Tomoana works are dealing with 3000 sheep a, day, and there are two other works in the district which deal with ' about, an equal number. 'lhis shows :how little . the residents i of Hawke's Bay realised what was even-: tually to be the magnitude of the freezing; industry in the province. Tho First Refrigerating Maohinory. : The most serious difficulty the early refrigerating. companies had to contend Svith was the frequent improvements made -m refrigerating machinery. i'he system at the Tomoana works has had ■to be altered no fewer, than four times, and to-day there-is not a pennyworth of machinery on the ground that was originally fixed. Tho first .refrigerators - put down were what were known as the dry-air machines, and were supposed to be the best type at tho time. The lirst change came when machines on tho same principle, but of a different construction were introduced. Then followed the CO 3 . and 'lastly came tho ammonia expansion principle, now commonly used throughout "Now Zealand, though a few COj machines still remain. The COj system meant great wear ajid tear oil the plant oil account of the enormous prcssuro . at' which it.: worked —equal to 10001b. to tho square inch, as against tho 1401b. to tho.square inch of the ammonia expansionl .}" The change has naturally meant, a ,great lessening of the strain, placed oh! the piping. - Apart from this,' the COs plant had another serious abjection. against it. ' The gas was of

• There are , some; interesting : features 'about those charts.' This year, for, the first time., on record,'the lines denoting the number A)f , carcasses afloat , from Australasia have risen up, and soared out of the chart altogether. On June 7. there. were 2,000,000 carcasses *on the water from this : quarter of the world. Lust year the greatest qhantity .afloat at any . one time • wasl,ssojooo carcasses, in 1908 the record was -1,200,000, and in 1007, 1,250,000-

The market - last year, as. everybody connected with: the .sheep 'industry- has cause to remember, was .the worst on record, and': millions of ..money -.-.was lost when, prices - began dropping m London:..:;"'Thi3; year, "though the shipments from Australasia: have-'been - very much - heavier- than, in the' market bas-given l no cause -for ; alarm.- - ". Up-to-date Methods. Havmg'had - a .-look; at . the' offices, the reader -is-taken.) swrrosa tHe"railway: line to-wliere the works 'themselves lie.--The simplest - course Mb :.'to follow the course of the muttpn 9j;d ; :beef from -the/time it:onters the- - stockyards• on, four feet "until T it,. emerges as -, frozen'; meatj. pre.servei..tongue.and tallow-,...manure; ■wool, -and ■ leather. '.-:-: Th- -process is. a rapid-one,"" and i before an' alumal-. has, been long;on-the.premises-its anatomy is to be found 'variously. ' distributed over, the Jjest part of .the ten acres-on which'the'Works ,stand;. . ;. M - ■ :

; Tho slaughtering at Toinoana is on a'different'systpm' from that-adopted at the othet;;Xork3 {in" New. Zealand.' The,, sheep aro's'hrought;iii oil. to' a;plationn [on.which ; 'th'e is 'done. Below-/ are"lines'?,of!. rails fojv,which',trucks run conveying the offal, to the boiling-, down.^wgr^s^/etPf:;v r^ -has his 'ari^;line of. rail on . which - to dispatch. his-.'lsßeep ••abross -to be scaled aiid graded. 'The sheep, as soon as slaughtered and Jare passed : aWng,' the railto ' the automatic' jsoalesi-'V' at the';office' jiero," a;? ticket;is ;^iven: but ion''jvhiqß:;is: inarkM "t^ .lot

cliii tnbcr, and thcnco down i into. the icold s'tore/boneath, where';ttere lis storage Toom 'for. 100, :" ,: * .' : ' ; .Thd cattle: are brought: in, by 1 a> oovercd 4 race •' front the paddocks: to the slaughter-house, and are pithed.'in a pen.'adjoining' the' .platform \oii--; which' ;the sheep; is then raised by. an electric hoist, and after it has .been dressed and- cut hi'' half 'is passed. across into; the beef there JisPa'ccomiab-:

■ number, the carcasses are nest graded into different sections of the cooling--room,, according to ;weight;qnd- ( that done an expert .comes-and-passes every . carcass--for .-.quality; '•-.All the rejects are picked out;, and'-the-,.balance-are -again graded into prime and second quality, etc. .From the cooling-room,' which has a capacity of 3000-?fcarca-sses;. and is kept at a-low s -temperature on the hottest day'by a- system of. brine pipes; the mutton is ■ up into. the/freezing -

elation for a . hundred head. of cattle.. The .hides i are;; immediately. put. into a water-raee r ',,which' carries- themiiiito' the ■'hidehomMl-idf'fUrttOTVWeatmteiil^'-'-^^:' Cleanliness and Firo Prevention. -The .works .have: abundance of water- available .for keeping.'-everything sweet and clean, the whole of-the supply .being.', derived from artesian bores. ■In the engine-room-■ is a - fire-pump l by which ■ a big high-pressure • supply : can bo turned on at a moment's- notice to meet any.: emergencj.. Three or four years,ago tho roof of tho freezing chamber caught fire. : The;cause of-the outbreak was unknown,--.but-.it irmsed that ia spark' from tho smoke stack must have set a ; bird'jj nest alightunder the eaves. Anyway, the fire had got. a firm hold of . the roof before- it was discovered. -.- Several - jets -of water were played on s it • by. ■ the stall from various-hydrants about : the -grounds, arjd the Hastings Fire Brigade iyas also •on the scene before long.-Two-thirds, of the roof was 'burned away, and: but for, a layer of eight-- inches of loose pumice which; had' over the roof of the freezing, chamber asanextra" precaution- m insulating : it . the whole building would - probably have gone.- As it happened/:the fire-burned down to the pumice and stopped. Practically n6 r damage was done to the meat —the chambers were full at thei.timfr— for though a quantity of 1 water ■ got through it-wa-s- soon-frozen -solid. .This was as near a shave-" as Tomoana has had. ■ ■ . --. ■ • . - •: ■

off and sorted out immediately. In the ild days.the custom was'to spread tho wool out to dry in the sun, turning it by hand every now and then. Damp and cloudy weather, of course, meant' considerable delay, and to obviate this five of Nelson and Bowen's patent wool- - driers "are now .msed. This is: a most complete, economical, and efficient machine, being on the principle of a large revolving batten drum, with shelves inside at various'. distances.. As/the •• •. machine revolves a current of'hot air ,? is forced'■ by means of a ' blast-fan through the' horizontal battens in such a'manner that tho current catches the wool as it falls off tho top shelf at each revolution of -the drum. This blowing about not only dries the wool, but is , \ the means of shaking out : most of the dirt, dust, and foreign matter which otherwisewould go "Homo to London. When'the wool is dried "it is blown out of the drums by a blast of'air, and caught . in sheets/ in 'the woolshed.';- Here are bales ready for packing, a press, and * down- the side of the shed, a railway siding,, so that the; trucks.-cari be . ruia - in and the bales put aboard and:: shipped off to London with a minimun of handling. ■. "- : V' : Meat Preserving. In an extensive meat-preserving do partment tho sheep which are frozen are dealt with. The meat ii neatly • and rapidly separated from the bones, ,and passed thrcrugh to the tin- . ning-room on trollies. After having been treated, it ia here pressed into tins, which are placed in steam retorts •and cooked, and thence convoyed to packing-room., Here'.the - tins, are cleaned, lacquered, labelled,-and packed ready for export:or local consumption. . In an adjoining room is the kitchen in which the tongues.:; are prepared . and : tinned. . The tinshop ia close at hand, in which the tins are stamped out of shoots. and put. together by the buy .'■■■

■ lel 'the engiiietfoom ;at the"works' are. : a new-: Linde' British ' ammonia: machine, idriyenv'by- a 1 gas engine,' arid twb;'dry :air; eiigiiies 'converted-:fe the'ammonia .prinoiple,', and - used mainly as standby : engines. '• There are' also ; : two.; gas- . di- ; ven. dynamos; from -which is derived th«. .power for-lighting the buildings and driving \the;,:yarious''motofs used for ' 'operating : the ;■ electric • conveyors, .etc. A ;third; dynamo,. steam-driven, is also 'aVailab]e,]!and ;finally there is the; fire-, :

pump; previously mentioned. In the boilerThquse:.adjoining ; ;aie'• 'foOr Bab-: cock boilers, .. and a complete gasproducei'plant. . . Nothlng Wasted. -.' An... old''• creek •' marks, tho ' division. between tho .-.frozen meat works proper, and. thoboiling-down,' ■ manure'works, etc. In. tlie . boiling- , ddwn'./Mildihg-there .arej'lS; large-vats into which the offal is tipped and cooked.- After: cooking,: it is taken across to tho manure i.works aiid put .- through a ; very; powerful / conical press. After it has passed through :.this,'\the . meat'is.; carried;, slowly tlirough a drier at an exceedingly/; high temperature. ■ The dried iiieat'. then drops: into'ia .conveyor; which carries'-: it; to: : the crushing mill, and then' through various, mills -and sift-ors until''it is finally put up..into sacks ■ ,'fot-'use, without having-V-beem handled at all. .*•■ v'^:/.;;i./ ' - Two classes of . manure only are: made in ■ the manuref works, viz.,"bone; and• meat, and'dried blood..■■' The blood' is pumped from . tho : slaughterhouse to the mannire works direct,. and there dried and ground. "••' • . • . '' J The . skins "go into the, fellmongery, and aro. then. passed through the usual : dollies,■/ hydro-extractors, - • etc,. > with which persons' familiar.,-with. the industry 'will know- much more'' about ■! than the writer : does, and with / .descriptions' of which 'he does not-. propose '.to weary the, general reader. Suffice, it "to say that'; tlie processes are interesting,. bat intricate. ; - > ! /'-/: In -due courso the'skins aro put on the-pullers' 1 beams,.' and the wool;, taken

i The round is: concluded by a visit to: - • the carpenters' l ; blacksmiths', and . fit- v . • ting shops, which are fitted" with every - machine necessary for doing all the en- : gmeers' and joinery work required on the -works, and also for 'effecting re- : : ■ pairs to the machinery iand: plant; •; . . In concluding this description of the . Tomoaria. works it should be pointed ; out that tho visit was made and • the • photographs taken, last. - week, when • nearly everything was at a standstill, : 1 and the 1 place generally undergoing an ' overhaul in preparation for the opening ' up of the new season's business. The 1 photographs'of ! the works,' etc., .there--1 fore, give , little idea of the bustle: and 1 activity that' prevails when things' are ! ;in"fujl;;swing^;. V i - -The writer is indebted to Mr; Nelson,, and Mr. 'Warren for detailed : informs-. > 1 tion courteously supplied aatot-he pro> 1 cesses at the works, etc.