New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-22
MILES AND MERRITT HEARD.
THE TWO GENERALS TESTIFY REGARD
ING THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR
GENERAL MILES CRITrcIsEs THE SANTIAGO CAM
PAIGN AND TELLS OF BAD BEEF FUN ""''
SOME ONE ~ WASHINGTON" WAS RE
spoNsIBLE-GENERAL MERRITT ON

THE OPERATIONS At MANILA
u.sh,rc,or Doc o1-General Nelson a.
Miles. commanding the Army. and Generai Yves
,ey Merritt. commander of the American forces
at the capture OF Manill. were the principal
witnesses before the war Department lnvesu-
eating Commission to-day. General Miles re-
enonded to the summons Of the Commission only
after several DAYS consideration. His eXaniiha-
ton was comparatively brief and not sehsd
tlonal II spoke with some bitterness as 10 ''e
"ernbaIrned beef and the canned beer furhsheu
10 the army in the field. This he characier'~eu
as an experiment. for which some one III ASH
jnrton" was responsible. He said that the 'ano
ing facilities of the Santiago expedition were III
ADEQUATE and that the men were snort OF ra'ion7
and medicines and might have been better pro-
tected from exposure TO fever con'as'on'
Camera, Merritt told the Commission that ne
regarded the Philippine expedition az d ue.,
success. and would conduct 1t on the sa'iie i'".'
!, ho had ~ do Il over again. He spoke In high
forms Of the troops under him. ana saiu MS
army was well supplied with medicines ana ioou'
GENERAL MILES'S EVIDENCE.
When General Miles took the stand ne was Hsh.u
~ he was willing TO be sworn. l th'"h' W. w.,
replv that | can say what have 10 say "'"'"'
being sworn. - .,.o
~ papcrs and had his own stenographor' ~ e'''
IT., oyidonce in a clear unhcsitatinS way, ana went
irto details regarding both the Santiago ana Ioiuo
Rico cxpeditions. He began by describing 'Ic ran
road confusion In getting war munitions 10 ia''f''
pointed to the lack Of Government stofenousc ID
cnitles there and said the cars al one 'i'he WIZ
held back as far as Columbia. 5. C. lie said "neh
,ha transnorts were loaded II was found Impossible
N MI, more than fifteen thousand men apoar" anu
they were equipped well as possible uhue' '"c
circumstances. . u.. -,
eft was most Fortunate he said tha' VIC
transports had good weather. IT they hau eloou.
tered a severe storm the loss Of life or the suiie
In, at least must have been fearful. AS IL was
with fair weather the men below, crowded III WIN
the mules and supplies. could get on uecN' ""'0''
would have been impossible otherwise.
The commissary stores taken. he said, were SUM-
Gent but the medical supplies were ihauequa'e'
He had left the loading. except for genera uiiec-
,iors ~ the corps commander. General Smarter.
Ua found lust before sailing that there were d
number of pontoon boats being taken which "ou.!
he utterly useless for the purpose, ana ne "iinso'
had secured two barges from the owners t'e'e anu
had taken other steps. but the supp! va GUM
taken was inadequate.
.rrbo exnedition" he continued, "should nave
been furnished with launches. naphtha or steam
or with tugs, for towing barges from Inc si'P' w
the shore We relied largely on the engineer ON
GERS and the engineer department TOT 'hese' III
the second expedition 10 forto IsiCo ''.'O
Furnished but they arrived too late to render n'uch
assistance. II, .o,,
ua said that before tho first fleet sailed from
Tampa estimates had been definitely maze OIL 'ne
number Of boats TO he furnished to the transports
and the number 20 he furnished by the Navy TO
assist The most cordial assistance, ne ADDED hau
heen nromIsed on the part OF the Navy Al SAN
.,oco ,ho SUNNY Of ten,age and food was limited.
Were the medical supplies at that time suhc'en'
for the needs OF the command? he was asheu:
In renlv General Miles read dispatch from
General Shafter on August T. when relerieo 10
chronic scarcity OF medicines, and said that -FOUR
mon had lust died from lack OF medicines Ihey
roro a, no time. said General Miles. sufficient for
tho troops He remembered seeing one train FOR
the sick I'm a drenching rain with no covering over
the wagons.
NEVER ENOUGH MEDICAL SUPPLIES
General Beaver-F'rom what you learned and OBJ
served while there do you think there was al an!
time sufficient medical supply?
General Mies-Of medical men and materials
General Bcaver-ies.
General Miles-No sir
General Miles said that the hospital accommoda-
lions were only OF temporary character nc
shelter was bad The shelter tents did not shelter.
Questioned as to the character OF tho faclues LOT
TRANSPORTING the wounded. he said that they were
taken in wagons 49,.
Genera! Beaver-Do you know II any oi tho
wounded were lyin. exposed to the weather?
General MILESTONE exposed In being sent
down 10 tho hospitals. ! saw one train or wounded
men driving along IN the drenching ram WIN
rbthng TO shelter them
He had taken measures personally to correct DE-
fects and on July l2 had teegraphed for we'll
eoinned corps of pier and bridge builders. etc. and
had ordered places burned. The transportation IA
cities were used to supplies 10 some l""o 10
~ oC0 refugees from Santiago and about 1000 CUBAN
troops This" he said, in answer to question.
was not expected. because had cautioned Generai
shafter 70 keep his men out OF the Spanish build
,ngs of every character and to keep the men away
from, the natives Had he done he did, the
Army would have been much better supplied
HIS army in Porto Rico General Miles said, had
been supplied in way with nuartermasters ana
commissary stores. but not in the best way While
In Porto Rico he had asked that fixed rations be
sent hut instead they sent down In bulk, with
out invoices or bills of ladng. and In many Instances
stores were spoiled in the hold and thrown away.
This caused great embarrassment ana loss or
stores and deprived troops Of food and he asserted
the scarcity OF food largely caused the distress OF
the troore He had advised against the shipping OF
beef TO Porto Rico, both because there was abund-
ance of IT the island ana because Of his belief
that II was defective. lie characterized the re
frigerator beef Of which there 327 tons sent as
"embalmed beef" and said that the canned fresh
beef OF which $4,000 pounds had been shipped there
was condemned by officers whose commands used II.
"Who fixed that beef as an Army ration?
AS TO THE RESPONSIBILITY.
You'll have ask some one here in Washington
You had better ask the Secretary 81 War or the
Commssary-General. It sent as food. II they
hadn't taken that they would have had to go hun
CRY If they had sent paymasters down there as
asked we could have bought food. but they did not
do that"
General Miles suggested that the food was sent 10
his large army under pretence Of an experiment.
The General called attention to the fact that good
fresh beef could he bought In Porto Rico for six
cents a pound in American money. and he said ii |
might he Interesting 10 compare the cost OF the |
rcfriserated beef together with the expense OF |
TRANSPORTATION. He dd not know hut what the |
chemicals used IN treating the beef were response
BILE for the great sickness in the American Army |
r. ports which he lad received concerning 1t We're
to The effect that this beef had an odor like en-
balmed dead body
Captan Howell-Were these REPORTS ever brought |