THE MEAT QUESTION.

Waikato Times, Volume VI, Issue 327, 18 June 1874, Page 2

THE MEAT QUESTION.

A 'veby large gathering of ladio» and gentlemen aiSlated, OH 19th February, at the Cannon-street hotel, at » pleasant experiment in ' testing* principally by eonturoiug, the produce of a new service of meat supply which promises to give all the advantages of an abundance of animal food, at greatly less than half the usual prices. On the tablet in the Great Hall the company found laid out, cooked in regular form, geese, turkeys, chickens, and the prime parts of lamb, but mutton and beef were not included in the menu, because a like 'experiment' had been made the previous w«ek regarding those essentials of a food supply- An abundant ' testing* and more than tasting was made on the part of the visitors, all of whom pronounced the viands equal to any tobe obtained in the English market. The dinner over, ameeting was held, Mr Christie, C.8., occupying the chair. Dr Baxter Langley then explained that the meat and poultry of which the visitors had partaken, with game which bad' been tested by the directors of the Colonial and Foreign Meat Supply Company, were consigned to that company from the banks of the Danube, where, he stated, there wbb» such an inexhaustible supply that contracts w ere offered the company at present prices. The first cost of mutton was 2d a pound, and its carriage and packing would bring it np to* 3Jd ; geese were about 2s 3d each ; turkeys, 2s 9d each ; and chickens 6d each. Transylvßnian honey, too, he said, could be brought here for 8d a pound, and some excellent produce of Hungarian bees passed successfully the most crucial criticism. Mr Schroder answered some questions,. and stated" that the food was brought in ice, of which there was an abundance in the country where the (bod was raised, but the mode of package- was such that the ice did not come into contact ivith the food, which, theiefore, came to the consumers' hands in condition as if just killed. In the result the meeting testified that the produce laid before it was in every way excellent, and thanked the company for the prospect of practically solving the difficult problem a* tothe means of supplying our huge population with an •bunpant supply of food at a cost greatly below the present prices. A vote of thanks to the chairman dosed the proceedings. — London Times.