AUSTRIAN MEAT SHORTAGE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 999, 14 December 1910, Page 8

AUSTRIAN MEAT SHORTAGE.

SELLING TIIE ARGENTINE SHIPv;' JIJGXT. ■■ : '. , CROWDS SCRAMBLING TO PURCHASE. . In yesterday's Dominion .there appeared ■ of the scenes which occurred 1 in ; Austria at the time of the meat short- ; • age, when the trial shipment of Argen- '' tine frozen beef'and mutton arrived, and was opened and inspecetd before thousands' of the public. » Translations from the Trieste news- < . paper. "II Piccolo," dated October 24, provide the following particulars of what occurred: when the sale of the meat was un- . : ' dertaken. The translated matter has been E laced at'the disposal of The Dominion y Mr. A, H. Turnbull, of Messrs. A. H. -.Turnbull and Co. 1 ".Never have such crowds been seen at \ a butcher's shop 'as yesterday gathered in the early' morning , about the shop of a ' butcher in the Via Sta Caterina,' when : the sale'took .place of a trial shipment .of; meat, from Argentina,". says "II Piccolo;" ./"The salo started, at 7 a.m., but even at- 5 o'clock a crowd of people were Waiting patiently for the opening of tho shop, order being, maintained, by tho guard,. The guard had to bo reinforced ' before the-shop opened, as the crowd was ; iflterfering with'the traffic, ... , ■

"Superior to Ours." "At 4, o'clocktwo. butcher's .assistants :. ; started work trying to cut up into pieces tho-quarters of American,beef. They cal- ,: . culate'd,. however, without tho difficulty of Cutting brought about, by, the freezing. . . As a-matter of fact,'tho flesh was harder thian ; the bones, the latter having become somewhat friable through freezing, while ■ the meat was almost impenetrable. Their labour became easier as the action of tho .: teteperature, fortunately Worm, began to take effect; Under the surveillance of four inspectors, the sale began in pieces of one or more kilos. One liotelkeeper purchased twenty'kilos'; ~ "It is to bo wondered that the assist* , . ints. kept their, tempers .so' well in the . . pressure, of Work imposed on them by the eagerness of the crowd to purchase' tho : meat. The impatience of the people was .. : Bucli- that* it took all the efforts of the suard to keep them in check. At eleven o'clock, • despito the' protests of the crowd, . . the sale , was stopped and postponed till •• the following day. • "As ; regards the qualtiy of the Argentine, meat,' the opinion of the butchers is ..' ■that 1 it is much superior to ours... Boup Kitchens Rushed. ■■. "At the soup, kitchens, the crush of people'was so great that it-had all been sold by 12.30. The cooking took three and a half hours or a quarter of an. hour . less than our homo meat.- The soup was . '.epiuewhat' thicker, and: contained more ; fat than that made with tho home-grown *' :lheat." . . . The Argentine meat wli<*a ; cooked is much more tasty, of better colour and-superior flavour to ours. It was found excellent as a stew and better i'" : Toasted. " All. the customers found the . Argentine meat' superior to ours,' the only fault being that it was a little fat." Excitement at Vienna. , ■u r .Tie... excitement which prevailed "- "at Vienna when Argentine meat was sold •thereis described hy the "Neue Freie .Presse," from.. which tho following iny; -formation has been translated and ex- . traoied•

"As - was to be expected," the paper commences,: "the 21,000 kilograms, (a small quantity compared. with the number of the population) 'of 'Argentine meat'has been bought up in a few minutes. Partly because - there, were numerous orders beforehand: and .partly because the pressure of . buyers was great at the salo there were frequently unpleasant. occurrences,. 1 and the overcrowding -became .such that the .police'-ivero obliged to'enter the great market hail at seven 1 , in the morning to preserve • order.; -At -.tho. other, places of eale. the pressure was equally great." Free Entry Advocated. The journal refers to the .big rises in •the .price of Austrian meat, .and' con-, trasts the.ruling figure with/the price at whioli thd'Argentine' meat was disposed of; to- show that the foreign article is cheaper-than':tlia home-grown was even 'jbefpre'j'Uio rise commenced. "The difference," 'it proceeds} "becomes so- startling that there- is a general wish for - tho unlimited emancipation of imports of frozen meat, and this should be urged with tho utmost\eifergy. : This difference of price will yet greatly increase ns: wc have already explained if the importation\ of Argentine: meat, ruled by the mercantile principles, becomes an established fact. Not ■ only the purchase price, but also 'the'cost of manipulation and freight dues will, befeme cheaper and finally the .Government, has the power to abate the duty on entry. We can say indeed to-day that .■ by,, permitting'. imlimited • importations the difference .between moat of this country, and' Argentine meat wiilamount, to'at least an Austrian crown. It has already' been .explained that tho meat arrived here absolutely fresh—strictly speaking, too fresh, for immediate use— and this - ; very day . a large portion of the population aro being personally convinced of that. .Therefore, there.. remains open only the question of the goodness. of taste. All other points are clearly, and decisively in favour of Argentine. meat/' . . . Mutton Might Not Pay. : The director of the. Viennese Butchers' Association expressed the opinion that imported mutton might not yield a profit. The Viennese, lie says, neglect it, snd it might also be too'dear. -