“THE PRINCE OF WALES.”

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10392, 9 May 1927, Page 6 (Supplement)

“THE PRINCE OF WALES.”

HULK USED IN BAY AS FREEZING STORE.

For two periods of about a couple of years a familiar sight in Poverty Bay' was the freezer and store ship, “The Prime of Wales.*’ Up till the eve of the 90’s, Auckland had proved the b’g market for this district’s fat stock. Every year, many thousands of sheep and lambs and hundreds upon hundreds of lat cattle were sent North to assist in meeting the requirements of tlie butchery trade. From 1579 for a number of years Mr. Ewon Cameron, for instance. exported an average of 2000 sheep yearly to the Auckland market, in addition to 125 fat cattle and a number of horses.,. 1 lie Union Co. charged 50s per bead freight on the bullocks and 3s per bead on the sheep. In 1883 Mr. Cameron won with a white prize at the Auckland .Christmas meat show for the best ship-borne animal. Much more fat stock would have been exported if more shipping space could have been .guaranteed. The advent of the freezing industry was, of course, bound to bring changes. On February 2, 1884, the “Telephone” contained .this very interesting item: “As an experiment—which is. likely to prove of great importance to this district —the Loan and Mercantile Co. lias shipped SUO sheep per the Wnirarapa to Wellington for freezing purposes. They will be sent Home per* direct steamer and if the venture proves successful

larger lots will follow. It is understood that the consignment was sent on behalf of Mr. A. 0. Arthur, who, m the early days, owned The 'Aillows property. The shipment was made by the Mataura, but her cargo was a partial failure. He, too, exported, with Mr. Cameron and others, largely to tire Auckland market, sending forward himself in 1883 no fewer than 2GOO sheep, although, the number would have been doubled il sufficient shipping space had offered. Prior to 'the advent of Messrs. Nelson Bros.’ freezing works at Taruheru. that company sent the ‘Prince of Wales’ here in November, 1889, to freeze and store meat. Captain Cumming, who is living in retirement here, was in charge, She had a pair of 30 h.p. engines, and could freeze two hundred sheep per day. In those days there were, of course, no shore freezing works. The pioneer refrigerated vessel, the Dunedin, it may be recalled, had to freeze her own cargo of meat. The “Prince of Wales” remained in Poverty Bay till January, IS9I, when she was sent to Picton to inaugurate the frozen meat trade of Marlborough. Eight years later, she returned to Gisborne and again acted as stores hip until 'July 1901, when she went to Port Chalmers,, remaining there?'as a store-ship until 19C6. From the Otago port she went on to Wellington and was eventually sold for use as a. coal“hulk. Built in 1850, at Southampton, the Hudson Bay trade, the “Prince of Wales” was specially constructed for encountering the icc-strewn Arctic seas. . She was bunt of oak and over her planking rras a sheathing of greendieart, with zinc sheathing outside all. In 1850 she was selected as one of the Franklin relief expedition vessels. She was later in the emigrant trade and her staff witnessed the famous fight between the Ivearsage and the Alabama. At the time the “Prince of Wales went south the Russian scare was on and it is said when the- people of Lyttelton, saw her they judged by her clumsy build that she, was some sort, of Russian filibuster making a descent upon the colony. aTITa a ti a iTTb afTo alo **li ft u li t aTf*n a