THE OTOGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1896.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10587, 3 September 1896, Page 2

THE OTOGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1896.

The excerpts from the report to the Government by Mr Henhy Gbay, inspector of produce at London, published by us on Monday, are properly headed "Unpleasant .Revelations." They point to a condition of things in connection ■with the handling of produce "which cannot be permitted to continue, and which ought never to have arisen. It is necessary, in order that a remedy may be found for damage 'which can arise only from carelessness, to find out where that carelessness occurs, and All1 Ghat's report is not so clear on this point as is desir-^ able. Speaking of the cargo of the Hfeshire, from which 12 lambs were condemned, he says that the captain took them on board imperfectly frozen, and on the understanding that they were to be hung up in the hold and hardened en route for the next port. In this case it is clear the captain did what he should not have done, and if the carcases were insured against damage the insurance companies would probably have had a good claim against him. Then we are told that the managers of the Shaw-Savill and New Zealand Shipping Companies attribute the bad condition of recent arrivals to careless treatment at the freezing works ashore. That thiais aa unfounded char©} there,,

can be little doubt. Cleanliness and care are the firefc features at any freezing works of -which -we have any knowledge. In any case, the shipping companies cannot divest themselves ;of the responsibility of receiving \ Imperfectly frozen or badly handledi meat. At every vessel there is, jwe ' understand, a specially-appointed officer to examine each carcase, and Lloyd's surveyor is also in attendance for the same purpose. If any imperfectly frozen or dirty or carelesslyhandled meat is allowed to go on board the responsibility lies with the receiving officers. The rejection of any bad carcases at the ship's side is the wellknown remedy of the ship. Presumably these officers have their instructions to the effect mentioned. IE they have not, the companies are to blame ■■ for remissness. If a shipper gets a " clean " receipt for his shipment, there should be no complaint against him afterwards. Mr Gray also speaks of delay in unloading, and mentions the case* oE the s.B. Duke of Sutherland, where the diecharge of meat did not commence till five days after her arrival. In this case the explanation, is probably easy. It may be found perhaps in the circumstance that consignees found difficulty in arranging for the reception of their consignments, and this difficulty could be overcome by shippers combining and consigning through some well-recog-nised and well-established . channel. The element of chance at the other end must be entirely eliminated. Mr Gbay says he has discussed the subject of '* out of condition" meat with insurance companies, Shipowners, and merchants. He attributes to the first-named an unwillingness for reform lest it should bring about a reduction in rates. This is absolutely incredible, ( and would be on a par with a fire insurance company encouraging incendiarism in order to maintain high rates of premiums. The shipowners complain of increasing negligence at " the other side." This attempt to shift the blame we have already answered. The. merchants, 'it seems,. simply deplore the condition of tilings whicli does not secure for the producer the full value of his produce. All this is bad enough in the case of frozen meat, but with dairy produce the case is worse. The exporter of meat does not suffer a total loss, but submits to a high insurance premium, which spreads the loss over a number of consignments, but the exporter of dairy produce suffers directly because, as a rule, he has no insurance against damage in transit.It is noteworthy that there are no complaints about the condition of dairy produce at the time of shipment, and yet according to Mr Gear's report shipments arrive "in three cases out of five ''-out of'condition.'" It is also noteworthy that the complaints of want of condition 'are of recent origin, and this suggests relaxed attention on shipboard. Mr Gray says that about 800 carcases ex Aorangi were condemned, 500 ex Buteshire, and 22 ex Eimutaka. Out of the Tekoa and Tokomaru several hundreds were condemned, and. out of the Tongariro 1000. As he points out, this represents only a portion of the damage, since a quantity of meat must barely pais the examination of the Board of Health's inspector. No doubt much of this also becomes worse than valueless if we may judge by the incident he quotes, when the Rua'pehu's passengers during, the customs' inspection of their luggage were compelled to stay in a shed where there was a temperature of SO degrees while offensively stinking meat was being examined. An instance which he gives of the temperature of the meat chambers and cargo holds differing from what it was represented to be is stated by Mr Gray to be not exceptional. He found the recorded temperature to be 16 to 20 for meatchambers and 4S to 50for those oi cheese. He found the temperature of butter ranging from 20 to 25 and of cheese from 32 to 56.. The.result of the examination points conclusively to the fact that the temperature may be 32 or 56 according as the cheese is stored in the middle of the chamber or near the cold air trunks. As to the fate of cheese stowed in a disused " second saloon," Mr Geay's report speaks for itself. There is hardly any possible excuse for mishaps to a shipment of cheese. It has been successfully carried as ordinary cargo. It must have ventilation and not too high a temperature; and it is positively 'exasperating to read of alternate shipments being "roasted " and "soaked." It is doubly exasperating when experience has shown that the risk of damage can be reduced to a minimum by the exercise of ordinary care, for there have been practically no complaints for several years. As to ' frozen meat,. we think that Mr Gbay has inadvertently pointed out I the cause of the frequent failures. I His report pretty clearly indicates j that the insulation in some of the vessels has become defective. The ships' officials naturally wish to avert blame from themselves, but if the statements made to Mr Gray are all they can make in their own defence their case is very weak. If meat is not in a proper condition for shipment their plain duty to themselves and their employers is to reject it. We yery much fear that the shipping companies are themselves to blame. There are good grounds for believing, we understand, that the shipping companies, in order to keep their vessels employed, are themselves buying sheep, and that at prices which are delusive. If. this be so it affords a clue to the trouble.