The oldest Manawatu journal: Established 1875. THURSDAY, NOV. 15, 1883. THE MATAURA'S CARGO.

Manawatu Times, Volume IX, Issue 1112, 15 November 1883, Page 2

The oldest Manawatu journal: Established 1875. THURSDAY, NOV. 15, 1883. THE MATAURA'S CARGO.

The frozen meat ti'ade is so important to this country that everything relating to it is of interest to the colonists. The remark applies particularly to failures. Of course fail* tires are certain to occur through accident, or oversight, or mischance. Nevertheless it is well that the most careful scrutiny should be made into any that occur, m order to preveut their recurrence. The Mataura's last cargo was undoubtedly a failure. Out of 7833 carcases of mutton Bhipped ( 33oo were discarded, and sold to an oil merchant to be boiled down for the fat they contained, and when the first thou* sand carcases were placed on the Smithfield market they realised only from 2d to 6£d per lb wholesale —the lowest average price ever ob* tamed for New Zealand mutton. No doubt the ship had exceedingly bad luck this trip, as compared with last, when she did so well. She left Auckland on May 26, and expeiv ienced aggravating easterly winds to Cape Horn, which was not rounded till sth July. The vessel crossed the equator on the 12th August and docked on the 24th September, the voyage having occupied just 120 days. A correspond dent of the Post says : — " I visited the vessel on the 26fch, when they were unloading highly-flavored carcases, and a more awful, sickening stomach-turning stench I never be* fore smelt. To stay m it long was immpossible, and one of the first questions I asked the sailors was how they managed to live amidst such odours. Jack replied , they never even got a whiff of it till the doors of the freezing chambers were "unclosed, otherwise the meat would , have been pitched overboard." As to the cause of the meat going bad, there are wo theories, but no definite ..■ opinion has so far been -arrived, "wfe--,-: One theory .is that the meat was not m a proper state ?6r refrigeration when put on board. Eeferring to this the Post correspondent says :i— l saw Mr Joseph Banks (managing director of Fisher and Co. Limited.) on Monday last. He came Home as much as anything to superintend the disposal of the Mataura's meat, and is, of course, very much disheartened at the re suit of the experiment. Mr Banks gays it iiUjabsurd to attribute the fact of the meat going bad to the carcasei being frozen when warm, and this waß not the case. In no instance was sheep put on board on the day of killing. Ho would not

offer any definite opinion as to the cause of the catastrophe, but I could see he attributed it to carelessness on somebody's part, and when the j insurance question is settled we shall probably know more. Mr Banks appears to think no further attempt will be made to send meat from Auckland till proper freezing depot> have been erected, on shore. This. he reckons, will not be till nex; June." The writer, however, sug gests another theory which certain 1/ appears to us the m«re feasible, viz.. that the refrigerating room was kept at too high a temperature. On this point he says: — "Theconsignees attribute the Mataura's failure to the fact of the carcases having been frozen on board the ship too soon after killing- This was the reason given for some of the British King's cargo going bati ; but I cannot overlook the fact that on both vessels the average temperature at which the freezing chambers were kept was exceptionally high, viz , 18deg. Fahrenheit. Now, on board the British Queen (whioh landed her carcases m far the best order of any so far received) the average temperature was 7' deg. below zero, and the chambers on board the Opawa and fady Jocelyn were usually about lOdeg. Fahrenheit. This, please note, is a considerable difference." The facts mentioned appear to point to the most probable reaaon of the failure of the Mataura's cargo, but it is to be hoped a thorough enquiry will take place as to the whole of the circumstances m order to asecertain, if possible, the exact cau.se.