The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-10 00:00:00

AUSTRALIAN MEAT FOR ENGLAND.

Experiments in the preservation of meat still excite
public interest. From New South Wales we learn that
an attempt is about to be made by Mr. Mort in conveying
a cargo of meat, frozen by his process, from Sydney to
England. The process has been for a long time before
the public, and a practical test of it will be watched with
interest by all concerned in what is now one of the most
important questions of the clay. An instance of the
success of the process carried on by the Victoria Meat
Preserving Company, under the management of Mr. R.
M'Cracken, has recently been brought under notice. Two
legs of mutton cured by their process were hung in the
rigging of the brig Greyhound, and remained there six
weeks, while the vessel made a trip from this port to Hobart
Town and back. The meat was afterwards cooked, and
proved to be perfectly sound and palatable from the outside
to the bone. The Victoria Company supply meat cured
in this way at a cheaper price than salt beef, and it will
no doubt come into extensive use among the shipping.
The Melbourne Meat Preserving Company still carry on
their operations, under the management of Mr. Ritchie ;
and in the preparation of tinned meat, to which they limit
themselves, they will inevitably take a leading position
among colonial preservers of meat for the home market.
A gratifying piece of testimony to the success of Mr.
Ritchie's process was afforded by Messrs. Wilkie, Welch,
and Co., in a letter to this journal a few days ago, stating
that a most satisfactory trial had been made by Mr.
Welch, in London, of some Australian roast mutton,
cured by Mr. Ritchie before his connection with the com-
pany. Mr. D. Medlock's process of curing joints of meat
by dipping them in bisulphate of lime was put to a
public trial the other day at the Governor Arthur Hotel,
Little Bourke-street, where a number of gentlemen dined
off roast and boiled legs of mutton, and roast and boiled
beef, which had been subjected to the process about three
weeks before. The meat was served up hot, and
proved to be quite equal to fresh cuts, the gravy being
retained. Mr. Medlock's process is expected to prove very
useful for families and shipping. He is, however, like
almost all the numerous projectors of schemes for meat
preservation, ambitious of trying to get at the home
market, and a shipment of meat prepared by his process
was sent to England by the Lincolnshire on her last trip.
The result of the experiment cannot be known for some
time to come, but should it prove successful, a cheap way
will have been found of solving the problem which has
engaged so many ingenious minds among us.--Melbourne
Age, July 18.

EXPLOSION OF A POWDER MAGAZINE.

The Italian journals give some details of the blowing-up
of the powder magazine at Cagliari, in Sardinia. Three
distinct detonations succeeded each other with the rapidity
of lightning, and the next moment the entire building
was a heap of ruins. The prison and the military
hospital of San Vicenzo were also seriously damaged.
Five dead bodieswere found at once, horribly mutilated,
and subsequently two others, those of a major of artillery
and a young doctor. A large number of persons were also
wounded. The disaster is believed to have been caused by
the explosion of a steam-engine, which was out of order,
and to the state of which the officer above•mentioned had
previously called attention. All the local authorities were
present at the interment of the victims, and a subscription
has been opened for the families of the workmen killed.
The inhabitants now demand that the magazine should be
rebuilt outside the town.