FROZEN MEAT AND PRODUCE EXPORT COMPANY,

Otago Witness, Issue 1540, 14 May 1881, Page 18

FROZEN MEAT AND PRODUCE EXPORT COMPANY,

A meeting of the Committee of the projected frozen meat and produce export company was held in the Chamber of Commerce room, Colonial Bank buildings, on Wednesday. There were present— Messrs E. B. Cargill (chairman), M. Holmes, W. Fraser, J. Ashcrof t, ! A. C Begg, G. Bell, R. Wilson, N. Y. A. Wales, J. Shand, J. Roberts, D. Stronaeh, R. Wilson, H. Handy side, and H. Houghton (secretary).

Mr Caroill said : Well, gentlemen, the principal purpose of our meeting to-day is to receive the report of Mr Wales, which has been placed in your hands in a printed form, and which you have now had an opportunity of reading over. I take it that you will all be prepared to agree that we have done wisely in postponing any action in the way of the construction of works, or the establishment of this business, until we succeed in getting all the information that it is possible to have on the subject. The fact is that the whole matter is one for experiment as yet, and we can very well afford to wait the result of those experiments on a large scale which are being made now both in Sydney and Melbourne, and if they succeed, as we have every hope they will, we shall then be in the best position to proceed in our own way to such an extent as may be necessary. Probably, in addition to what appears in the report here, Mr Wales may be able to afford us some useful information as to what he witnessed and where he went in Australia, and I think perhaps the best thing will be to ask Mr Wales to kindly describe to us what he did and what he saw. The report, which had been circulated among the members present, and was taken as read, was as follows :—

Mr Chairman and Gentlemen, —In accordance with the resolution of the Committee of the proposed Frozen Meat and Export Company, passed at a meeting held on the 12th March last, I have the honour to report having visited the Meat Refrigerating Works at Maribyrnong (Victoria), Glebe Island (S} dney), and at Orange (N.S.W.)

" At Maribyrnong extensive and expensive buildings were erected, and one of Giffard's machines is in use there. This machine was expected to blow 260 cubic feet of air about lOdog below zero per minute, and the chilling-room was proportioned accordingly. But in practice it was found ntcessary to decrease the 6ize of the chilling-room before the fieezing could be accomplished, and further alterations were being made at the time of my visit. The building is two storeys, built of wood, has double walls 2ft thick, packed between with tan. The total cost of the buildings and machinery, including boiler and pumps and fitting up of machinery, was about £11,000. In addition to this expenditure, a duplicate machine was made by a local firm of engineers, Messrs Robertson Bros., and fitted up on board of the Protos, at a cost of about £1750, including the freezing-compartment. The faith of the Victorian Meat Freezing Company in the ultimate success of the undertaking is, I think, established beyond a doubt. In addition to the large expenditure already incurred, two new machines, to cost £2500 each, and of four times the capacity of those now in use, were ordered by the Company to be ready by 31st March last, but they were not out of the workshops when I left Melbourne, on the 22nd April ; and arrangements have also been made for SOO tons of space in the Protos each trip, for two trips, with the option of fitting up an additional 400 tons if required. "At Sydney little progress has been made. A large machine is being fitted up by the Bell-Coleman Company expected to blow 2 JOO cubic feet of cold air per minute, and said to be capable of freezing between 20 and 30 tons of dead meat daily for exportation, if required. Tenders wore being invited for the erection of a chilling-room 100 ft by 80ft. I had no means of ascertaining the probable cost of these works. "At Orange, a town 192 miles west from Sydney, with a population of about 3500, tho centre of a large agricultural and pastoral district, a company has been formed (copies of whose ' proposals for the exporta' tlon of frozen meat ' have been distributed wongst members) that will undertake, to paddock, hill, fwwe,

prepare, and deliver alongside steamer in Sydney Harbour the frozen meat on stockowners' account at M per lb. Tho engineer (Mr Sheldon) kindly showed me over the premises, and explained the working of the machinery. This spirited Company are, no doubt, now in full swing. At the time" of my visit, on 15th April, the works were expected to bo ready in a few clays. Since my return from Melbourne I have noticed in tho latest files of the Melbourne papers telegrams from Sydney which state that 'About 100 gentlemen sat down at the Agricultural Show to a lunch of frozen meat from Orange. The beef, mutton, pork, veal, and poultry were all excellent, retaining the flavour and colour, and tenderer than when fresh. The lunch \vas7n. great success." The refrigerating engine is one of Giffard's patent, manufactured by J. and E. Hall, and is of the same capacity as that in use at Maribyrnong— said to be capable of producing 15,000 cubic feet of cold air per hour. Three chilling-rooms have been built, of an aggregate capacity of about 9000 cubic feet. These rooms are built of wood, have double walls and ceilings packed with sawdust, and have concrete floors. They are fitted with iron bars and hooks for hanging the carcasses ; and a siding from the main line of railway runs close alongside the rooms. With these appliances the Orange Company expect to be able to prepare and freeze 400 tons of dead meat per week, if required. " Such is a short description of the meat refrigerating works at the three different places visited by me. And now to apply the information gained. The first and most important point to consider is the kind of cold dry-air machine to adopt. There are several 'cold air or freezing machines ; but, from the slight information available concerning them, the choice, I think, is limited to two— the Giffard or the Bell-Coleman.

" The Giflard is a compact, self-contained, and comparatively effective machine— that is, the compression, cooling, and expansion are all done within the machine. The air is drawn from the atmosphere into the compressing cylindor, and passes through the cooler into the receiver. An iron box, forming the body of the machine, contains the cooler and receiver. The cooler contains a number of small tubes, outside and around which cold water is playing while the compressed air is passing through the tubes, during the cooling process, to the receiver; thence to the expansion cylinder, and through the snow-box into the chilling-rooms. Messrs Robertson Bros., engineers, &c, Melbourne, are making two new machines, which they call an improved Giffard machine. What the improvement is I was unable to find out, except that these are to have three cylinders, which can be worked separately, or together if necessary. Whether they have discovered a better means of cooling and drying the air before expansion has not transpired. I endeavoured to get from Robison Bros, prices and particulars of three Bizes of machines, and an idea of the time required to make and fit up in Otago suchamachine as that in use at Maribyrnong. They kindly supplied me with price of construction, but they were -too busy to give particulars, or to state a time for completion. 1 ' The Bell-Coleman machine differs from the Giffard, inasmuch as cold water is injected into the compressor during compression, which serves to lubricate the working parts in the cylinder and to keep the temperature of the air as low as possible. The compressed air is then forced up through water spray in what is called a wafer-tower, and then conveyed in pipes round the walls or in the partitions of the chilling-room, where it passes through a system of drying-pipes before being expanded. The more the compressed air can be cooled and dried before expansion, the less snow is formed in the snow-box and cold-air passages. " But it is not on these grounds that I should guide this Committee to the selection of a particular machine. Engineers and others at Home are now discussing this branch of the subject. It is found that there is room for improvement, and the old adatre, ' When doctors differ, &c.,' holds good here. Scarcely two engineers agree as to the best method of cooling and drying the air. The whole thing is in a transition stage. So far as I have been able to learn by inquiry and observation I think, without disparaging in any way the Giffard machine, that the Bell-Coleman will be the most suitable for your purposes. You have their agent here, with whom you can arrange for the prompt delivery of a machine or machines of the capacity required. The sizes of the machines to be ordered depend very much upon the quantity of stock available for export. Bell - Coleman's No. 2 machine costs (f.0.b.) at Glasgow £80 j, is said to blow 15,000 cubic feet of cold air per hour, and to freeze a space of 8300 cubic feet. With two of these machines, which I think would be preferable to one large machine, five cold-air chambers or freezing-rooms (each about 30ft x 15ft, and capable of holding in a hanging position for freezing about 100 quarters of beef or about 650 sheep, or, supposing all the five rooma to be fully charged, 2000 carcasses of beef or 3250 sheep) could be frozen at one time and repeated twice a week, or perhaps five times in a fortnight if required ; or three of the rooms could be used alternately with one of the machines at work. The freezing-rooms should be built inside a larger building, with a clear space of 10ft or 12ft all round, except where the cold air is delivered. Protection on that side is afforded by the building in which the machine is placed. This space is not lost. The spent cold air allowed to escape from the freezingrooms will keep it cool, and the space can be used for packing and other purposes when all the freezingrooms are in use. Bell-Coleman's No. 3 machine, tho next size, is much larger and more costly. The price is £1875. It is said to blow 36,000 cubic feet of cold air per hour, and to freeze a space of 20,000 cubic feet. The two machines recommended are said to blow 30,000 cubic feet per hour, and to freeze a space of 16,600 cubic feet, and to cost £1600. If one machine only is employed an accident may stop the whole work, but with two machines complete stoppage is scarcely probable. Should the Committee entertain a doubt that a sufficient quantity of stock will not be forthcoming to warrant the erection of works so extensive, one of the machines of the capacity named would work three freezing-chambers ; or two of the No. 1 machines, each capable of blowing 9000 cubic feet of cold air per hour, would work four freezing-rooms. The price of No. 1 machine is £675, f.o.b. at Glasgow. " The site for tho proposed works should be as near to the port of shipment as possible, providing that sufficient accommodation and good water are available for the cattle and the sheep, and for slaughtering purposes. The site should be sxifficiently large to admit of extension. It is almost necessary that meat-preserving should go on simultaneously with the freezing operations. There are parts of the carcass that would be lost if sent Home as frozen meat, and wasted if not presorved. In Victoria no shoulders are frozen. These are sold to the Meat Preserving Company at Id per lb, and as the trade expands (no doubt it will do so) it will be found that the blood and offal can be converted by the aid of machinery into rich and almost inodorous manures, which can be sold at a handsome profit. It is absolutely necossary that the railway should be connected with the works, and that tho trucks should be loaded in the building. If the works are within from 20 to 30 miles of port, a depot there would not be needed, as the meat could be carried from the trucks direct to th<? ship. "Ihe total cost of the undertaking can only be approximated till the site is determined on ; but the necessary buildings— of the extent and constructed as indicated, and including two freezing - machines, boilers, boiler-house, and machine-rooms, chimney, and slaughteryards— wi 1 cost about £7000. If two No. 1 machines or one No. 2 machine are thought to be sufficient, about £6000 would cover the cost of the necessary buildings and plant."

Mr Wales, in response to the request made by the Chairman, said: Mr Chairman and gentlemen, the report is necessarily short, but it contains almost in a nut-shell all that I saw, and was able to learn, except, of course, some minor details— important in themselves—which it would be necessary to attend to if the construction of works was entered upon. It was scarcely necessary to_ detail these at a meeting of full Committee. If the idea of going on with works as entertained, I shall be of course prepared to submit all these minor points to the Committee, but I do not think it is now necessary to add anything to the report. The repoithas been placed in your hands, and I dare say read by all. Since writing it, and in fact within the last hour, I have received a periodical, which I am in the habit of getting from Sydney, which almost gives later news than I wasj able to get when there. I will just read you an extract from it : it is with reference to the new machine imported to Brisbane. I do not know whether any of you have seen in the "Engineer" for January discussions taking place with reference to compression and refrigeration of air. This is the Australian Engineering aud Building News, which says : — " The machine which has just been received at Brisbane makes another step in the advance of this system ; and although the results already attained were from experiments made previous to shipment from England, they indicate a very marked improvement on any machine yet seen in these Colonies. This plant has been manufactured by the Huxlaua Foundry Company (Limited), Derby, and is the invention and patent of Mr A. Serle Huxlam, one of the partners of that firm. From a contemporary we learn that at the experiments conducted by Mr Huxlam at his works water and ajr were admitted into tho machine at 90deg. Fahrenheit, The air was compressed to about 321b. per square inch and. hente^ to about 280deg., and then passed through the reMgCr&tor ajjd, expanded, leaving th 9 mwfolM At ft

f temperature ranging from 30 deg. to 60deg. below zero The volume of air discharged continuously from the machine is at the rate of 24,000 cubic feetper hour at an average temperature of 40deg. below zero. The air delivered was quite dry, and though the machine had been running about 70 hours, the deposit of snow was almost nil." Now that is the most important part of the whole system of mechanical refrigeration—to get the air cold and sufficiently dry, so that when expanded to the lowest degree there shall be the least deposit of snow or formation of ice. That is the great difficulty with the Giffard machine, and also a difficulty in 8011-Colenun's, that snow is deposited, and these cold-air troughs or conduits have to be constantly kept clear of this snow. " One of the chief features of the machine is the production of pure dry air. A second important feature is that the same degree of cold can be obtained with water in the refrigerator at lOOdeg. Fahrenheit as can be obtained with water 40deg. Fahrenheit. This is a matter of the greatest importance when ships are passing through the tropics, as the water available for refrigerating ranges in the sea from 80deg. to 90deg. Fahrenheit. In a large temporary chamber representing the hold of a ship, and having a cubic capacity of 24,000 cubic feet, the temperature ranged from lOdeg. below zero to 80deg. Fahrenheit. It is estimated that in a permanent structure the air can be maintained in such a chamber at zero with only a few hours working per day." I thought it right I should read this, it having come in later than my report, because it is a matter I think should be inquired into. The whole thing, as the Chairman has said, is still a matter for experiment, and I have no doubt that these machines will be improved upon for years to come. It will not do to wait for the last improvement always, but if there is a later improvement known to be an improvement, I think it should be adopted. As to the quantity of meat that could be frozen by the two machines which I have recommended, I find that supposing 200 carcassea of beef were taken at an average of 8001b, that would amount to about 160,0001b ; and if the charge were the same as the Orient Company's, that should return a good profit for the shipment ; and |taking double that quantity, which should be done in a week easily, that would be a handsome return. Or, taking sheep instead of cattle, 3250 sheep would be frozen, representing, at an average of 561b each, 182,0001b, which would represent £400. The only question the Committee have to decide would be the quantity of stock forthcoming", for with respect to the machinery there would be no difficulty, because both the Bell-Coleman's and the Giffard's have been used with success. If the Committee think that the quantity of stock will not be forthcoming to warrant them in undertaking such extensive works, there is always the alternative of getting a smaller machine. Mr Cargill : Where did you go ? Mr Wales said that when he arrived in Melbourne he waited upon Mr Larnach, and with him visited the works at Maribyrnong, a few miles from Melbourne, where there were also large meat-preserving works The frozen-meat works were distinct from the meatpreserving works. Here he learned hardly anything, though the manager was very courteous ; still he could not gain much information by merely walking through the works. They had here a Giffard machine, a duplicate of which had been made in Melbourne and placed on board the Protos. After the Protos left, the Company ordered two new machines to be made by Messrs Robertson Brothers of very much larger capacityfour times the capacity of the one at Maribyrnong— which were to cost £2500 each, and to have been ready last month, but were not likely to be ready for this trip of the Protos. The Company had contracted to supply the ship with 800 tons of meat, and had the option of taking up 400 tons more space if they could fill it. When he visited the Meat Freezing Works extensive alterations were in progress. That was the only undertaking of the kind in Victoria. He had spent a good deal of time endeavouring to get prices and other particulars for the construction of suitable machines by Messrs Robertson Bros., but had only been successful in getting a price from them, which would be placed at the service of the Committee. From Melbourne he went to Sydney, but the only thing done here wag the erection of a room which was being fitted up for a machine sent out from the manufac* turers of the Bell-Coleman machine in Glasgow. An engineer from the firm was engaged under contract with the Government to see the machine in working order. The refrigerating-room had not been [commenced when ho was there ; but tenders had been called for— it was to be 100 ft by 80ft, and capable of containing from 20 to 30 tons of frozen meat, and tho machine, he understood, was guaranteed to freeze 20 tons of meat in 24 hours. From Sydney he went to Orange, and found that more had been done in a busl» ness-like way there than In either of the other places he had visited. The machine here was a counterpart of the one at Maribyrnong, and the Victorian Company had lent their engineer to the Orange Company. The machine was to be ready in a few days, and he had seen since that that it had been all right, for they had sent down a lot of meat to Sydney. A "digester" had been erected at the works with a view to utilising the offal and boiling down the tallow. Three freezingchambers had been erected, and it was in contempla* tion to erect a fourth, to be used as a packing-room, .and also to erect meat-preserving works to preserve the parts of the carcass it was thought inadvisable to send Home. He also saw the Orient steamer's machine at work on board before the vessel left Hobson's Bay. Messrs Burt and Larnach were with him at the time. The chamber was filled with meat procured in Sydney. They did not see the chamber, but only the machine at work. 'I he meat was for ship stores, but no doubt any surplus would be disposed of in London. He also went on board the Lnsitania, and' into the freezing-chamber, which was bcinsr prepared to receive the meat. The machine had only been at work an hour, and the tern* perature of the room had been rednced about 6deg. —(The Chai man: That's very little.) It was intended to take the meat on board that night. There was more difficulty in cooling a compartment on board ship than one on land. In reply to other questions by the Chairman, Mr Wales said: The chamber on board the Bhip was simply a square room lined with wood ; he was not sure whether it was or was not packed with sawdust. He had heard that in some instances the spaces were packed with wool, which was afterwards sold at Home, and thus the space was utilised for cargo. The freezing-rooms were in the.hold, on the same level as the engines, and as near the boilers as possible, as the steam from the boilers wa3 utilised for the purpose of driving the machines. He did not come to any conclusion as to the merits of the Bell Coleman and Giffard machines further than was necessary to justify him in recommending the Bell-Coleman machine. As he had said, it was a question for expert engineers versed in this particular branch of engineering, and from the discussions that had taken place it appeared impossible to get two engineers to agree aa to their relative merits. He could not take upon himself to say which was the best. The cost of a Giffard machine landed in Australia was £1100, while a BellColeman machine of equal capacity was delivered f.o.b. at London for £800. Mr Ashcroft : Is there not a special charge for using the Bell-Coleman machine ? Mr Walks : There has been ; but I understand they forego all royalty on land machine?. And another thing I may mention is that Messrs Bell and Coleman are willing to arrange with any firm of engineers | in the Colonies to commence making their machines, but I suppose they would expect some consideration. These machines for refrigeration have been in existence for some time. Some of the patents have run out ; but this seems to be a patent upon a patent that Bell-Coleman have, and I suppose it has some time to run. In reply to other questions, Mr Wales said that Mr Burt had agreed with him in preferring the Bell-Coleman machine. From 15 to 20 sheep went to the ton. Sheep were sent as whole carcasses ; but in Victoria they did not send the shoulders of beef, but cut it off at the fourth rib. All the meatjwas wrapped in calico, but the packing was not expensive. For packing a thousand sheep £26 was paid. The Melbourne Company had gone to a large expense in buildings and machinery, and a good deal had been expended in experimenting. The builtjing of thp freezing-room h»4 cost £3000; the walls were double, were two feet thick, and the intervening space had been filled with tan. Tho sum of £800 was the cost of the machine without a boiler. Mr AsncaoFT said that what the Committee had to do was to provide fot the frozen meat on shore, and as it would take some months to bring the Company into working order, the best thing would be to get as perfect a machine as possible out from Home. Mr R. Wilson moved— "That the report be printed and published for general information thr. ughout Otagoand Canterbury; that the Committee bring up a report this day fortnight, and that a general meeting be then called for further consideration." The Hon. M. Holmes, in order to expedite matters, moved as an addition to the motion the following words : " And that the adoption of a prospectus for the proposed meat export company be then submitted." Mr Ashcroft suggested that the meat-preserving works at Green Island might be obtained by the Company, and that the Committee should look into this matter, . The chairman and several other members of iht Committee approve pi too suction, miMt fibAitf

»ld he did not think there would bo any difficulty in W ero entered Into it would be well to see if the Comit was necessary first of Sting X Company, but not othcrw.se. ATr Wilson said the sub-committee could take into coSS tt question of a suitable site and report thought some directions should be given to the Committee as to the amount of the nominal ?+,i nf the Company. There had been some talk S^nSiSitSWMi-nm the public would be fr fheHon. a M. Holmes: In reply to Mr Begg.lmay Sent to float the Company, get materials^ and "SSKSfiT rfi «S« amended on the sug gestion of the Hon. M. Holmes, was earned ««***. «„"», Daliretv and Co., containing copies of papeia lodged with thanks. This concluded the business.