THE NEW ZEALAND REFRIGERATING COMPANY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9269, 3 August 1893, Page 5

THE NEW ZEALAND REFRIGERATING COMPANY.

[by telegraph.— PRESS association.] Dukkdin, Wednesday. The annual meeting of the New Zealand Refrigerating Company was held today. It was ft little lively. The chairman, Mr. John Roberts, Paid the unsatisfactory re suit of the year's operations was largely due to prices for sheep in the colony being relatively higher than in London. The directors declined to risk shareholders' money in .-peculation. Five hundred sheep had been bought on which 10d per head had been lost. They had seen buyers from Christchurch raiding the North (not he hoped to be shipped as prime North Canterbury) and buyers from Southland also giving tempting prices. He did nor believe this could continue. People could not live on losses. When a reasonable state of things prevailed the Company would be in a position to give the highest price for prune mutton. Mr. Come (Oamaru) declared it was not creditable to the pioneer company of Australasia to rind itself in the position it was. lie declared sheep went north and south because charges were lower, and denounced the profit made by the Company on harbour charges at Oamaru. The chairman pointed out to Mr. Corrie that if he and others got high prices from buyers who sent north they could not expect a dividend from the Company in which they were shareholders. The chairman said they were prepared to freeze at :-! I, but they would shut down rather than freeze at a loss. Messrs. .James Smith (Greenfield) and J. T. Wright were elected directors.