STINKING SAUSAGE SKINS

NZ Truth, Issue 351, 16 March 1912, Page 7

STINKING SAUSAGE SKINS

Whiffs on Wellington Wharf,

A Burst Barrel,

When the • twin-screw .steamer Nikau arrived m Wellington on l\iesday last and berthed "alongside the "E" shed,- among the. cargo discharged from her hold were . . three barrels, which were duly deposited on the lee side of that shed. At the time, the., yni.ojft,; .^tes,Mfc«^«f*i v..Coinjpa'ny's s.s. Mapourika. was" lying' a little farther from the "sfte&^on the. same side, getting, ready to depart for .Westport, Grejymoutl),ijaiid .Hoki- : tika, via Nelsoh^Vat'- 4 RfJS-rrf-' At first : those 'barrels attracted no .attention, . but, . as ' it^wi.li . be remembered, the day broke fine ..and w^arm, and, as raid-day . . approached,- they took unto themselves an odor suggestive of Puck's bad boy's father, m whose coat . pockets the bad boy had placed some limburger cheese; and, m the early hours of the afternoon, ' the atmosphere was redolent j of the :!3'uttn-t : ?. COMBINED ■ ODORf£ 6$ S'I'INKINa FISH, rotten beef, bone dusfc; asafoetida, sulphtiretted hi'drogen/ bisulphide ■ of carbon, and all thej^-xnost malodorous compounds known to the British Pharmacopoeia: r IntenJding 'paasiengers by the s.s. Mapourika who had ..got- to windward ■ot the fragrance, waxed sarcastic on' the -subject of. Wellington's salubrious atmosphere, and niore. than one felt squeamish, although not from mal do mer.. \ • . . . . , • , Matters did. not improve as the afternoon advanced, and eventually one barrel showed distinct ' signs of an evolutionary changed Its sides I began to swell, like Aesop's frog emulating the bull, and, like, the said frog, the inevitable happened ; it burst asunder.' U^tless ' it was annoyed at being left^in' the sun; it seemed annoyed, . for, . tongue though it possessed not, it spoke louder than words, .'and. its frenzied entrails gushed out on the wharf.. Yes, entrails m very truth ! ■ The ' barrels. contained sausage skins bound -for 'ftgahauTaiiga, ' and they were evidently not m a high state of preservation; ' Of course, prompt action was. necessary, ( for, the' .stink was unbearable. Now, some idea of the nuisance may be obtained when it is borne m mind that Is 5d per hour is the regulation wage for ". ' moving cargo; and. nb one could ' be induced to move those barrels .'until . 'PROMISED . 2s; PER HiHJR ...ll_ for doing so ! r The moying didn't\ take long, but long after' the s.s. Mapourika had departed, the barrels had been moved, and the mess had: been cleaned- up,- the rdisgustingaroma hung, about trie wharf and its? vicinity like a palll and 'sickened the-passer-by. Yet these- skths will go tothe meat works, be cleaned- up, and serve as covers to. those ediible bags of mystery which we call sausages, and men, m blissful ignorance, will eat and relish them, ask for a second helping, and then wonder why they don't feel very well !