Baby, It's Cold Inside

Yes, that' s snow..... ...lots of it, and it's right here in Gisborne.

If you want to know what it's like to work in an ice-box all day, ask the men in the picture below.

They work in the hanging rooms of the Kaiti freezing-works.

And "freezing" is the right word. Temperature of the rooms is kept at 10 Fahrenheit....that's 22 degrees of frost. So before you grumble on the next cold morning, spare a thought for the boys in the freezer.

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They're Dawson Tautuhi , Api Priestley, Riley O'Rourke, & Lance Potini.

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Liquid ammonia, pumped into miles of pipes, freezes meat as hard as a board. Layers of warm clothing prevent the men from freezing up too.

The pictures below show the daily routine in the chambers—lowering meat down into the main stores to be stacked, ready for shipment.

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Riley O'Rourke cheeks the temperature

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These mutton carcases are as cold as they look

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Toko Riki collects the meat....

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....and George Maynard helps him carry it away

Down the hatch goes a 172lb quarter of ox beef—at the end of a stout length of rope.

Stowers on the deck below are pictured as they gather the meat from the end of the chute.

Tossing 200lbs of beef on to a stack is easy ... when you've got experience, knack, and muscle. Besides, it helps you to keep warm!

Four or five woolly jerseys, at least two pairs of sox and thick gloves are essential items in the freezer where it's winter all the year round.

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Api has his feet wrapped in thick sacking to keep out the cold.

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Bill Armstrong, Bob Warren, George Maynard, Nick Pewhairangi, Toko Riki, and Frank Kovaleski

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Chambers foreman Pat Priestley

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John Hempstalk (foreman butcher), Fred Tolerton (manager), and Jim Barbour (chief grader).