Evening star., 1899-03-22
EXPERIMENT ON BEEF
Witnessed by Chicago Bell Boy at
Armour'S Plant.
CHEMICALS BURNED UNDER MEAT
Experimenter Said He Was Quar-
termaster in the Army.
OTHER TESTIMONY TODAY

CHICAGO. March 22.-The court of in
quiry investigating army beef examined To-
day Lieut.. ]. D. L. Hartman of the 1st
Cavalry who was acting regimental guar
termaster while the regiment was station
ed at Lakeland. Fla. He testified that re-
frigerator beef was received from Armour
& co. It was brought to Lakeland in cars.
At first it was very good. and there was
no objection to it, but in three or four
hays it began to get poorer in quality. In
two instances a board of survey rejected
the beef In one case the witness rejected
I whole car load. The stencil was observ-
asble before the car was opened. The beef
was not received, because decomposition
had set in. The rejected beef was not ac-
counted for in the vouchers.
He had no recollection of any conversa-
ton between Sergeant Mason, his clerk,
and the representative of Armour & Co.
Mason had charge of the delivery of the
meat to troops The witness had no recOl-
lection Of saying anything to him with
reference to meat preSeryatiYes If he had
said anything witness thought he would
recellect it. He had no recollection of any
conversation with Armour's representative
on that subject He had no reason to be-
lieve or suspect that the beef had been
treated with preservatives chemicals.
why the Meat Spoiled.
The spelling was due, he thought, to the
fact that the meat had been chilled and
would not hold up after exposure to the ex-
cessiye heat at Lakeland. After the rejec-
ton of a carload the agent of Armour said
that would not do. referring to the way in
which the meat had been furnished. The
agent tried to get the meat shipped in ice.
In some cases ice was put in with the
beef. but this gave the meat a Shiny, repul-
sIve appearance, and it was rejected Wit
ness then got authority to buy beef in the
open market.
David A FIeischman testified that he was
employed as bell boy at the Hotel Morrison,
Chicago. during the month of June. 1895.
.'One day in June he said. "a gentleman
in room 131 asked me if / would be at
leisure to go to the stock yards with him.
1 went out there with him and had to carry
two boxes-tin or galvanized iron boxes
He went out to see some man about some
meat. he told me.
Experiment at Preserving.
We took the boxes and went to a car
where there were three or four rows of
meat. In each of the boxes there were
four smaller packages. containing. as 1
call it. black, or rather light gray, col
Ored substance.
He put this into perforated trays made
for that purpose, set fire to it and placed
il under the meat. / asked him what that
vas done for, and he said it was done as an
experiment to preserve the meat. Next
day l was to go back and get the cans. /
asked him whether il was TO kill germs or
anything like that, but ne said no-simpiy
to preserve the meat
i put my finger the meat and tasted
it, and it burned the end of my tongue
Il called attention to the fact that the
meat looked rather larger than when we
Were there before. He said that was sim
ply an enlargement of the meat from the
Ice There was a sulDhurous smell in the
car. ard another odor. which 1 cannot de-
L noticed in one end of the car there was a
card marked: Tampa. Fla
This was at Armour's packing house.
There was only one car There were only
about three rows of beef. l think it was
halves
4 asked him who he was, and. if am not
mistaken. he told me he was a quarter
master or quartermaster general. or some
thing like that He was about five feet ten
inches tall, wore eyeglasses, and, | should
ludse. was about forty-five years of age.
He wore no uniform but dressed in plain
clothes. | understood from what he said
that he had some connection with the mill
tary service.
Testimony Yesterday Afternoon.
DR.. Nicholas Sem and Lieut. Col A. W.
COrliss testified before the court Yesterday
afternoon DR.. Semi entirely disapproved
OF canned roast beef as army ration for
any length OF time and Col. Corliss told
of the soldiers dislike OF it,
Ut Sem, VINO served in Cuba and Porto
Rlco.-tesufed that the troops in Cuba lived
largely on canned roast beef and bacon.
He had every reason to believe that the
Canned beef was not roasted. but boiled 1t
was tasteiess and certainly appeared to lack
nutritious qualities, as was APPARENT from
the condition of the men who returned
from cuba to MOntauk-men who had never
been ILL., but were greatly emaciated.
lie believed that the meat was oyer1IOne.
that there was some fault in the process of
preparation: that the process had not been
perfected; The bacon was of good quality
He could say nothing about Refrigerator
eeer because he did not any of it in
Cuba or Porto Rico.
He made no formal inspection of the can
ned roast beef. but had eaten some of it,
and his statements were based on his own
experience. The meat was evidently good
meat-was of good quality-but. as stated
before. was not properly prepared-was
oNereooked in boiling.
Favored Dried Beef
He thought one of the meat supplies of the
iutuTe for the army should be dried beef
Men could be fed once or twice a week on
rOast beef without i'll effect on their health.
out a daily ration for any length of time
ne would not consider it safe or advisable
When the packers learned how to make
real roast beef he thought il would be an
excellent hing. but not as an exclusive diet
Tho canned roast beef was used very exten
slveiy In Cuba, but the ration in Porto Rico
was very much better-seerned to be better
In reply To Gen. Davis the witness stated
that the meat as prepared by the packers
according TO the testimony given would NOT
lose much of its nutrition on account of be-
ing boiled in the cans. He saw no evidence
OF the use of chemicals in the canned roast
oeeI. He had heard of cases of ptomaine
intoxicatOn. but did not see any. Ptornaines
would not develop il the meat were thor
oughiy sterilized and properly sealed
Would Keep TweRfy-Four Hours
When opened the meat should keep twen-
ty-four hours. II would not be safe to eat
il after that time
In answer 10 questions by Col Gillespie
The witness stated that he really could not
say whether the fresh meat he ate in PORTO
Rico was refrigerated meat or native He
thought Ii was the latter. The meat was
wholesome and pala,abIe.
Cen A. w Corliss. who was attached to
the 9Th Infantry in Cuba. testified that he
was shot on the 1st of July and knew moth
ing Of conditions there after that. TN 20
that time he said. we got good deal OF
canned corned beef and canned roast beef
also bacon in small quantities. Complaints
were received about the roast beef: IL was
dislikSd very much. The officers and men
had the same rajiOns We tried TO eat the
canned roast beef and did eat il but in or
Il l.