Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1882.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 24 October 1882, Page 2

Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1882.

In view of tho active measures whicii are just now being taken to establish a company in "Wangauui for the purpose of freezing meat and dairy produce for export, a few historic facts in connection with, meat refrigeration "will no doubt be read with interest. We tako our figures from a paper by Mr Coleman, one of the patentees of the Bell-Coleman refrigerating process. Since 1874 great progress has been made with a special department of mechanical refrigeration, namely, the cooling of the air of buildings and of ships. There have been two main methods of refrigeration proposed and tested for marine purposes, which may for convenience bo called the chemical and the mechanical. The first, or chemical method, cools the air by the evaporation of volatile liquids, as ether, ammonia, or sulphurous anhydride. The mechanical method produces the same result by the compression of atmospheric air, which when compressed is cooled by passing through pipes surrounded by colwater, and then allowed, to escape into the freezing room. The sudden expansion of the already cool air requires further heat to maintain it, and this ia drawn from the surrounding air and rendered latent, and in any given quantity of air the greater the compression the more heat is required, and consequently tho cooler the surrounding air is made. The mechanical method is that adopted in the Bell-Coleman refrigerating apparatus. Even if the use of dangerous chemicals on board steamers and sailing vessels wore . allowable, it is apparent that coldair machines, in which cold air is first compressed and then expanded, is the most convenient form of re.-, frigerating apparatus for use at sea, and it would seem that the same re*, marks apply to the cooling of apartments generally. In regard to tho prime cost of machinery, not much difference exists for a given amount of cooling power whichever system of refrigeration is adopted. The first machine constructed by the BellColeman Mechanical .Refrigeration Company of Glasgow, under the guidance of Mr Coleman, was built in 1877, and it was intended for marine work. There were several defects in this machine, nor was the design so compact as was thought desirable. These points wore rectified in a subsequent production which was put on board the Auchor Liner *' Circassia," in 1879, and connected with a chamber measuring 18,000 cubic foot. Coleman went with this machine to New York, and on the second trip the " Circassia " carried 400 carcases of beef and a largo number of frozen sheep, the total value of which was £8000. In consequence of tho success attending this oifort the owners of tho Anchor Lino thought it desirable to fit up the whole of their thirteen vessols with refrigerating machines, and this was done on the compressed air system. When well arranged the machine soldorn exceeds 7-.V por cent, of tho spaco to bo cooled,

a comparatively insignificant amount. In summer these machines have been able to reduce, in a few hours, in New York harbour, with air and water at about 100deg., the air of chambers 60ft. by 40ft. by 6ft., to below freezing point. Including those fitted on the Guion Line, over 200 voyages had been made up to the beginning of 1882 with the Bell-Gol-man machines, an 1 they have delivered 54,000,000 lbs of moat into Great Britain, of a gross value of about £2,000,000. They have always arrived in port in working ordor, and have never been stopped more than three hours for repairs at sea, the usual practice being to run them continually night and day from New York to Great Britain. In the case of the " Strathleven," and other Australian vessels having to pass through the tropics, the wall insulation of the freezing chamber has been increased to a thickness of 10 inches, which is considerably more than required in the cool waters of the North Atlantic. The insulation is effected by filling the hollow walls witli wood charcoal. Up to tho end of 1881, eight vessels from the Australasian colonies had been fitted up ; the most powerful machines being those in the " Cuzco " and the ** Dunedin." They are adapted for cooling 24,000 cubic feet in the tropics, a space which by careful packing will hold dead meat to the amount of 250 or 300 tons. The above are the most important facts in the history of marine meat refrigeration up to the present date. This class of machinery is very applicable for cooling air in barracks, hospitals, &c, in India and other tropical climates; and, anomalous as it may seem, Sir William Thomson, of Glasgow, has pointed out that by a slight modifica tion the same class of machinery might be used for heating air instead of cooling it. This probably will be carried out ere long, so that parts at least of the same machine might be used for cooling air in summer and heating it in winter. In the case of a large barrack for a thousand men the air could be cooled' for l-10th of a penny per head per hour in India. The smaller the machine the more expensive it is in proportion to the amount of air cooled. It does not seem quite evident that meat might not be sent, when killed, from Wanganui to Wellington and put on ' board the export vessel without the aid of refrigeration at this end at all, At any rate the experiment might be tried on a small scale under favourable circumstances. If the apparatus were erected here, however, the trade would be safe, whereas the other method would always be subject to great risk.. The company might adopt both methods in its operations, not using the apparatus on the local vessel in cool weather. The pros--1 pectus of the Wanganui Frozen Meat and Dairy Produce Company 1 (limited) is now before the public, and from what we can learn, there is no doubt that the necessary capital will very shortly be subscribed. Energy and good management must in this case inevitably command success. The neighbouring districts can supply the stock ; there is abundant proof that the refrigerating system answers admirably; and finally the market is practically unlimited.