THE ABATTOIR QUESTION.

Manawatu Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 7959, 21 April 1904, Page 2

THE ABATTOIR QUESTION.

Wanganui's Experience.

In Delegating Its Powers.

Useful Inforrratlon.

la the many controversies that have taken place locally in regard to the establishment ot an abattoir it has been the usual thing for speakerw and writers to quote the experience of other towns both for and-against the alternative proposals of providing our own institution or delegating our powers. Among the towns most frequently cited is Wanganui, possibly because the conditions thf>re arc very similar to those prevailing at .Ulmerston. It has on more than one occasion been stated in public, professedly on- tho best authority, that Wanginms venture in delegating its powers to the Castlecliff Company hw proved m every way success^ and 8f ? h Sto aU con °erned ; but on the otter hand persons claiming the best official knowledge, have with equal vigor set forth quite a reverse state of affairs. Wanganuras perhaps is well known is situated very much like ourselves-it has freezing works established four miles rom the Borough, connected therewith by rail and road With this circumstance in mind and also with a desire to obtain a thorough grip of the state of affairs a representative of the Manawatu Turns made exhaustive inquiries from all parties in the town most nearly concerned. ■ J

A brief interview with the Town Clerk elicited the information that the arrangement with the Castlecliff Company had now been running' for about fiv^ years—the term of the agreement— and that it had proved in every way satisfactory to the Council. The latter body had Oeen induced to negotiate with the Company in the first instancs owing to a difficulty in finding a suitable locality for their own abattoir. Th« inspection of the meat, they felt satistied, was thoroughly carried out now, and the works were at all times open to the inspection of the Council. As far as the butchers were concerned, there had been one or two small complaints, but none of a serious nature, and the only instance of note he could then cite was when something wm said about the railage^ of tht meat to town. However, he said, the Freezing Company and the butchers could speak for themselves. As he had before remarked, the term of the contract had expired, but he did not think there was any likelihood of other arrangements being made, 'which was proof of satisfaction. At present the Borough did not handle any revenue, the butchers had a £5 license and the company collected its fees.

n ,• Jl^ CreßßWe". manager of the Oastlecliff Freezing Company, readily expressed his willingness to give all in. formation that might be of benefit to Palmerston. At the outset he drew a favourable picture of Wanganui'a arrangements compared with those of Ohnstchurchi where a municipal abattoir existed. The feet- were lower at Wanganui, drainage nuisances did not exist, and offal was easily disposed of. ±Ie spoke from expert knowledge, for ha had made full inquiries when recently in Chnstchurch. * What are your charges, Mr' Cresi-

For cattle we charge 3s per head. This covers the whole cogt from the time the beast is received until it ii delivered on the train. With railage, cartage, and I believe it costs the butchers nearly 5s to land the carcase at their shops. For sheep and The Company either buys the hides, or salts them for the buSheri at 7d .each. Most of them, ho£ ever, we purchase according to their VlU6\ also buy ™»* of t£e skins, but the butcher is not forced to sell. In regard to offal the butcher hu whatever he requires for his shop. The clause inphe contract reads:--"The Company shall retain all offal except tongues, kidneys, heads, tails, livers, etc.. as are required by the butchers for iale to., their customers, and except hides and such fat as persons using the abattoir* may desire to take away. The Company shall not allow any offal to be used for feeding pigs." Th en , oontinued Mr Oresswell, we scald in bulk all the feet. hvers, hearts, tails, etc., if the butchers desire > and charge only a [nominal price. The Company gets the runnw. and horns, but gives the butchers what oil (extracted from the runners) they require. The intestines, which the butcher under previous conditions would have given to the pigs, the Company now gets. • ...._ "

In regard, to. chilling, what is yoor scale of charges ?—They are arranged on a shdrag scale as follows -.—Cattle (per quarter), 3d first day ; 2d eecond day, and Id per. day afterwards. Sheep 2a fv b! =/ d each flrßt dfty< *d "oond and^ third day, and id per day afterwards Pigs (small) 1 W each day. Pigs (large) and calves, 3d per day. Of course it must be understood that th« butchers are not compelled to chill their meat; they only use the chamber if thor desire. . *

And the killing arrangements : Can ft butcher have a beast slaughtered whenever he desiros it? • We kill every day except in winter, when we make it three days a week. If a biitpher wantl slaughtering done for a particular day the beast must be there before 8 d.m, but we prefer that it should be in the yards over night. We won't have~ a beast run down in the day and have it killed straight away. Neither will we deliver on the day of killing. We har« no .right to do so. Very often a butcher will send in, say ten head of cattle, and ■if he desires it we will kill him two only pf that number, and leave the balance for the next day. They bring, as a rule, pretty near y a. week's supply, at: onoe, and the lulling is done to suit them. They then get it up as they want it.

I _should like, to hear about your paddockmg arrangements,. as this ha§ been a much debated pomt in Palnienton's negotiations. . "•':■■', ' Well, up here, the butchers have their own paddocks round about, but they oan use the company's if they- choose. We dont, however, undertake to supply paddocking* It is. impossible, in our case, to guarantee g^ss immediately round the works. These arrangements work very well. ■ Mr Cresswell also volunteered the information that the Company spiel meat to the butchers. Some of them,' in fact, obtain nearly all their supplies in that way, and find it a very useful proviso indeed. In conclusion, Mr Cresswell said that though there was a good road to the Heads, the butchers apparently preferred to avail- themselves of the railway for the carriage of their carcases. Under the special tariff granted, the carriage charges were very light. A brief chat with Mr Banks, meat inspector, went to prove that the arrangements worked very satisfactorily. Desiring to hear what the other parties to the agreement had to aav several of the butchers, large and .mail were interviewed. : '■ ■■■*. I' .:■

"The firstjfirm visited-orie of the largest retail houses in-the town-ex pressed, straight out, disapproval of the scheme. "The butchers don't like it" he said Asked for the reason of this, the retailer replied that they had no control, over matters; they would very much, prefer to have a slaughterman of their own so that if the work was not properly done they could interpose and have alterations made. The work was not properly done and they had no power to rectify matters. Ho admitted ho did not know whether it would be different in the case of a municipal abattoir. Then again there was the "offal" question. ■-•■"The butchers estimate they lose from £600 to JE7OO a year out of that." Having the terms of the agreement pointed out to him, and being asked for specific instances of where a loss was made on. the offal, the informant stuck to the general statement that if they had tbeir own abattoir they could utilise the offal. How, he did not say, but asserted the offal meant j6150 or & year tothem. What he advocated Mfas to erect a small plant and use the ofFal on the co-operative principle. .Another big butcher reiterated that the Company did not kill as well as their own slaughtermen would, and the butchers could not get their beast* dressed as they desired. It seemel as if they had no say in the matter and were not their own masters. But the speaker did not think they would Join for an abattoir of their own, his reSon being that some of the p£nS butchers were interested in ti£ fre££ company and railway. Asked for oS reasons for hi s dissatisfaction he S there were many little way S , 'i^rSf able, id which the butchers Most FoV 52"?* ? 6 BiaUßhtermen *«w Jay bits of fat and cuttings the butE would naturally save. If th BV /5 works of their own they wouHX

or 7s a beast. The killing he asserted ■. was.not as it should be. ' The rernarkß of another butcher wore practically to the same effect. He even ■went so far as to say that in the five -i" yeara the'agreement had been in exia- • tence he had gone back £2000! The arrangements were very unsatisfactory —the butchers had uo control over their killing. He did not know whether it would be better if they had municipal abattoirs, but the whole principle of meat inspection was a farce, especially as it was carried on. He related how there had been friction between the Council and the butchers over the pay-* ment of fees—even law cases had arisen over it, but now the company received the money direct, and this worked alright. A good proportion of the killing fees were paid out of the hides and other orida and ends the Company purchased from them, so that in this respect the arrangement was not too bad. ■» "It is not at all satisfactory," declared another; "thetrain arrangements are bad for one thing." ' v " Can't you cart yourself?" 11 Yes,, but the roads are not in good order." V This man also asserted for much the ... same reasons as the butchers previously interviewed, that the •' offal arrangements" were unsatisfactory. '-They could not control matters, and they lost money."

Such also were the arguments of the other butchers called upon, and though general complaints wero made, no further information could be elicited in regard to specific instances in which the butchers were injured. There was great dissatisfaction certainly, but analysed the feeling appeared to bo not so much against the principle, but at the fact that the butchers were not able to do now as in the old days. In..view of the fact that the distance between Gas'tlecliff and Wanganui is the

same as between Palmerston and Longburn, is might bo good information to state that the railway charges for carriage to the works are: - Calves Is, pigs and lambs Is first, 3d for others. An early train brings the meat to town, the charges in this case being very small, a beast costing 4sd anS a sheep l£d.