THE NEW SYSTEM OF PRESERVING FOOD.

Otago Witness, Issue 956, 16 May 1889, Page 17

THE NEW SYSTEM OF PRESERVING FOOD.

i AN EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY. (Age's London Correspondent.) . There is a hitch over the formation of the great Imperial Produce Company, which is to double at one, bound the frozen meat .export from New Zealand,' and to enable the inhabitants of Lancashire and the West ,of Scotland to revel in unwonted supplies of cheap mutton. There, is a chance for Messrs Nelson. even yet, thejMessrs M'lver, of Liverpool, having of late demanded terms in regard to the shipping management with which the other promoters are. not disposed to comply. Acting on the analogy of tiho Orient Company, they, want to bind the company to retain them as agents for 10 years, whilst, as X .understand, they demand for themselves the option of terminating the agreement at any time on giving three months', notice. , Thip is rather strong, but at present I under-, stand', there; ia go. sign , of their giving . way, whilst, the prompters tpo are obstinate. ' Mattersare therefore decidedly, at a deadlock. This is ' all the more to be regretted, as I learn that the ; cotnpany has been; promised veryjnfluential support in, Giasgow: ' ' '. ,V.. .■ ■'\ l .'' uVi 'i, . ; jWhUß,fc iHe company, iceferredi.to is. scheming > for lan jenonnouft inoreaie in the .frozeD^meat trWe,t another company ! i 9 coming on th^ ! sdene'-

whi|Bß'pipbmis^s',"fo do tykyfmty < tWf&€ißp"g 'proceps.aj^qgether, v . ,call /t^em's^ves : 'se ,F6qd l Preservation. C.ompany,,apd* on flfuesdayr last entertained a. party of gentlemen ;to lum oheon . at " • the Hotel ' Continental, in Regent streetj.with a view ;of giving ocular" 'proof of the excellence of their method and of 'the edible, and , wholesome character of yiahda p^eseryjed by,, them, /rhe menu was a most recherche one t .and thoughthe items of the bill of fare'iiad all been preserved for weeks theif freshness 'was un'tainted.7"'•'„ '•'..'.,- .'," ' " „ , t . \ ''',-'„"?•!' , At the' luncheon' Mr Wheatpn,",qne of, .those interested in the- English syndicate, which holo> the patent, gave in a few words the history of the invention. '• - t ,'','■'' „, ', '" HOW IT .WAS DISCOTBEBID., , '„.'. ( The process was invQute'd.by an .American chemist /by the- .name of Daniells, , vrho had- been.' at work 'upon it for 14 years, and had. at last brought hi^ experibaents tq'a sue- ; pessftil close.' .There was, no secret aKdut'^the matl.^r, said ,'jlr Whea^on, who i« c an Agie'rioan himself. The.process consists in subjecting the fumes of a powder burnt in an airtight chamber, and that js all.' : The ponder fo\ composed, of. many 'cons^ituenW.'sOme ,pt , wl}jch '^re , sugar;,", cinnamon, sassafras^ nitrate .. of po^assitim, .soda, and sulphur. .'-The inventor sold the patent' rights to an American sybdicate'after the latter 1 inada 'a careful examination', 0$ the^whole 'matter. " We were resolved," said'Mr.'^heatpn, " that.there shouldbe upny of thb Electric sugar fraud about this, and so we tested' it thoroughly beifore buying.' At first I was as" sceptical las any of you, were when you sat" down to "this table, but 'l \yas forced to belieye, : and I have' ta^en up; the "patent!" ,He ca,me, over with Mr Bqwden, another, American, to Englandy is December, for the purpose of introducing the patent here, and Mr Cordher' and others had taken it. up, after severe tests of three months. Late^r the powder, which was on the table, was handed' round for examination. It smelt and tasted like cinnamon, but when 'l put some on a card and set fire to it, it was evident that,sulphur Was a large constituent in it. ,..'.. A YIBIT TO ?HB *' WORKS," Tsß FBOCBSS. SBBN, ' At the invitation of Mr Cordner I went down yesterday to Queen Victoria street, where the, •• works " areV I call them works, bnlnn' reality there* is nothing but a box and a plate'bf powder^ so jsimple^isthe contrivance. ■. Mr, Wheaton and Me Bowden, with young Mr Hobbs, went- over ; everything with me, and I will give a brief sum- ; msry of the whole process. In the room .w^s, a box of about'&t by Bft, which when I saw;itwaß enqpty. In the top, compartment, which is only partially separated from the lower j are two small i zinc tanks, which are filled with ice or cold water. About on a level with the tanks is'a^ittle shelf,' in 1 ' which the plate of powder is put. ', T,he whole of the lower portion of the box is filled with meat to be put through the process. The box is air tight, or nearly so, tho plate of powder' is ignited with a match, and tbe door is closed. The fumes of the vapour rise quickly, over, .the \ tanks, when, they are cooled down to, a suf- ', ficiently low temperature, and thence -descend to the meat and attach it. Jn three hours the ■wKqU of the meat is render ed, incapable offyc,ay. , , If the process, of pdtrefiac^ioi^h'iid/aireaayset in, •it is assented, the .vapour will not allow it to proceed any further. • :The meat may. then l be • taken out, and thrown aside, left 1 anywhere in , any temperature, for any leiigjjli of ' time, and it ' remaining , good. I viewed at the office hams and carcasses > which Wjere trom three weeks, to three' mojiths old, and, they were all fresh and juicy m appearance. Furthermore; the process is applied' not only. £0 ' meat,, but to t vegetables (as we fpund,at the lun|ch), to fruit, and to. flowers. ..Maidenhair sprays. have been preserved after subjection to the vapour for twp weeks, while, as everyone knows; ordinarily they will wither in a day. 'I ( saw oranges ,thf;ee. Months' old, whichhaa^been, out open . .weeks' agoi" and" were still as juicy, and sweet as when they were first picked. 'Fines' and grapes were the sam 6. ' In fine, ttyere'Seenid no end tq the applications and ilses' of this i extending elixir t%£.7;Hides.t saw' which iw^rq eight weeks old, \and ; were as soft as the. day they were pulled off the backs of the bullocks! In a couple of 'days, as eveifyone knows, a hide will kill at 20 yards: '. / ( , 'v , . 18 IT THT7B ? CAN, STATEMENTS BB . , , BILIBVBD ? . , , .... If anyone doubts it is open to him ' in London,' here, to go down to the office and' to" submit; some bir3, rabbit, anything, to ■ tlje process tot; , a few' hours— -to stand' by white, it , is submitted, thence ,to> bear.it off again, to his; house, and there to make a'practioal test of the truth of the assertions ' by keeping it ,|or six , weeks' or' two months" in any circumstances he. .chooses., , „^ . There are just two other points in connection with 'the process which' l should wish to'draw, attention to. One' ,is that ,the meat will keep after bein^ cooked, just as before cooking. How . long tbe nitre of the vapour last? is a moot point. It has been shown, to Jast, over three months, and Mr Wharton informed me that experiment in America has proved it to last over eight months'. It has been suggested that the process is much the same as that employed in ancient,. .times by the Egyptians in. embalming Jhejr dead, for it, is proved that if the preservedlneat is kept for a long time (many months) it has a tendency to get dry, and this would reduce it to, the condition of a mummy in time. The second fact is ttiis : that water placed in the' chamber while. the powder is burning gets impregnated with- the vapour, and acquires the virtue of preserving thejmeat thrown into it. ' Fish have been kept fresh by being thrown into this water for a, whole fortnight. ' ■ . , , .'. - - . THB ADVANTAGES TO THB COLONIBS. ' Now comes the important question' as to how this invention, being all that is' claimed fo^ it, wi 1 affect tbe colonies I think there dan hardly be iwo .opinions ou, the subject. Let me put the facts in a nutshell. ;Afc present ithe growers of sheep in Australia and New Zealand are paid 2|d a ppuud for their mutton; a similar sum is absorbed ip the process of freezing and transport in refrigerating" chambers to England ;', and, _sd is, the sum the mutton brings in the English market. That is to say, a^ sun}, pi 5d per .sheep of 501b is absorbed ' in expenses .between the,' grower aud ; tKe English market; 1 the ; bul]cof this goes'in,the freezing e 4 xpe^sesV%i\. isi expenses b^ ( freezing tty fac^bnes, ex^peQses.of" transmisMpn to steamer, expenses <joi refrigerating Va land, expenses of refrigerating in depots, &c. As a matter of fact.'if sheep could he^sent as ordinary; cargo the;' expenses wpttlcl not be more than '£tl per 1b for freight. I. will not,' however, put the freight as low; as; that, but estimate as the sum per lb charged by ships' from the Antipodes to England. . That would be jabont .£5 per ton,,. 0r 2s per sheep of 501b. Now, the quantity of. meat which I find on inquiry and experiment could "be put into! this small box was, ; roughly speaking, between 2001b and 3001b— that, is, between four andjsix'sheep of 501b, , The amdprit.bf t required to .preserve'; 'these' (l in threQi d"r. .fourthouirs. is £lb, and j;hQ cost o£.the pbwderjiaM per , Let us, say, therefore, that 7d would be the post of preserving the five" sh'eep^br, simply'' ljdjpef.sb.eep. .80 that the co«t of preservation, or export" .tp' JBngjand under" the. new. system, Would^&e*.2a;ljd..for a sheep of -. 501b; ; whereas,, now, under < tho, freezing; system," it is-10r5<l BUrsly^thls' deserves the^ttentioA of everY rpuf. holder in Australia and New Z&lwi'a.'lf 'the 1

'price^oF mutton wfeWS|afiita^ne ; doaty'sdd o aty'sd ;wou;}a"qaußeli net'inferease^Qf ,Bss|^ per , |or !the grower/; Bjifc 1( of ' course, the price w.ould fall, and the English public and the grower split the advantage between them. ' • '■ NO SCIENTIFIC 'BXtBBiMBNTS'AVAiLABLB. : . The ! powder has t been submitted' to various , auVhori^esj and. they cari"fiqd. no vxplanation. for the. i chemical process, which must go blunder -the influence of the vapours. 'Professors, Atfield/tfapp, .Redwood, .and^Tujej, .■the^Goyernmeni'Hnaityst, h^ve>£ch ma air.ex;' °jir,essed < th^emselyfis^.unabis "to, tsa,ce,'tne .damps, which muhfetako:placein the carcasses/. Doubt-.-less we shall know more of it ere long ;, but the inve"ntipn is so receiit chat the authorities have not'Jiad'suffidient'tii^etoexperimentr'. . „ \V,HAT THB PATHNTBBS ,WISH TO DO. The following paragraph on the discovery is from the Argus":—" The patentees' are in the hands of Mr Cordher,of ftussell, Cordner, and .'io6,, 38 Nicholas lane,^ 8.C., and wish to, dispose of the patent rights hvNew Zealand and Australia. They invite Inspection and any 'test that may be desired.ja'nd will be .glad to^heaif from any firm "or, s^ndjpaje who think oorf r p'ur■qh^sing the patent jrights. ' T.he,appftratus.|s";so. simple. that it could be used in a home. All that is necessary is a fairly air-tighfc box, a room, and a few pounds' of the p6wder: No doubt itf wo^ld t become £n. institiitjiott ; ia.'h'eu 6f a cool' chamber, j for game! ,',Mr Hodges.'tells' me that .they have I already all the. patent [rights for; the county, of •Lancasihire only for £150,000. Messrs Nelson and Tyser have'visited the offices' and v works 1 / , and, have gone away ppnder.ing much' an'd unable,.to under ß|;and ;, for without doubt the ,in- ,i vention is^ bound ,fco, revolutionise the colonial j moat trade if uothing eitie." j