Oroua Freezing Works.

Manawatu Times, Volume XL, Issue 13378, 17 April 1916, Page 8

Oroua Freezing Works.

TO BE OPENED BY PRIME MINISTER TO-DAY. To-day the Prime Minister, Mr. W. F. Massey, will open the new Oroua Freezing Works. The works were to have been opened on January 2, but the difficulty in obtaining building materials held the work up considerably.

It seems incredible that up until the present time the biggest sheep d?(strict in New Zealand lias had to depend on its neighbours for albattcirs. The district referred to is a* own oa the Governemnt statistics as possessing 1,838,377 sheep and comprises Rangitikei, Oroua, Kairanga, Kiwitea, Pohangina and Manawatu counties. The quality of sheep offering is beyond question as the district possesses flocks which j*re accepted as the standards of breeds all over the world.

Needless to say there has been much curiosity shown by sheepmen in the Manawatu as to how the directorate of the new venture has reconciled the opening of its works with the shipping difficulty which threatens to have a serious effect on New Zealand \s staple products in the near future. The answer is this. The works are so ,well provided with storage that it has seemed advisable to open while the excellent grade of stock can be obtained. At the present time only beef will be killed as the sheep slaughter board and the are not ready. The site of the works at Aorangi is directly on the Main Trunk line,

and a siding leads from the main line on to a block of 50 acres of tflrst-class! land which the Oroiia bounds on the northern side. The stock can either be delivered through the railroad or by drovers on foot, special arrangements having been made for a quiet back entrance. The siding leads, on to the holding and drafting yards, where all the latest ideas for the careful and quick handling of stock have been utilised. From, the cattle and the sheep yards respectively, ramps are run to the third floor to the slaughter houses. The mutton board and the beef slaughter are separate. Taking the beef slaughter first; at the top of the ramp is a stunning pen so constructed that by shooting a bolt the beast can be rolled out on to the flcor and then hoisted on to the bleeding rail. The carcase goes through the usual process of preparation, finishing at the door of the chilling room where it is taken for the purpose of' dispersing the animal heat in the shortest time possible, avoiding all risk of bone taint. Upon removal from the chilling room the carcase is quartered and passes- on to the scales to be weighed and graded and is taken thence to the freezing room. Later it is removed through convenient portholes in the floor down shoots into the storerooms.

The mutton board on the samej flfjor is constructed on similar lines, the sheep and lambs being dressed and passed on towards the grader and the weight clerk. The carcases are sent into the cooler and after the prescribed time has elapsed pass along the same rail as that utilised for the beef to the freezing chambers which are directly opposite and also on the same floor. The whole of the offal from both the mutton and the beef, passes', down chutes on to the second floor, and is dealt with in the usual way. Beside the beef and the mutton slaughter houses, the chillroom and the mutton chillroom on the top storey there is also a convenient dressing and bath room for the use of the slaughtermen. A bathroom and a dressing room aro also provided for the men on the second floor. '

The ground floor is taken up with a fellmongery and a woolshed. The fellmongery is very spacious and with the plant which is' to be fitted in it. it will be equal to the best in New Zealand. In the wool-store adjoining a Petrie dryer of the latest pattern is to be fitted and it will be capable of dealing with considerably more than the present capacity of te store will provide. The railway siding previously referred to conects with this building and this will provide for direct loading. Immediately opposite this block i« the main freezing block separated by two railway tracks. The block comprises two storerooms, each capable of holding 25,000, 601b. carcases, Avhile the freezing rooms are capable of accounting for a further 15,000, making an emergency holding of about 05,000 carcases. Four freezing rooms on the top floor are frozen by circulating air, while the two underneath, are manipulated by direct ex-

posure. Immediately in the rear of the freezing block is the engine room and the power house. The engine room contains three 45 h.p. National gas engines, one of which is used for d-'iving the electric power generator the other two being coupled direct to two National ammonia compressors, each capable of 30 tons refrigeration per day. In addition to this there is a steam generator set for electric power. The power house • contains three National suction gas plants, one for esch of the gas engines, so constructed that, any or all of the producer sets can be coupled up to any or all of the gas engines. There is also a Cable T,ancashire boiler which develops 120 lbs of steam to the square inch, the steam being utilised in the boiling down process, with the steam generator set, and in pumping. Opposite the engine-room on the same side of the rails as the fellmongery is the meat preserving plant, whilst further away and fully detached is the tallow and manure store. The tallow house is connected with the offal floor by an overhead tramway. The offal is carried in patent "tipping iron buckets, which tip on a. level with the top of the digester. A concrete floor completely divides the tallow house from • the boiling down establishment, thus giving particular attention

1o hygiene. Mr .1. L. McMillan contracted foi the buildings. Messrs Niven and Co. for the refrigerating plant, generators, piping and meat rails, and Messrs. Turnbull and .Tones for tlu oh;>WW Plant. The power throughout the uorl<s- is produced by electric mf)lors . The meat is all loaded under cover, and the water supply comoH from n spring with the Oroua ~« : , standby. Tlu> worlcs are concise, practical and up-to-date, r.ml a distinct iredil to Ine district.