Evening star., 1898-12-31
Board of Surveyto Investigate Beef
Served the Army.
WAR DEPARTMENT MOVED TO ACT
Gen. Eagan's Written Request Has
Been Complied With.
TO BEGIN NEXT TUESDAY


order for the assembling of a board of off,
GERS in this city on Tuesday next, at 10
a.m., to investigate the whole subject of
the beef furnished the army during the
war with Spain. This action was taken in
compliance with a written request from
Commissary General Eagan, as the result
testimony before the war commission. The
text of the order is as follows:
BY direction of the Secretary of War, a
board OF survey is hereby ordered to con-
vene at the War Department. Washington,
District of Columbia, at 10 am, January
3, 1889, to examine into and report upon
the responsibility for the loss of about
100000 pounds of refrigerated beef the
property of Swift & Company of Chicago
to ascertain and report if due and proper
effort was made to feed this beef to the
troops in Porto Rico, and to fix the respon-
sibility If due and proper effort was not
made; to ascertain and report the charac-
ter and quality of the refrigerated beef
herein referred to- to ascertain and report
if it was good and fit meat for issue; if it
had been subjected to any chemical pro-
ceSSeS whatever, and to report whether or
not the United States is responsible for the
loss of the beef, or who, if any one, is re-
sponsible for its loss, and whether, in its
opinion, Swift & Company should or should
Detail for the board-Col Charles H.
Alden, assistant surgeon general; Col. Jas.
M. Moore, assistant quartermaster general;
Col. Francis l.. Guenther, 4th United States
Artillery; Capt. L. c. Schever, assistant
adjutant general, recorder"
Gen. Eagan has received from Lieut.. Col.
Smith, the commissary officer at Chicago,
Il report made by Armour & Company, who
furnished the army a large part of its
timed roast beef. The report was in re-
q from
Eagan 1t is as follows:
CHICAGO, Ill, December 81, 1898.
o. NJ. Smith, Lieut.. Col, c. s., United
States army $50 Illinois street, Chicago,
Dear Sir: We are in receipt of your favor
of even date, and are very glad to answer
the inquiries made by you with reference
to canned and refrigerated meats
Before answering your specific inquiries,
We beg to inform you that our system of
preparing and putting up our roast and
was invented in 1909. This is a process that
has been well known to scientific inquiry
for the entire period since the date of it's
invention, but its commercial use may be
said to be limited to the past thirty years
by all manufacturers and dealers in canned
meats Nothing has been discovered that
produces superior results, and it would be
difficult for any invention to supersede that
of Appert, inasmuch as there never has
been any complaint deterioration of the
contents of cans put up by this process.
Timed Roast Beef.
We beg to reply to your specific inquiries
as follows:
l. AS to the Extent of the timed roast
beef inquiry" we beg to state that We have
no statistics with reference to the entire
output of timed roast beef, nor have we
any respecting the timed roast beef indus
try as a whole. We ourselves have been
pl fting up and selling timed roast and
tWentV-tiVp
and have been supplying consumers of food
products for this entire period. All grocers
and meat markets have these goods. and
have had them on sale during this length of
time and no objection has been raised to
their use by consumers, nor has there been
any detrimental results following their con-
sumption. On the contrary, the use of this
description of goods is annually increasing.
1t may be said that they are used by all
classes of people, and are considered a
strictly staple article of food. and handled
as such by the trade. We ourselves have
put up during the past twenty or twenty
five years in the neighbOrhood of two hun
dred million pounds, or say, an average of
about ten million pounds per annum.
.. Replying to your question as to How
long this article has been in use, where
used and by whom, and whether it is
largely used in this country, and if so by
whom sold, and the class of people who
this is we think. sufficiently answered in
the foregoing reply to your first question.
Use by Foreigners.
g. Replying to your question, IF it has
been sold to foreign countries, about how
much, and who uses 1t in foreign coun-
tries?' we beg to state that during the
past five years we have sold to the British
government for army and navy use, largely
in India and Egypt, nearly 2o.ooo,000
pounds, and to the French government
within the past six or seven years about an
equal quantity. To the republic of Brazil
and to South Africa we are now annually
shipping thousands of tons of these goods
in the manner alluded to namely, in tins
4. Replying to your inquiry to ''Wheth-
er all the packers make soup from the
water after cooking the timed roast beef
or not?' we will say that are not suf
ficiently familiar with the manufacture of
this article by other packers to state def
initely respecting the manner in which ii is
manufactured by them, but for ourselves
will answer that we have not at any time
since we commenced the putting up of tin
ned roast beef used the water to manufac
ture soup of any kind.
;. Replying to your question as to
Whether or not timed roast beef is cook
ed as much timed corned beef?" we
would state that the roast beef does not
undergo the same amount of cooking as
corned beef, the length of time required
for the latter, owing to its being previous
ly picked, being much greater than that
required by the former.
As to Chemicals.
G Replying to your question as to
whether any chemicals are used in the
processing of the timed roast beef any
foreign ingredient of any kind whatso-
ever enters into the composition of the
timed roast beef" we would say: That no
chemicals of any description are used by
US in the manufacture of either of the arti-
cles mentioned
:. Replying toiyourl question Whether or
not any of the packers ever have used
scraps in putting up this meat, and if So
why, and where did they get the scraps,
and why are there scraps, if scraps are
used" we beg to state that scraps are
used by us in the manufacture of the goods
mentioned. Our timed roast and corned
beef are manufactured from what are
called "chucks''' and ''plates,' being por-
! tions of the animal that are regarded as
first class in every particular and no
scraps of any description are prepared or
used in the manufacture of these goods
If any small pieces of meat are found in a
can they are incident to the cutting of the
original pieces from which it's contents are
taken, and occasionally are necessarily used
to give the proper weight.
8. Replying to your inquiry as to Whether
in the course Of processing or packing this
timed roast beef, tallow is afrerward
h ;-f f,f