The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-12-31
TO PROBE MILES CHARGES
THE VAR DEPA RT1IENT ISSUED 4
 SPECIAL ORDER LAST NIGHT.
Board of Officers to Assemble Next Tues- day-To Inquire Into General Subject of the Quality of Beef Supplies-To Fix Responsibility for Loss of the 300, 1000 Pounds of Swift Beef.


 Fix Responsibility for Loss of the 100000 Pounds of Swift Beef
 Washington, Dec. 3O.-As a result of the issue between General Miles and General Egan concerning the quality of the beef supplied the army, and on the written request of General Egan, the war department tonight issued a spec ial order for the assembling of board of officers in Washington on next Tues day to inquire into the general subject of the quality of the beef supplies, and particularly as to the responsibility for the loss of 300,000 pounds of refrigerator beef sent to Porto Rico when the ex- petition under General Miles was there. The special order is as follows:
 By direction of the secretary of war, board of survey is hereby order ed to convene at the war department, Washington, D. C., at 10 a. m. January 3, 1899, to examine into and report up- on the responsibility for the loss of about 3O0,OO0 pounds of refrigerated beef, the property of Swift & Co.,, 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 responsibility; to ascertain and report the character and quality of the refrigerated beef herein referred to; to md fit meat for issue if it had been sub jected to any chemical processes what ever, and to report whether or not the United States is responsible for its loss, or who, if anyone, is responsible for it's loss, and whether in it's opinion Swift & Co. should or should not be reimbursed for the beef. Details of the board: Colonel Charles P. Alden, assistant sur geon general Colonel John H. Moore, assistant quartermaster general; Colo mel Francis I. Gunther 18th artillery; Captain L. c. Sherrer, assistant adju- tant general, recorder"
 The 3OOOO0 pounds of beef referred to was shipped from Newport News to Porto Rico about the time that word came from General Miles that he had supplied himself with fresh beef taken on the island. The refrigerated beef made the trip to Porto Rico and back, N. but by the time 1t reached Montauk Tcint it is understood to have spoiled owing to the delay and consequent lack of refrigerating material. General Egan to-day received from Lieutenant Colo mel Smith, the commissary officer at Chicago, report made by Armour & Co.,, who furnished the army large part of it's timed roast beef. The re- port was in response to interrogator1es. It says: Our system of preparing and putting up our roast and corned beef Is by~the Appert process, invented in 1S09. This process has been well known to scientific inquiry since the date of it's invention, but it's commercial use by manufacturers and dealers in canned meats may be said to be limited to the past thirty years. Nothing has been discovered that produces superior re- suits. There never has been any con- plaint of deterioration of the contents of cans put up by this process.
 we have been putting up and selling timed roast and corned beef for the past twenty-five years 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 re- suits following their consumption. The use of these descriptions of goods is an nually increasing. We have put uT during the past twenty or thirty years about two hundred million pounds During the past five years we have sold to the British government for army and navy use largely in India and Egypt nearly 25,O00,000 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. Nc chemicals of any description are useo by us in the manufacture of either tin ned roast beef or corned beef.
 INTER- -COLLEGIATE CHESS.