OUR ABATTOIR UP-TO-DATE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 259, 26 October 1908, Page 4

OUR ABATTOIR UP-TO-DATE

CHILLING-ROOM READY. Warm weather and meat don't agree, and the butcher as well as the householder fcas costly demonstrations of this fact every summer. The housewife has been able to get over the dillicnlty somewhat by buying small joints or by hanging the stock of meat away up amongst the cool leaves of a tree or by one or other of tile scores of expedients that of necessity suggest themselves to the lady entrusted with the household economy. Willi me butchir, however, some of these schemes would hardly work out satisfactorily. For instance, he must still kill a whole bullock—or, oftentimes, a whole cow—and it is not convenient for him as a atailer of ilesh to hoist the carcase into a tree. Neither can he shift tlie location of his shop' to suit tne climatic, conditions ruling, for that would annoy the customers just as much as would tho loss of a joint. The result mis been that during the summer months largo quantities of meat liavo had to be thrown away as unfit for human consumption. Tile butcher has had an additional difficulty, in that the ilesh. of the heavier beast killed on one summer afternoon had hardly cooled by the time it became necessary to cut it up the following morning.and was thus too llabby to handle expeditiously. This v<as :■■ matter that would hardly appeal to the consumer. The national remedy for such a slate of nll'airs, of course, was to erect a refrigerating piant. But it was out of the question for a private linn in a town of this size to unoertakeniich. an expense. When, however, the slaughtering of cattle fur human consumption was placed directly under State ami municipal supervision at the municipal , abattoirs, the position changed in regard to the burden of expense. Our own ' abattoirs, thanks to the. boned meat trade, were soon placed in an excepfion- . aly good financial position, and the [ Borough Council considered that intto , interest of the public and of the butchers

it was necessary to institute an up-to-date system o< chilling meat. Accordingly the borough engineer was instructed to prepare plans of the necessary building and plant, and eventually a contract was let to Messrs J. B. MacBwan and Co. for the erection of the necessary plant. The building contract was sub-let to M> R. W. Bond, and tho work of fitting up the plant was un-

dcr the supervision of 'Mr While, of Messrs Mciiwan and Co.'s staff. Tire contract is now complete, and the machinery has passed the necessary test which was that the bodies of ?5 bullocks and 125 sheep should he reduced to 30 degrees temperature in a given time. On Thursday the Abattoir Committee, comprising His Worship the Mayor, Councillors O. W. Browne, 11.I 1 . C. J. Bellringer, and Mr 0. W. Hole (representing the Master Butchers' Association) with Mr F. T. Bellringer, Town Clerk, and Mr R. AY. D, Robertson, manager of the contractors 1 Sew Plymouth establishment, visited the works, and the people's representatives were well pleased with the manner of completion of the contract. This included the erection of ad-

ditional overhead "lracking,''like singleline tramways, for the convenient moving of the carcases from the slaughtering rooms to the chilling room, «;id {■hence to the cart dock. There is an ingenious device known as the " Hum'tile" patent switch, which enables the rails to be instantaneously adjusted to suit tile destination of the carcase, and the bodies are thus without loss of time run on to tiro rails which they are to occupy in the chilling-room, besides being cooled by the refrigerating plant, has also an electric fan and trunkiug by which an arctic gale is kept blowing amongst the carcases. iiie walls of the new buildings, attached to the abattoirs, are of 12-inch reinforced concrete, with another IS inches of insulated wall inside. Floors arc of wood. By an " air lock," or passage with insulated door at either end, the air of the outer world is prevented from entering the freezing eliaiuber direct, the dour of the latter never .being opened until vile outer one is! closed. All is dark, until the electric; light is switched on. In addition to the "tracking" for carcases, permission is made for the reception of small goods anil sundries, The maciiining-ruoin is a cnacreto-lloop'il apartment, containing a 25 lup. electric motor for driving the 4 ton Unliable refrigerator, repleted (lonilensir anil evaporator coils, brine pump, and so on.fhe ammonia system ol freezing being adopted. A small eleetvie motor, producing ;S li.p., siillices to drive the SM-inch Blackmail Fan. All the machinery was surrounded by an ivon guard-rail, and is most conveniently placed. The electrical a.ppliaaices were installed under the supervision of Mr H. Black, Borough Electrical Engineer, and are running beautifully. One advantage of tlie electric power in such an industry is that there is no need to tell oil' a man specially to mind the running machinery, as would be necessary in the case of a steam-engine. Mr Reakes, albattoir manager, is highly pleased with the whole construction and the completeness of the plant, which is understood to he one of the finest installations of its kind in the Dominion. Jt will in future be possible for Mr Reakes to so allocate the work at the abattoirs that there will not be the "feast or famine " of work hitherto ncccssita-, ted, viz., to vagaries of the publicaippetite for llesh food, for the butchers will tie able to kill a day or two in advance, and keep the meat perfectly eool and sweet in the chilling rooms.