Mitchell and Richards' Meat Preserving Works.

Few of our readers, perhaps, have any idea of the importance of the industry springing up here in this line. Those who see the large quantities of meat which come down from the slaughter yards in the waggons may be able to imagine what is being done, but neither this, nor seeing the number of cases and casks shipped to Wellington, would en able them to form a correct idea of the work being done. To get at this it is necessary almost to go through the works, but as this is not possible for all, perhaps a few figures may enable them to form some idea. In the first place, 150 head of cattle are put through in a week, and if this page 29 rate is kept up long, graziers need have no fear of a market for their stock. The number could easily be increased to 300 head if the firm were pushed with orders which required immediate execution. The firm do very little in the way of preserving mutton, beef being the article for which they have most demand. Of course, to put through the number of cattle named, a large staff of hands are required, and at present the firm have over sixty hands in employment—that is, counting case-makers, coopers, and others, who, though kept employed by the industry, do not work on the premises. The scene at the Guyton Street works is a busy one. The meat is received there in boxes (having been boned at the slaughter-house), and from these it is emptied on to tables, and thence conveyed to the boilers as required, After being boiled for a time it is taken out of the pan, cut up, and tinned. A number of men and boys are employed doing nothing else but filling tins and compressing the meat by means of screws. The tins having been filled, they are sent to the upper floor by means of an hydraulic lift; here the tins are topped, and then placed in pans to boil for a certain length of time. A hole is left in the top of each tin, which allows the steam to escape; after standing for a time the holes are soldered up, and then the tins are lifted out by a block and chain and conveyed to a cold water bath, in which they remain until cold enough to handle. When the time comes they are painted, labelled, and cased, and then are ready for export. That a large space is required for storeage goes almost without saying, and seeing that during last week there were over one hundred tons of tinned meat on the premises, our readers can easily imagine that already the firm find themselves cramped for want of room. To resume our description of the ground-floor, we may state that tinned beef is not by any means the only branch of the business, for stacked along the walls we noticed large quantities of salted beef stacked in tiers, and for which we believe there is a very large demand. Large tierces of boiled beef were also to be noticed stacked up. Next we noticed a plentiful supply of ox tails, ox tongues, kidneys, &c., all of which are preserved by the firm, and for which they find a ready sale. These delicacies, together with soups, sheep's tongues, and other small lines, are popular, and the firm have resolved to go in for another line, viz., roast beef. To supply this, they are having a 400-gallon tank fixed up as a gas stove, and in this the roasting will be done. It would not do to pass over the tin-making in such an establishment, for this is one of the most important branches of the industry. On the day we visited the works it was estimated 1650 tins would be turned out, and it goes without saying that, to achieve that result, a large number of hands have to be kept on. The majoaity of those employed are boys, and the dexterity with which they put page 30 together the tins is remarkable. The whole of the cooking, is done by steam, for which purpose a boiler, manufactured by Mr. D. Murray, has been erected. In this manner it may be seen that one local industry helps another, and we are glad to be able to record the fact that our local foundry can in such lines compete successfully with those of other places.