HANDLING OF PRODUCE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 12 February 1925, Page 6

HANDLING OF PRODUCE.

THE PORT OF LONDON. The Royal Albert and Victorian Docks, at which all New Zealand steamers discharge, are situated from seven or nine miles east of London on the northern bank of the Thames, flic whole of the docking area about the Thames is under the management and jurisdiction of the Port of London Authority, locally known ns the P.L.A.. and established by Act of Parliament. At the Royal Albert Docks arc large sheds for sorting, while nearby i s the new cold store erected by the P.L.A. Alongside the steamers, when discharging. barges are moored in which meat or dairy produce is placed for conveyance up the river. Two of the importers take delivery at the docks of: all their produce, and convey • to their warehouses at Smithfield and Tooley Street respectively by motor lorries. A further quantity, but comparatively small, is dispatched, to the order of* different importers. direct from the clocks by rail to different part of the country. The greater part, after being sorted to brands on the wharf and in the sheds, is placed in the barges for conveyance to Hayes Wharf, under which title a company own and control, the cold and other storage adjacent to Tooley Street. These cold stores adjoin London Bridge, and lie between the offices of the Tooley Street importers and the river, and are used by nearly all the importers for storage purposes, the usual practice being to have some butter and cheese in their own warehouse available for inspection. the balance being in the stores of Hayes Wharf. At all these places one is surprised at the out-of-dato

methods still in vogue, man handling everything; wheeling three boxes of blitter on a sack truck seems deplorably slow where such large quantities have to be handled. At the docks it usually takes six hours to fill a barge. Several are being filled simultaneously, and are despatched up the river to London bridge on the Hood tide. These barges are usually discharged at Hayes Wharf on the. day following loading. Here, we get. pur first impressions of the looseness with which this work has been conducted. It had been understood 'that these barges were insulated, and that consequently produce was always carried m proper condition. \\ e found, however, that refrigerated barges were only used for meat, dairy produce being always carried in plain iron barges, not protected in any way except by a canvas cover which was stretched over the top when the loading was completed. in the middle of the English winter, when our shipments are usually going speedily into consumption, no serious harm would result from this, but in the summer, with a shade temperature of 86 degrees, and with butter left in the barges awaiting discharge from Saturday'until Monday, the result can he easily imagined. It was surprising to us that this procedure had escaped the attention of those continuously on the spot. The Managers of Hayes Wharf have now undertaken to have refrige 1 *-, ated barges available for dairy produce from Ist April throughout the summer, and to expedite the loading and discharge. , Wo investigated possible automate courses lo storing at Hayes Wharf, the principal ol which is utilising the p ]f.A., store at the Royal Albert Docks. This is a large store, and-ap-parently not now used to its tull capacity The advantage to themselves of havin'* it continuously occupied is appreciated bv the F.L.A., who offer improved facilities to secure the business. Their rates are, hawever, fixed in conin notion with the Managers of Haves Wharf to prevent rate cutting. It is, therefore, unlikely that any concession can be secured from one that is not also forthcoming from the other. 1 hey are, however, reconsidering the question of storage rates, and in view ot the attempt to secure increased business bv the provincial ports, it is not likely that a reduction will be made in the London rates. A reduction can almost certainly be secured if it is decided to maintain a supply for the British market the year round. (P.S.—This indicated reduction lias been recently announced.) It will be generally recognised that the ideal way of handling dairy produce is to convey the mechanical means from the ship to the cold store. This is possible that the Jtoyal Albert Docks. But merchants consider it would not be satisfactory to hold stocks so far from their centres of business. One of the two importeis who have their produce motored from the docks to their warehouses gave us figures to show that its cost was a trifle less than barging on the river, besides the advantage he secures of getting delivery a day or more in advance ol' the river method. There is, however. very serious reason for doubt if this would be the cheaper method if it were generally adopted. As will he understood, a tremendous amount oi merchandise pours into London every day. Docks arc sometimes very congested, and the roads leading form them equally are more congested. It seems likely, therefore, that if the P.L.A. cold store at the Albert Dock is more extensively used, it will still be most economical to convey all London’s immediate requirements by barge, but the districts outside the city could be served by rail direct from the docks, thus saving handling charges and exposure of the produce. In feeding a city like London and handling the huge quantities of merchandise received daily at its markets, some anomalies are bound to exist. W T hile some can be corrected, perfection can never he reached. SURREY COMMERCIAL DOCKS. A visit to these docks was outlined more fully to you in a previous report. They are situated in the best position of any of the docks to serve Tooley Street. They are about two miles away on the Tooley Street side of the river, i.e., the s.outh. There is a cold store immediately alongside the docks where they have large cool air stores for holding cheese. But here there is only one dock suitable for ships of the capacity used in our trade, and the berthing accommodation is fully' hooked by the Cunard and Canadian lines. It is estimated that at the present time 63 per cent, of our dairy produce is conveyed oy the barge to Hayes Wharf. The Australian cargoes are discharged at Tilbury into barges alongside the steamers, and all conveyed tq,_ Hayes Wharf, where it is sorted to marks.

In previous reports we dealt with difficulties arising during last summer from the storage of cheese in Londdn in ordinary temperatures. Any cheese held during tlie English summer must lie kept at a temperature of 45 degrees, if its quality is to he maintained. We reported to you instances of large quantities of butter being held in ordinary temperatures for a month or more after discharge from the steamers. Some of this had been bought by speculators from the original importers. Such action must seriously prejudice New Zealand’s reputation. We think the only effective way of dealing with this is to insist that all butter not required for immediate distribution should be placed in cold storage straight from the ship’s side. The absence of any settled policy in this matter, and the rivalry existing between merchants on occasions led to a deterioration of quality, through holding too long in ordinary warehouses to avoid the expense of cold storage. INSURANCE. Our first investigations convinced ns of the advantage to the -industry of consolidating our insurance, and having it covered by a comprehensive policy arranged by the Board. This .re communicated to you. We are pleased that it has since been accomplished. When the information of the Hoard’s linal decision was cabled to London a mild storm arose among the Underwriters at Lloyds. They interviewed the High Commissioner, and desired him to cable to New Zealand their objections to the creation of a monopoly, etc. An interview was sought with ourselves by the chairman and the secretary of L'lo yds. We met them. Until then they did not 'know that several of the London houses represented at Lloyds had been asked to quote for the whole business, and had tendered a price which, had been beaten by the New Zealand companies. We impressed upon them that it was scarcely “cricket” to be talking about “creating monopolies” * when some of their members had been urging its advantages and had ’icon endeavouring to secure it. We informed them that the arrangement in any case was only for one year, and the position would he open for them to improve upon it at the end of the term. Just at the moment they were not prepared to offer improvements, as they thought we had got very good terms. To be on the spot during these negotiations was of distinct advantage, as we got a clear idea of how the whole machine works. Up to the time of our departure from London it was evident that disappointments were still felt. The opinion was expressed that the New Zealand com-

panies could not carry the load. Time will prove it in this respect .while any disability attaching to the new arrangement can he corrected at the expiry of the present contract. EXCHANGE, We conferred with bankers, economistsand merchants interested in financial questions, and see little immediate prospect of relief from exchange charges. We understand that recently a prominent London banker suggested to Australia that her £21,000,000 gold reserve should he mobilised, making it a central fund, in exchange for which the central bank would issue three months’ bills as “Currency Bills” and “Gold Bills,” readily convertible into currency in both Australia and England. In the absence of the gold standard, which still seems to be a long way from reestablishment, some such, procedure seems to suggest a palliative. But changes in these matters are only easily realised. Like ourselves, Aus-

tralia is "feeling the burden of these heavy charges, but evidently has as yet found no satisfactory solution. TV e think that negotiations should lie continued with bank officials and the Government Finance Department.