Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-12-31
DISPUTE ABOUT BEEF.
Board of Inquiry Will Investigate
the Miles.Eagan Con.
troversy.
ARMOUR REPLIES TO QUESTIONS
TELLS the Department All He Knows of
the Canning of Roast Beef-DecIares
That No Chemicals Are Used Either in
That Process or That of Refrigeration
Major Daly's Report on the Beef rs 1t
Reached the Soldiers.

Major Daly's Report on the Beef as 1t
Reached the Soldiers.
Washington. Dec. 31.-As result of
the issue between General Miles and
General Eagan concerning the quality
OF the beef supplied the army. and on
the written request of General Eagan,
the war department has issued a special
order for the assembling of board of
officers in Washington on next Tuesday
to inquire into the general subject of
the quality of the beef supplies, and
particularly as to the responsibility for
the loss of 100000 pounds of refrigerated
beef sent to Porto Rico when the eX-
pedition under General Miles was there.
The 100000 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,
but by the time it reached Montauk
Point it is understood to have spoiled
Repor ton Timed Roast Beef
General EaGan yesterday received
from Lieutenant Colonel Smith, the
commissary officer at Chicago, a report
made by Armour & Co, who furnished
the army a large part of it's timed
roast beef. The report was in response
TO specific interroga:ories from General
Eagan. 1t says in substance that ''our
system OF preparing and putting up
our roast and corned beef is by the APP
pert process, which was invented in
1909. This is a process that has been
well known to scientific inquiry for the
entire period since the date of its in
vention, 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 re-
suits. and IL would be difficult for
any invention to supersede that of APP
pert, inasmuch as there never has been
any complaint of deterioration of the
contents of cans put up by this pro-
cess.
Used by All Glasses OF People.
''AH grocers and meat markets have
these goods and have had them on sale
during this length of time and no ob-
lection has been raised to their use by
consumers. nor has there been any de-
trimental results following their con-
sumption. On the contrary, the use of
this description OF goods is annually
increasing. They are used by all classes
of people and are considered a strictly
staple article. During the past
five years we have sold to the British
government for army and navy use large
ly in India and Egypt, nearly 25,0O0.O0o
pounds. and to the French government
within the past six or seven years about
an equal quantity. To the republic of
Brazil and 10 South Africa we are now
annually shipping thousands OF tons of
these goods in the manner alluded to-
namely, in tins.
No Chemicals Are Ever Used.
No chemicals of any description are
used by US in the manufacture Of either
OF the articles mentioned. No
scraps are used by us in the manu-
facture of the goods mentioned. Our
timed roast and Corned beef are manu-
factured from what are called 'chucks'
and plates. No tallow is
poured into the cans by US in the
preparation of our timed roast beef In
reply to your question as to whether
any packer has ever
used any chemicals of any kind what
soever in the treatment of the refrig-
Grated beef, whether any chemicals
whatsoever touched the meat itself We
beg to state that at no time
during the past nor at present. do we
use chemicals of any kind whatsoever
and that therefore the refrigerated meat
furnished your department could not
have been touched by any chemical of
nished by us has never at any
time been treated by US by any chemical
process of any kind whatsoever"