THE HANDLING OF OUR MEAT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1044, 6 February 1911, Page 8

THE HANDLING OF OUR MEAT.

.LONDON EXPERT'S.REPORT._ , A few months ago the Incorporated Society of Meat Importers, Loudon, coin-; missioned Captain T. Ifc. Mowat, sur-* veyor, London, to report oil tho methods ■of-the discharge of frozen meat in that j port and generally ■ upon the conditions of the handling'of meat... Captain, Mow- j at's report is 1 a long one, and in general too© reminds one of tho report-(publish- j ed in The Dominion) madq by Mr. Crabb, ; the. New Zealand Government's veterin-j btv officer in London. Dealing with the-unloading of the meat Captain Mowat says:—"The square of tho ' hatch is the place where the most pro-', tection to the meat is required, as it Is here that all the cafcasfes. from the other ' parts of 'the hold are brought and put ■ into slings or elevators, as'the caso may -be. Consequently, at .this; point there is the "greatest likelihood of damage .to tho and hence greater -'protection required. The men employed in the holds fiavo sacking wound round''their'boots' and legs, which serves • the-double < purpose of keeping the meat clean and the men's legs and feet warm; the fact that it acts in the latter capacity is # a sufficient guarantee that the men, in their . own interests, will* not work iu the hold without that protection." Our Regular Lines, Continuing, heVsays. that' as the work - proceeds it is necessary for men to ..walk, on. some or the cloth-covered carcasses, but. as far as possible this is avoided by having small shutcs in the hold, whereby carcasses can bo slid from .theirvstowv . age to tte' hatchway,. to be' put in slings, . etc.,. and this avoids :the-continual walk\,ing over them which^would ptherwis9..pC;: .cur. When the carcasses are landed on' : the quay in slings, 'straw, is. spread ~ over .; that part where they are. landed. , .Reporting. on the regulars lilies: ,from. New Zealand and Australia he says that "they are all fitted with, tent-shaped ,awnJngs,, which arc erected oyer the' hatchway, so as to protect the carcasses stowed immediately under the hatch from the sun'and rain, and there are two New. , Zealaud companies who,, in addition to r that, spread awnings'over the quay or orer the barges, so : as to .further , protect the meat,'after leaving the-ship's, slings', from exposure to ,the":sun's.,rass,X-'.'£s, -long as the weather keeps' dry every- 1 . thing seems to keep in good order,. but 'you will quito. appreciate that when-the, weather becomes showery it is more difficult to protect these carcasses from .daml- . age than it is in dry weather/'- '

Captain Jlowatt points whero. he reekens most damage results. He says:—"As you are aware,, vessels from Australia and New Zealand load their meat at various ports from ninny' shippers at each port,,with the result that all the various marks, get intermingled in the stowage, and these shipments are further subdivided by. being sold in various parcels to l many buyers, each buyer having the right to' store.'.his purchase ;at'whichever, store, he chooses to select. Tho result of this is,'that when tlie moat is unloaded, each purchase has -to .bo. delivered to the particular conveyance sent there on behalf of the' Tarious 'purchasers. Owing to tho number'and iho :intermingling of! the marks in tht>. stowage in the vessel, deliveries can . generally be made only '. piecemeal,. and it'is.at this point that most of the damage arises, as I will show later on when dealing with .the barges."'

Fertile Source of Damage. ■ \ When he comes to deal with tlie barges he shows that -.whero wooden barges'are being, replaced it is with iron barges. The iron barges are insulated the whole depth .of the side. The wooden barges are- insulated under the deck and down

( j . below the Wator line, and tho ..hatches arc insulated aud'Wftred' with tarpaulin*

blankets. Tho insulation, of the wooden i barges is not so .substantial as that rej -quired for. iron .barges. . "The great I. thickness of wood u'scS in the construction K ofwooden barges isj in ifelf, a fairly "good I . insulation. These barges cam carry from , I" 1000 to 2500 carcasses, according to their. size, and the meat is simply . kept hard ; through tbo cold existing in tliQ crircasses- /.'.... when delivered from tho ship. When a I . ■ barge can be- loaded up quickly without . ■ .' any ' delay, waiting for marks, . the carj . casses can ho kept iiard for a long period of time, but where only small quantities '■ can be delivered at differenet intervals L. of time, there is not sufficient volume of ! ■ .'. cold air in.the few .that, may be put on ; ' board the .baTge to.keep them sufficiently !"■ hard (when- the discharge takes nlace in I'. Hie summer. months), with tlio result j,. - that they, become soft. Tt also frequontj ly happens. that barges havo to proI .. c'§ed to.their destination only partially t laden, owing ,to . tho difficulty in finding | th? Draper -marks; this delay caused by , tho difficulty of finding iqarks is undoubti • cdlv tie most fertile source of damage experienced in tho trade." . In referring to tests being made of the - insulation, ho indicates, that the weak spot is-in. the top tiers of meat which are exposed to atmospheric influence duri ing.'the whole time of landing. He sug- ; i gests that the carcasses' in the ton tier, i. - should be stowed backs upwards, "so as to give tho thick narts the most exposed j.. ' position. 'The thick parts would better : resist the warm air than tho thin flanks |. would. ; . On another phase of his subject he re- ;' "I have been on board insulated ; barges on hundreds of occasions, and in i / all my ■ experience never- saw any cockl . roachw,' fungus., dirt, .of anything other- | wise objectionable on any of tliem." As to bilge water, he does not supnose ! that there is a bavga afloat in which there, is no .bilee water,-but its presence : does, iot prejudice the meat.