EXPORTATION OF FROZEN MEAT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5949, 5 March 1881, Page 3

EXPORTATION OF FROZEN MEAT.

_An adjourned meeting of the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce was held yesterday afternoon Jor the purpose of receiving the report of the subcommittee appointed at last meeting. Mr W. J. II I-arnach occupied the chair, and among those present -were Messrs D; Stronach, A. C. Begg, E. B. Carsill Anderson, the Hon. M. 'Holmes, T Kattray, tn<i J. Cargill. - The Secretary reported that an account had beeW opened with the Colonial Bank and £90 deposited That a circular drawn up by the Chairman had been freely circulated by post in the Otago, Southland and Canterbury districts. That a lette? had been received from Mr J. E. Parker, of H. and J Parker Chnstchureh, as follows:—"I beg to subscribe £200 towards the undertaking which you have in hand I think no trade will induce steam quicker, and no trade will do more good to the country than this, if successful. If there is any difficulty in raising the money we car. go another £50." That a letter had been received w?« f°w K:■■Donaldson, butcher, Dunedin, giving hints that might be found useful, one being that the cattle before being slaughtered should be fe3 on rocksalt, in order to get rid of all gases. .The Chairman said that the sub-committee had very nriJlU^rnS*^' "H"™? 011 ™ no reply had been received from the shippmg people. The local agents had telegraphed Home, W; the reply had not yet arrived. _He might mention that Mr T. Burt had called on him and intimated that his brother, Mr A Burt, was vimting Sydney and Melbourne, and would ■willingly inspect the-meat-freezing operations in those places, and report to the Council if desired The Committee could scarcely do better than en<*a«-e Mr. Burt to report, for he was just the practicaf man required to get them the information they wanted Me would not require payment for his services, for he

would be gaining information that would be of use to his firm.

Mr E. B. Caroill moved, and it was carried unanimously—" That Mr A. Burt be asked to inspect the works at Sydney and Melbourne, and furnish the Committee with full information as to the various freezing processes, construction and making of machines, nature of fittings in ships, room required, and all other details."

The Hon. M. Holjibs suggested that the Committee should come to a decision as to whether the project should be carried out as a public company or a private undertaking. No time should be lost unnecessarily, for the best time for sending moat Home would be the five or six months commencing about December next. He also asked if depots for shipping meat would be formed at the Bluff and Oamaru.

After.discussion it was decided that, pending tho arrival of a reply from the shipping people and other information, the amount of capital required could not be ascertained. As to establishing depots at places outside Dunedin, the Chairman thought that would deptnd on the amount of success attending the experiment at Dunedin.

Other members coincided with this view, and tho subject dropped. Mr Larnach intimated that he would be absent from Dunedin for a fen- weeks, and Mr E. B. Cargill was elected chairman in his stead.