Frozen Mutton in London.

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 80, 1 October 1896, Page 2

Frozen Mutton in London.

It may interest some of your readers to learn with what success I met in my endeavours to lessen the middleman and draw nearer to the absolute consumer. When I left New Zealand nearly everyone prophesied a failure, and in England I was told I had more chance of flying. From the commencement my luck was bad— firstly, in the Rakaia being six. days late ; secondly, when she did arrive and was wharfed she had five more days before the West India dock stores had any room for her shipment. In this meantime I had buyers " dangling," so to speak, who soon got tired of this long delay, and one by one went elsewhere. You see they could not afford to keep their shops empty on the chance of buying mme — and quite right they were. I was sorry to see the last one " disappear "—metaphorically speaking- for he (butcher to Harrod's Stores, Ltd., Brompton) would ! have, bad we agreed on a price, taken my whole shipment of 600, that being just his weekly output. I believe lam right in saying they are one of the largest London consumers of our staple product. At last I got a sight of my "carcases" that I had bred, reared, driven to Feilding station, trucked to Wellington, and which, in short, I had "shepherded" thro' their short lives; aud I despatched samples of five (the nsnal quantity) here, there, and everywhere. I may here mention that the consignee always paid carriage, and the price of those samples was 2s 5d to 2s 6d a stone of Bibs. In these I was not fortunate, missing a good 30-a-week trade in the following manner :— I had sent already one sample to a butcher in Broadstairs, Kent, but owing to bank holiday, and a great crush of traffic, it arrived in bad order and very dirty, the London and South- Eastern being the means of transit. My friend, the butcher kindly said he would try another, and as be wanted it, at 7 a.m. he offered to pay the difference in cost and have it forwarded per passenger train, instead of per goods train, as previously done. I then wrote to the same company to forward as directed, my mind fairly easy. 1 left London for the Henley Regatta. Imagine my astonishment the evening of the second day to receive, forwarded from my London house, about five telegrams from tbe unfortunate butcher, begging for the meat as be was quite out ; also a letter from the London and South-Eastern Railway Co., saying " they did not coN lect for passenger trains." Back to town I had to go. leaving the pleasures of the Thames behind, to find, which I did after a little trouble, another company, the London Parcels Delivery Co., who did collect for passenger trains. Another instance : Five samples had to go to a large retail butcher at Bamsgate, and had to arrive at 4.30 p.m. This necessitated a special car to collect, which was sent in a hurry to the docks. On returning, en route lor Victoria Station, the carman, evidently a very ignorant man, was stopped by a client and asked to take another parcel to the station. He foolishly took it on, not noticing that one end was labelled "T. Brock and Co," the big fireworks firm, with the result that the parcel exploded. My sheep were a bit scattered ; the car was damaged ; the carman got the sack ; my sheep did not arrive at 4.30 by many hours ; and that trade was lost. However, I am not easily disheartened and went on again as before. Well, to make a very long story short, I have opened up a " fifty " a week trade, which, with a man in London to collect and de*« liver, or a small company formed, could soon be increased to 500 or even 1000 with very little expense ; and the price realised is a payable one, viz, 2s 5d to 2s 6d a stone. I have, I may say, already made arrangements for sending another shipment to keep pace with my little trade. Trusting this letter may interest someone.— W. F. Elkington.