HANDLING N.Z. FROZEN PRODUCE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 996, 10 December 1910, Page 6

HANDLING N.Z. FROZEN PRODUCE.

' —: ■*- •: A COMMITTEE'S INVESTIGATIONS. ! THE DRAWBACKS OF PRESENT METHODS. IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATIONS. I, "A few mouths ago Mr. W. D. iLysnar, of Gisborne, investigated and reported on the methods of handling New Zealand frozen produce in England. As a_ result of that report, a meeting of New Zealanders interested in the matter was held, and a committee, consisting of Messrs. L. H. M'Hardy, H. H. "Wall, J. C. Field, W. D. Lysnar, and H. P. Recce, was appointed to investigate Mr. Lysnar's recommendations. This committee's findings are of very great interest to the whole Dominiou, and we therefore propose to publish it in. full. The first half is: given ■ below. . THE REPORT. At a meeting of New. Zealanders held in London on September ■ 7,' 1910, a committee was appointed to investigate Mr. Lysnar's report, and' the under-

, At'present about seventy-five per cent, of the New Zealand frozen produce is taken in barges from the Victoria and Royai Albert Dock up the river rharnes, as indicated by arrows'on the plan, to-uptown freezing stores, numbered ,5 toll, and which are. situated twelve to thirteen miles up the river. The barges drift up with the tide, and occupy about eight hours in making the trip. Numbers 12 to 15 on the plan are other freezing stores nearer Smithfield market, which is indicated on the plan by a large black-dot. The balance.of the produce is conveyed to Smithfield by vans, which take about 2$ hours to complete the journey. Tho South West India Dock is the new dock suggested for the discharge of New' Zealand frozen produce It has a berthage space 2500 feet in length. The present depth of water is 29 feet, but this it is * proposed to increase to 31 feet. The depth of water in the-Victoria and Royal Albert Dock is 26 feet.' The South West India Dock is'situate about 31 miles from-Smithfield!market'by road as compared with a distance of seven miles by road separating the; Victoria and Royal Albert Dock, from the market. It takes tho loaded vans about 2J hours to traverse, the last-named distance. Tims by -using the South West India Dock the.:road journey will be reduced by ■one-half, and' the river journey from 13 miles to 3i miles.' . '"'-•■■.■. . .

Shoots Damage Carcasses. No.' 3 Head.—Threo meriibors of tho committee watched tho discharging of one of the New Zealand boats at tho docks, and a- shoot was being used to send tho carcasses down on to tho wharf from the ship's deck after they Jiad been elevated by an elevator frgm the ship's hold below, and nearly every carcass which was being sent down by the shoot was to a certain extent damaged in the shoot. In heavier carcasses it was more than in the lighter ones, and wherever the shoot took the 'weight of the carcass tho' skin of tho carcass became damaged, and in somo cases was actually broken, which caused tho damaged spot to weep -when thawed. Tho uso of , shoots should be done away with as much as possible. Undesirable means of Transport. No. 4 Head.—Regarding tho condition of the barges [used for tho transport of carcasses' from the docks], tho committee are satisfied that the statement made in Mr. Lysnar's report as to the condition of certain barges inspected was noted in ' the presence of a number of witnesses and the two principal superintendents of tho. shipping company, the latter admitting at the time the note had been made, that the reference was a fair and proper one as to , the conditions flat were then under observation. From. tho statement made to the different members of ■the committee by the representatives of the shipping ■ company and others, the. committee" do consider that there were a large, number of barges in use that arc not fit for carrying 'frozen produce. Unsuitable Carts.. Heads No. 5 and- 6.—Regarding the method of taking the produce from the

signed members of.that committee havo investigated the position as far as possible. Mr. Lysnar had an opportunity of explaining matters to the Lord Mayor of London, when the latter gave Mr. Lysnar introductions to tho Superintendent of Smithfield Market, .the chairman of tho City'of London Central Market .Committee,'and to the .Port of. London authority. These were very helpful to the work of the committee; several members of the committee; interviewed the heads, of the three shipping companies which are" carrying produce from New Zealand to, London, and obtained the opinion of tho manager of Lloyd's Underwriters'" Association, and for.Tyser and Company Underwriting Syndicate as well as ' some of .the large.- produce merchants who aro handling'Now'Zealand frozen produco (both meat and dairy produce) in London. Tho. railways authorities have also been consulted as,well as the Port of London authority,, arid the :Comniittee of Management •of tho • Smithfield Market on. behalf :of the London City Council. Somo "of the committee, also took the. opportunity of inspecting the discharge of frozen meat at the docks and tho handling of meat at Smithfield Market. .On the.whole, the committee who have been investigating matters believo that.tho position as generally stated by Mr. Lysnar under the various heads has been fairly stated. In consulting the shipping companies, they were specially asked their, opinions on Heads Nos.. 1-5, inclusive in tho report. ( Both Mr.. Potter, the . General Manager of . Shaw-Saville and Albion Company, as well as Mr. G J. Cowen, joint manager of the New Zealand Shipping Company, approved of the recommendations, and saw no. objections to them. Attached hereto is a written statement, which is signed on behalf of both the companies. The managers of tho Tyser Shipping Company were also interviewed by a deputation from tho committee, and they do not.disapprove, of any of tho sugges- , tions. under Beads Nos. 1-5, and consider the recommendations if carried out would be beneficial. " ; Sorting tho Produce. . No. 1 Head.—Upon the question . of .sorting the ■ .produce in the hold, it was on ,all hands admitted that .the present is a -bad practice, and to'have a general sorting shed would be a decided improvement. The committee very strongly approved of. the, suggestions that the Port of London authority should bo' requested to make adequate improvements and additions to their present cool storage at the Royal Victoria and Albert.docks or some other suitable site nearer Smithfield if possible, so that tho New Zealand iships.can discharge their frozen produco direct from tho. hold by an elevator, into a freezing ! store on tho second floor, where tho produce could be sorted in a freezing chamber after dischargo from the ships, and delivery to bo taken ; within some- reasonable period, say, seven days, after discharge, and,; failing delivery being taken within that time, a reasonable weekly rate of storago should bo discharged. Tho store should bo provided .with an elevator to reddlivcr the produco at tho back of tho store into railway trucks, barges or vans; any barges requiring meat from tho store could bo loaded by the meat being elevated into railway trucks which could bo shunted to tho side of the barge at points clear of tho ships' berths, as it would bo inconvenient to havo the ships ,; berths hampered by barges. ■ • * Discharging. No. 2 Head. —In connection with discharging the' ships with only partly covered hatches, it was recognised that with the present' system it was -impossible to improve matters so as toprotect both sides of the hold. This could only be done by tho recommendations being adopted for a travelling elevator to bo used in.discharging, which would enable the hold and tho elc-. vater to bo covered .completely; it is tho use of. the winches and chains which prevents the hold being properly covered under the present system, and directly it comes on to raiu tho whole process, of unloading has to cease, whereas with the'covered elevator the weather would in no way affect or. delay discharging-operations.

ship to Smithfield.Market and up-town stores, the committee consider tho present method as. being very, unsatisfactory;,. On one day, when some of the committee were- at • tho docks, ■ there wero 28, carts and vans belonging to the carrying companies loading frozen meat at the'VictoriaDocks. 19 of which. . were open vans, and when .loaded the meat -was merely being covered with a loose tarpaulin, five with tarpaulin hoods over tho vans, and four with proper insulated • vans; On another day when members of tho committee ivere at the docks inspecting, there wero 27 carts taking meat away; twenty of them were open carts with loose tarpaulins, one with a . covered hood, aiid six insulated vans, and in passing vehicles carrying meat from tho docks towards town and Smithfield it was to be noticed that, only about one in every five' vehicles'were insulated. One carrying company was questioned by a deputation .from tho committee, as to- how ..many, insulated vans they used in handling' , frozen meat, and they stated they had no insulated vans at all. Upon inquiring where tho meat was being (-aken to which' was. being loaded into these caits, the committeo were informed by some of the i drivers that . they wero taking it to Smithfield ' market. It takes, under favourable- conditions, about 2 J hours for a dray of meat to bo taken from the docks to Smithfield, biit in some parts of the road-the traffic is congested, stoppages arise, which make the period of carriage longer. To exemplify tho disadvantage of the present system, the' committeo questioned some of tho. drivers of tho meat vans at tho docks as to the time, it took them to obtain their load.

Costly Delays. Tho driver of one van stated ho had arrived at the docks ■ at 8 o'clock to obtain a full load of Now to take up to Smithfield. He required 110 to ViO, according to. their size. He then had only 54 on his cart, and it. was ten minutes pasb , four in tho afternoon. :Ho stated ho would wait, on until 6 o'clock, and got as many nioro as he could, then ho would , , havo to return to Smithfield with whatever ho had. ' ' ' ■■ Another driver, who was driving van No. 503, stated ho had arrived there at 10 o'clock that morning to obtain 100 carcasses of New Zealand meat: He had then 9S carcasses. .This was at 4.15 in the afternoon,, and he stated he might have to wait another hour for the two .carcasses ho was short of. When he gets them he will take about 2J hours to get to Smithfisld. Ho had two horses and an insulated ran. This man also stated he had been down to tho B jetty for two days running to get one load of 100 carcasses of meat, when he got none either day, and had to return empty each day. •

barge goes back with only 150 or 200 carcasses, when it can carry 1200 to 2500. The superintendent in charge of tho handling of one of the New Zealand ships stated that they wero then discharging frozen produce from three holds of the ship, and ho bad 180 men working in tho discharge of the frozen meat from these tlireo holds. In addition there would be about fifteen men waiting on the barges, making a total of 195 men in all. These men wero sorting the_ meat in.the hold of the ship, and ,it was being put into the barges alongside tho ship; others wero being put on to tho wharf, and taken along .in trucks to other barges some distance away from the ship, or into drays as -well as .railway trucks. The superintendent in charge of tho ship admitted that if the suggested eystem I of handling direct into a sorting-shed wore adopted he could unload the ship i in less than.half the time than at present, and with considerably less labour. In. addition, there will be "a great saving of the. ship's time if tho whole cost per day of keeping a ship in port for less than lialf its present time allowed for unloading it would, be the means of saving a large sum of money which the producer has to pay at present, if not directly, he does indirectly. Handling the Meat. . No. i 7 Head. — Regarding the carrying of , meat on'' ■ the men's shoulders to and .from the Smithfield Market, this systom might well bo improved,. and the handling cheapened by tho authorities placing rails with a proper system.of switches, upon which rolling-hooks could be used to run the meat from the delivery point to various stores. Two lines of rails would be necessary down each alleyway, ono for delivering meat into the

market, and the other to take it out. Both rails should be kept sufficiently high so that they would receive or deliver direct into an ordinary van. ■ Railway Transport to SmithTield. No. 8 Head.— .Regarding th,o ; railway facilities' at Sraithfield; thero' are two siding or depots immediately under the Smithfield Market, and these depots are mainly used for general goods and meat, sent in,only from Liverpool or Bristol, not for meat from the London docks at all. It, is very. largely used hy .the Argentine meat importers' who ship a largo quantity of their meat direct to Liverpool, and rail it to the Smithfield market. The meat is elevated by a lift from the platform below to the Smithfield floor above. The committee find that the railway, between the docks and the Smithfield .Market is owned by three railway. companies, and that the rail connections are there on the various lines making it possiblo to take.': meat from the London' docks to Smithfield:- The'lines that are now connected travel a roundabout way, making a distance of a little over 20 miles from the port. There is a railway .line running, a shorter route than this, but they, cross over at the important juncture one above the other consequently there would be some expense to make the connection with the railway .that runs overhead to . that which runs below, but , the little distance on the railway would be no detriment and would take a very short time as compared with the present meUpon inquiry, the committee were informed that as many as three full train-loads of meat are brought in from Liverpool, each train comprising 20 trucks, and discharged at the Smtthfield market at the ono time without any congestion. The authorities at that depot stated that they could handle very much larger quantities of meat than they do at tho present time. If Victoria Dock is to remain as the permanent dock for discharging New Zealand produce then arrangements should bo made to have the meat railed to Smithfield from Victoria Dock. This would have to be done at night, mainly owing to the large amount of passenger traffic in the day, but tho dock authorities will provide a more suitable dock for tho discharge of New Zealand produce than the Victoria Dock.. . - More Freezing Store Accommodation • ' Wanted. Head No. 9.—Regarding, tho situation of. the Smithfield market freezing store it would appear that there . is not sufficient storage capacity in London to cope* with the large quantity of . produce- that comes from all parts of the world- from tirao to time. All the cold stores in London have a storage capacity of 2,750,500 carcasses. The iotal storage capacity of all the Now. Zealand freezing works has a capacity of 1,788,400 carcasses, whilo Liverpool has sufficient capacity to store about 1,500,000 carcasses. Thus it. will be seen that New Zealand, which only requires., to find' storage until the ship arrives to carry the produce away, and does not pretend to store to await a suitable market as it is supposed to be done' in London, hns a capacity in store within a million carcasses that could bo stored in London which lias to receive and store for the bulk of the world. In addition New Zealand is increasing to-day, its present storage capacity. Tho committco consider that every effort should bo made, to get the Smithfield authorities to have an adequate storage accommodation provided immediately above the Smithfield market. Thero aro two freezing stores having a capacity of 100,000 carcasses each. Ono under .a part of Smithfiold and tho other across the road from Smitlifiold, but those aro totally inadequate for the requirements of the trade. ■■ Controlling Values. Head No. 10.—As to tho method of controlling tho day to day values this requires more consideration'. than the present committee has been able to give it and the committee would suggest that the question should be kept in view and some effort be made later to improve matters in this respect in ,the future. . Facilities Outside London. Head No. 11. —The committee have investigated tho facilities provided at

Another carter questioned, who was driving cart No. 55, stated that he arrived at tho docks at 10 o'clock thai morning to ohtain 124 carcasses,of wellknown Southern , Now Zealand brand of mutton. He then had onJy 27 on his cart. This was ■ at' 4.30 in the afternoon. The. question as to what ho proposed to do was asked, and ho stated that he would wait on until 6 o'clock, when they would stop work discharging the boat. He-would then go back to his stables, and at 1 a.m. .would turn out and take tho 27 carcasses to Smithficld and come back for tlio balance to-niorrow. This man had also two horses in his van. ' At 10.30 o'clock tho following day some of the committee met the driver of van 503 at the Smithfield market, when he stated that ho had just delivered, his load to tho market, which they saw him loading the day beforo at the docks. Ho got his number, buttho othor man, the driver of Van 55, had not, obtainedhis full number, but had only got somewhere between 30 and 40, and ho had to return with that number only to Smithfield, and discharged it there tho samo time as ho did his own. Suggested Remedy. It was admitted by some of the superintendents of the shipping companies at the docks that the same unsatisfactory condition of loading prevails with barges as well as tho carts, and it was stated that very, of ten tho barges would have to return to up-town stores, with only a portion of the load: that snuictimes a

"the other West of England ports. Bristol lias a cold store into which the produce is delivered direct from the whole of tho ship, where it is stored and can be placed direct from' the store into the railway van under cover. Regarding the port of Liverpool to utilise that its best advantage it would bo necessary for arrangements to be made with the dock authorities to give New Zealand a. wharf to itself, and, provide on tho upper story an adequato freezing accommodation' for the produce they receive from Canada, and tho representatives of Liverpool Dock , authorities believe it would bo possible to arrange for New Zealand what lias 'been arranged for' Canada. At the present time any frozen'produce that was sent to Liverpool would have to bo carted across, the road from the docks into tho freezing store, which is not very satisfactory nor so convenient as a store immediately on the dock. ' ■ .' Checking Meat Frauds. Head No. 12.—As to tfie"ldentity, of New ■ Zealand produce after' it comes. into the jiands of the ■.■■retailer, this raises an important. phase which the committee considers is best met in the meantime by the freezing companies adopting a system no.w in use by the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, which, is by having a leaden seal attached by wire to one of the legs, of tho carcass, and if tho tag is removed it breaks the seal and obliterates the. name of, the company. . This prevents retailers changing the general tag that is used at. present and attached by a piece of string which can be easily changed from New Zealand meat to some other'carcass of inferior meat. ' ... .-. (To be concluded.)