Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-14

ris & Co., was the next witness. He was
not aware OF any chemicals having been
used in that establishment and had nc
reason to believe or suspect that they were
so used
Charles II. Emory. superintendent Of the
Libby, Mcneil d Libby packing house. testi.
fed next.
Cur business is principally canning" he
said. I'VE do not do any slaughtering di-
dectly, but animals are killed for us by
I Swift & co.
Tho amount Of canned beef sold by us
to the United States last year was between
100000 and 2,jOO.oOo pounds. OF this we
had on hand January l. 1898, about loo
pounds. No chemicals are used or relied
upon by us to preserve canned beef 4
very small quantity Of salt is used In a
two pound can We use onc-half ounce OF
salt in solution"
James 5, Morris. the superintendent at
Libby Mcneil & Libby's house. confirmed
the testimony Of the previous witness as to
the process Of canning roast beef
lie said there was scarcely any
duierence between grades Of roast beef
ana that the distinction was mostly made.
he supposed, to compete with others in the
business. There was very little difference
in the quality. lie did not know whether
there was any difference in the price to the
government. He said that about 80 per
cent of cows were used in canning
The first witness at the afternoon session
was Arthur Meeker manager of Armour &
CO.'S packing house, who had previously
been questioned at Washington. He eail
the accumulation Of canned goods was held
IN Chicago, but the firm had also a large
stock in Europe. They had On hand at the
outbreak of the Spanish war 100000 pounds
OF canned roast beef in Chicago and 100000
pounds in New York. They sold 1000 600
pounds to the government and also 25O 900
pounds of corncd beef.
Complaints unimportnnt.
The witness stated that complaints about
beef furnished the government had been
received at the minor agencies. but none of
them were of sufficient Importance to be
sent to the home office. Refrigerated beef
had been furnished to camps at Chicka-
mauga' Jacksonville Tampa, Fernandina,
Lakeland and Port Tampa
He said that no chemicals were ussd to
preserve the beef either while in transit or
in storage in an agency
The witness stated that two ounces Of
roast beef, but no salt. The jelly gave an
appearance to the meat and added
TO the nourishment. About 1la per cent of
the nourlshment came out in the first boil
ing process-12 per cent or soluble albumen
An extract of beef was made out of It. No
date was put on the label on the roast beef
cans, the contents being guaranteed. Meat
thus preserved six, eight and nine Mars was
just as good as If put up last summer. The
French government requires a date on the
can The same kind of meat was used in
the cans furnished the United States gov
How do you account for the dissatisfac-
ton that is alleged on the part of the sol
lers against the canned beef
Il think there were several reasons-the
heat which caused the fat and jelly to melt,
and instead Of nice, attractive looking piece
Of meat coming out of the can, the meat
would separate and come apart in pieces.
And there was no salt in it, no
pepper, and in many cases no condi-
nents were used. / think it would have
given more satisfaction if made up and
cooked with vegetables. 1t should be taken
out of the can as socn as the can is opened"
In reply to General Gillespie the witness
stated that Powell was a meat dealer, he
lection whatever with Armour & Co. He
listed the New York office and said he had
process for preserving refrigerator beef
or a period without ice. 1t was quite a
proposition to handle beef in the warm eli
nate and the New York Office sent Mr..
Powell to Florida to experiment. The ex-
pertinent was not satisfactory to the govern
nent and that was the end of it.
LIT
In answer to General Davis the witness
stated as another reason for the soldiers not
liking the canned roast beef that neither the
'egulars nor the volunteers were used to it,
he regulars having fresh beef at the posts
rhe canned beef was certainly not appetizing
lnless the proper condiments were used or
he meat was not properly cooked. Some
shipped to Florida was rejected as some of
he cans were defective When one tin in !
Ease was defective the whole case was re-
ected but this meat supplied by the
Armour Packing company of Kansas City |
vas a separate organization from the Chi
,ago house. He did not know of ozone be-
ng used to preserve refrigerated beef.
S. H. Conway, general superintendent of |
Armour & Co., testified that he had never |
,een connected with the beef department,
,ut was more or less familiar with the
Methods of preparing beef He said that
ALT, saltpetre and sugar were used in pre-
,arng hog products and sometimes boraX
or shipping purposes, but none of these
we're used in connection with the prepara
ion of beef
II. T. Walton, superintendent of the
AIMED meat department of Armour & Co.,
ave in detail a description of the process Of
aiming and the methods of detecting
wellers and faulty cans. The average
early rejection of cans, he said, would be
ess than half Of / per cent. The only agent
elied upon as preservatiye was sterilization,
Last Witness of the Dny.
The last witness of the day was w. e
'ierce, in charge of the slaughterng, cool
lg and loading of cattle at Armour g. Co.'S
Ie was asked if any discussion or dispute
ad ever arisen between the firm and the
oyernment inspectors with reference to the
ropTiety of a condemnation.
Yes, sometimes, but very seldom"
IF a prime steer is condemned what is
he loss to Armour & coz"
Forty dollars or more"