http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Tellier
Another French ship, the Paraguay, (built by a competitor) also entered the "cheap meat transport" fray nearly at the same time.
]]>It is a complicated relationship. Due to the tar like nature of Venezuela oil the export markets is limited. And the US still buy 65% of V's oil exports. Which is likely the single biggest funding source for the government.
]]>The first Australian shipment of frozen meat was in 1879, aboard the "Strathleven". An earlier attempt in 1876 failed because of a machinery breakdown.
Ice-cooled railroad trucks date back to 1851 in the USA.
]]>The was an ice house industry that only lasted for a few decades that specialized in "harvesting" ice from frozen lakes and ponds at strategic locations roughly from Chicago to NYC for the railroads to use in reloading as the meat car ice thawed or was unloaded for local distribution.
]]>That said, I think we have to distinguish between keeping things cold in insulated rooms or boxes with ice, and powered cooling technology, which is much more recent.
]]>Mechanical large-scale ice making supplanted it, but the technology for mechanical refrigeration wasn't portable at the level of the railroad truck. Grimsby, one of the major British fishing ports, had its Ice Factory which produced ice for the deep-water trawlers, to keep the fish in good condition for the voyage home. I don't know just when that was replaced by refrigerators on trawlers, but apparently the factory was built in 1901, switched from steam to electricity in 1933, and closed in 1990. I'm a little sceptical about that last date. It's often quoted but it coincides with a change in port ownership.
]]>yep, it's true
this is the compressor room in 1990
http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/01/19/15/1191549_9caa92e0.jpg
]]>It's a "Christian Centre" now, and looks rather post-war industrial in style. a concrete frame with brick infill. Were there two ice factories? There seems to be a certain confusion: the ice factory on the Docks seems to get called the Ice House sometimes.
I have a vague memory of going past it when I had driving lessons, mumble years ago. Cleethorpes Road looks to have changed a lot.
]]>http://lds.localdataimages.com/large/1225/12251348.jpg
is on Victor Street, and
the actual Ice Factory is on the docks
at Gorton street, full details here
http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-479276-the-grimsby-ice-factory-including-railin
[more than you could ever want to know, in fact]
you sound like you know Grimsby well - you called it Cleethorpe Road for a start!
]]>I was having a look at the Streetview images, and Freeman Street is looking pretty rough these days. The images are dated October 2012, and obviously after normal opening hours, but far too many of the shuttered shops have no sign above the shutter. And the cinema has gone.
I cannot find any of the cinemas in Grimsby or Cleethorpes which I remember. One or two buildings have been re-purposed. One on Kent Street, very anonymous, and one in Cleethorpes that looks to be some sort of club. Others have just vanished.
There were, I think, three of them still running when I was learning to drive.
]]>Now there is only one, and it's in Cleethorpes...
http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/58181691.jpg
...but its an improvement on what was there before - and now only the clientele are dirty or unpleasant!
I think the Kent Street one is where I saw Bambi, when I was three
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2355/2324010684_34f8ec93ee.jpg
Freeman street has been in continual decline since the advent of the Freshney Place shopping development, and is now mostly occupied by charity shops. There used to be five second-hand bookshops, a second-hand record shop there - all gone.
The ABC cinema on Grimsby road, Cleethorpes burnt down in 1985 and a drive-through McDonalds occupies the site. The Empire Theatre became a bingo hall, and is now and amusement arcade.
Modern commerce has destroyed much of what made Grimsby and Cleethorpes interesting, as it has many other small towns.
]]>The car parks for the Riverhead were between that road and the water. I think there were pedestrian subways.
I think I might be horribly confused if I tried to drive through now.
Incidentally, it's a good example of the limits of Streetview. There were public rights of way through the Riverhead Centre, all gone now. Part of Victoria Street is pedestrianised. There's a black hole in the available geography.
]]>