The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-12-30
Government Now Patronizes
the Same Cities for It's
KlOndike Expedition.
DEADLY ACIDS IN MEATS.
Commodore Melville Tells of the
Distress OF His Party in the
Frozen North.
Special Dispatch to The Gail.
Call ONCE, Riggs House,
WASHINGTON. Dec. %.

WASHINGTON, Dec %.
The expedition for the relief of Klon-
dixie miners being now under full way,
it has been determined by the War
Department to procure the greater
part Of the provisions in Chicago. in
stead Of San Francisco, I saw Com
modore George w Melville Of the
Navy tonight and asked him whether
the report was true that much of the
provisions furnished for the Jeanette
expedition were worthless.
1T is true" he said, and as 1 recol-
lect the circumstances Of that expe-
dition most Of the provisions were
purchased IN Chicago and New York.
l remember we had q lot of canned
beef which was purchased in Chicago
and New York. It was not old
but after we had sailed and had par
taken Of the stuff several of our men
were sick At first we could not dis
cover the cause, but when the symp-
toms Of lead poisoning developed we
set an investigation on foot, and we
found that the meat was not onlv
highly acidnlated on account Of being
old, but that it was put up in cans
made OF terne' plate, instead Of pure
tin plate.
OF course you know that reputable
dealers Will not can any kind Of food
IN terne plate, for it is poisonous. The
pure tin, in which most pure fruit and
vegetables are canned, is suitable for
the purpose. but when a mixture of
lead and tin is used 10 plate the exte-
rlor or interior surface of these cans
fhgyz
" deletertoUs and often times poison
Gus. Especially is this the case when
the food preserved has remained seal
ed in the cans for any length of time.
This was the character of the social
ed timed beef which we purchased
in Chicago and New York 1t was old
stuff, and, by reason of a long con-
tact with the lead and tin coating on
the interior Of the cans, had become
fmpregnated with the lead and poison
ed our men. True, no fatalities result
ed from this cause, but some of our
men were made very sick.
The stuff was not only irnnronarIv
canned, but was Of an inferior opal,tv
to begin with. Instead of being the
best quality Of beef it was taken from
the jowls and guIets-that is to say.
stringy and altogether worthless.
Now, as far as the Klondike relief
expedition is concerned, I want
to say, since The Call has asked me
the question. that It VIII be unwise
for the expedition to incunrber its
pack trains with a lot of stuff that is
not entirely necessary. I mean to say
that canned vegetables, fruit and
truck are not only weighty but
capacious, and do not contain as much
nutriment as the same quantity of fat
pork and hard bread and white beans
l speak from practical experience I
need not repeat here what the people
already know of the harGships that
our relief party experienced, and how
we lived for days. weeks and months
upon meager diets, hardly sufficient
to keep bird alive. I do not presume
to advise the War Department off,
Gals, nor any officers thereof, regard
ing this expedition. I know that I
will not be considered presumptious
however, In giving some friendly adj
vice based upon practical experience
IN the Alaskan and Arctic regions.
II have found that of all meat pork
is the best for such expeditions It
contains more nourishment to the
pound than beef or any other kind Of
preserved ameat. Not only this. but
fat pork is heating, and this. of
course, is a desideratum in that
climate. But this is too well known to
need comment here Let the pork he
fat. A slice OF it sandwiched between
two layers of hard bread is not so
bad fare, and is full Of nourishment.
Of course, you can get more hard bis
cults out of a barrel Of -four, but il
would be impossible to pack -four
Therefore, a lot Of hard bread, closely
packed, would be more to the pur-
pose.
White beans are excellent They
are not only very nourishing, but can
be eompactly carried. With a diet of
fat pork, hard bread and white beans
one cannot only sustain life for a long
period, but subsist comfortably. After
a man has lived in that Arctic region
as 1 have, and the poor fellows who
were with me, on refuse of all kinds,
on dead horses and dogs, the entrails
of wild fowl which the otter and seal
would kin and finally upon our fur
and skin clothing, diet of fat pork.
hard bread and white beans would
have been a Thanksgiving feast Some
of the poor fellows in De Longs party
were finally limited to diet of
Tablespoonful of sweet oil or so much
glycerine per man per day.
"You have asked me about coffee
have said that It is best not to
lumber up the pack train with any
sort of unnecessary food supplies. At
the same time some such stimulant as
this need not be regarded as a luxury.
And if they have space for 1t they
might take along some tea. 1t Is much
halter than coffee for H1lch an G1pe6-s