REFRIGERATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2856, 9 December 1908, Page 10

REFRIGERATION.

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS. CHAT WITH A DELEGATE. (F*om On Own Correspondent.) LONDON, October 23. To-day I had a chat with Mr J. T. Critchell, of the Pastoralists Review, who was one of the British delegates to the International Refrigeration Conference, held in Paris. There was no doubt, Mr Critchell thought, that the British delegation had impressed the conference, at which there were 3000 delegates, and 180 papers read. Practically the French share, in the refrigeration movement was confined to the theoretical. The English-speaking delegates, perhaps, impressed them Avith the view that theory should be reduced to practice. He did not suppose that out of the 180 papere, including American, Argentine, and British, there were 40 papers that could be called practical. The rest dealt with engineering pioblems. At the first meeting Sir Montague Nelson was the. only Englishman who spoke, and. at the concluding meeting Mr John Cools spoke for Australia and New Zealand, in the place of Mr Gilbert Anderson, who had gone to Italy. All. the Australians and New Zealanders who went over were given gold medals, which they are now wearing as souvenirs. Asked as to the practical result of the conference, Mr Critchell said :—": — " With our solitary exception- the proceedings were conducted in French. How is it possible for us to know what is going to happen till we have the publications in full and can digest them? But there has been set up a standing committee on refrigeration. The details are not settled, but the Paris Organising Central Committee is the central point. That remains, and probably all the foreign committees will remain in some shape or other. In course of time our British Committee, under Sir Montague Nelson, will be put into some sort of shape as a standing committee, to which matters connected with pure or practical refrigeration can be remitted- There is going to l>e another congress in. Vienna in 1910, and after that congresses in various parts of the world every three years. My idea is that it will be held in the United States in 1913. The Americans were very aggressive, and that is practically settled. Australians and New Zealanders should take note of the importance attached to these conferences by the Americans, who would like to get refrigeration into their own hands. Then, in 1916, the conference may be held in Berlin, and in 1919 in this country. But that is a long way off. There is no doubt the^JEoreign delegates have now a better idea of what free trade in meat means for the consumer than they had before." Asked as to tHe proceedings at the con-gic-fes, Mr Critchell said it was by good luck that his paper had been the only Biiti&h paper discussed. The Americans

had been extremely interested :n: n Mr Gil- ] i bert Anderson's paper on standardisation, j but probably the most practical and valu- • able paper Vag that Tead by Dr Riddel, j the well-known scientist, who has all along 1 been such a friend of New Zealand meat.