THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 2888, 13 December 1898, Page 4

THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

5 - .- — * \ The following is extracted from the ' 0.0. and D. Oo's circular by the Vancou- , ver mail, dated, London 21st October : — I New Zealand Mutt0n.— 145,438 car- , cases have been received m the four , weeks, and 1,156,824 since January Ist ; \ 530,703 of these were from Canterbury, the next largest exporter being Welling- ', ton with 454,076, a considerable increase , on last year ; Otago and Southland are ( credited with fewer carcases this year , than last, Auckland has fallen off i slightly, Maryborough has increased fiye- \ fold, and Napier also has added consid- \ erably to last year's numbers. A steady , trade has been done, and for North IsJ land mutton at rather high prices ; r stocks are light and buyers take this , mutton m preference to the higher priced [ Canterbury, the demand for which is now , much less than it used to be when Can- , terbury mutton was so much superior to , all other importations that consumers , willingly paid the higher values asked. I Of late prices and quality have approx- . imated and the old buyers of prime Can- ! terbury seem now to get their require- , ments from other sources of supply, - Dutch mutton to a considerable extent ; taking the place of the unobtainable first-i I class prime New Zealand. Prices are ' much as they were four weeks.ago. Selected Canterburys of the choicest brand \ are offered by the single carcase at 3|d. I per lb., others lacking the prestige of 3 brand and former reputation, butprob- , ably as good mutton, are quoted at 3|d I to3£dperlb. Dunedins and Southlands are worth about 3£d for heavy to 3£d for \ medium weights, a few going to 3|d. [ North Island mutton sells at about the . same prices, but stocks are very light, > and buyers miss the useful meaty car--5 cases to which they have so long been , accustomed. I New Zealand Lamb.— 15,589 have been . received, bringing the total since Janu- . ary Ist to 1,125,030. Of this large num- , ber Canterbury has contributed 814,139, Otago and Southland coming next with I 198,483, followed by Wellington with i 64,713, Napier 22,036, Marlborough , 15,512, and Auckland 10,148. Though de- \ mand lessened considerably! week by - week, a 'fairly good trade has been done, and large numbers gone into con- [ sumption at no great reduction m ; values, 4£d to 5d per lb being obtainable ', till this week, when a change to real , autumal whether seems to have brought , the trade almost to a standstill, helped } perhaps by the importation of numbers I of small Dutch lambs have sold at 4£d to [ 4|dperlb. Very few New Zealand lambs j have been marketed this week ; the best ; have made about 4fd down to 4^d for t plainer sorts. Stocks are very light but . with afloats there should be ample to : satisfy the probably limited require- , ments till new season's come to hand. j Since -January Ist, 979,166 carcases of ' Australian mutton have been landed, and t 1,950,626 of River Plate. Stocks of both are low. The former sells at 2|d to I 2f d per lb ; the latter at 2f d to 2£d m t London. ! The Swedish bride fills her pocket , with bread, which she dispenses to every- [ one she meets on her way to church, [ every piece she disposes of averting, as j she believes, a misfortune. : In connection with the Congress of I the Sanitary Institute recently held m 5 Birmingham, a lecture was delivered i by Dr Hill, Master of Downing College ■ and Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge Uni- . versity, on what he called •• Unnatural i Deaths," m which results «sf careless- > ness and ignorance and neglect where : very forcibly pointed out. The lecturer ■ stated that the number of babies born , annually m England and Wales ap- ■ proaches a million, and then went on ! to show the fates that awaited these ! children according to statistics that are , carefully compiled. He said 30,000 of the , million would die violent deaths from ! accident, 30,000 would die unneces- ; sarily from tuberculosis ; and a hundred i and twenty thousand more from other j absolutely preventable causes, such as t smallpox, measles, and scarlet fever. ! Only forty-five thousand would be al- ■ lowed to live out their natural lives, and , only one m twenty would die because s the machine was worn out. Dr Hill said i that one quarter of all the diseases which • destroy life are absolutely preventable, s and fifteen years would at once be added , to its average duration if the practice of i hygiene were placed on a level with its : theory. He attributed the greater nums ber of the diseases, over which the individuals affected by them have personal i control, to mistakes m eating and drink- ■ ing.