MEAT FREEZING.

Patea Mail, 23 July 1881, Page 4

MEAT FREEZING.

A writer on the above subject says a practical suggestion wds made the other day as to combining both the operation of freezing (equivalent to the intense or shore-freezing) and the carriage of meat from Wanganui to Wellington, where the big ships Would be to recieve it. The suggestion • was thatia steamer be built—-flat-bottomed, capacious, and (although not necessarily) fast, which would have on board refrigerating machinery to freeze the meat hard after it was carried on board, and, by the “preserving process,” applied with less power by . the same machinery, steam to * Wellington and discharge it into the homeward-bound ship or steamer. Such an arrangement would combine many of the necessities for freezing. The work would be accomplished, by the same steam power as would (less a limited portion for the secondary or preserving process), work the marine engines ; there would 1 be an unlimited supply of water alongside, and the meat would be transferred oh : board'the ship in Wellington harbour,with only one handling. Apart from the frozen meat business, .it is a matter, of reproacff to the West Coast districts that we have not better, steam communication with Wellington, Great speed would not be necessary for the' > transit'iof.tfh'e, ffoadn. meat (it might be there for , months without detriment) but the power necessary to work the freezing machine would, Once the meat were frozen hard, be all but entirely available for steaming. Such a steamer might easily go 10 to 12 knots, and afford the best passenger accomodation, and its refrigerating chambers 1 would on return voyages be available for ordinary cargo. When it is considered that the same freezing process might be applied to meat for the Wellington domestic market, for Wesport, Greymouth, or Auckland, the trade for ' such a steamer would be practicually unlimited. A petition signed by the members of thirty-four District Boards north of Auckland will bo presented to the Assembly, prajung that the Counties ' Act of 1876 may be abolished in Road Board Districts. A fortune has been left to the Duchess of Edinburghby her.father, the Czar Alexander 11., whose will has been proved. The amount in English money is about £4,800,000. Mr J. C. Anderson, assistant at the Post, and Telegraph office, Hawera, died rather suddenly on Saturday, after haring nearly recovered from an attack, of typhoid fever. - At the Parihaka meeting; on, Saturday Mrs Honi Pihama presented £2OO to Te Whiti. The prophet said hostilities were over, and there .should be no more pulling down of fences. A.paper has just been laid before Parliament which shows that during 1880 New Zealand paid the neighbouring Colonies £220,039 for potatoes, onions, jams, green fruit, butter, and coal. Absentee owners of Wairoa (Hawkes Bay) property are, many of them, now anxious to sell. They are tired of holding “on spec.” The yearly County rates have been Well rubbed into them, and produced the desired effect: The members of the Wellington Club have recently constructed a tennis court at the rear of the club house, which will, whether as regards its size, convenience, or comfort, compare favorably with any coart of a similar character in the colony. At a meeting of shareholders in Wellington, the memorandum [of association of the West Coast Railway Company, as submitted by the directory, .was adopted. Some amendments were proposed, and it was , decided to print, jtnd circulate the proposals for further consideration. John Simpson, the keeper of the hulk at Wellington, who hacl .charge of the engine when the explosion took place, has been committed for trial by the R.M. for wilfully fastening down the safety valve of the boiler.