Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1899-02-21
(By Telegraph to virglnlan-Pilot)

(By Telegraph TO Virglnian- Pilot.)
Washington. d. C.. February 2o.-The
Miles cc;rt of inquiry to-day made Il
| GUCd star; on its work. The court MAS
ocmio:ts biz quarterel III tho I'D me,.-
ing loo,c OF the War Investigating
Commission. in the Lemon building.
with accommodate tons for representa-
| tives OF the press associations and the
local payers. Calls Of ceremony on the
| President and the general commanding
the army occupied II large part Of the
| forenoon and Immediately thereafter
General Nelson y. Miles appeared as
the first witness.
He ard three other army officers SUM
mCEed as witnesses were examined ana
| disposed OF before the court closed its
| session. at o'clock.
CONTRAST.
General Miles appeared in fatigue
uniform, rather striking in its contrast
| with the display of scarts. hullnu and
| buttons OF the fun dress uniforms OF
the court. lie submitted 10 the ques-
| tCn!nE of Colonel Davis. recorder OF the
| court. with cquanimiiy. except for il
flash OF mingled indignation ard irony
WAS rot compelled 10 report 10 the
Coinm!ssary General of The Army. This
WAS i'll reply TO Il question AS 10 whether
or no, he had reported - the Commits
sary department the fact that com
| paints had been made TO him AS to the
| quality Of meat being issued 20 the
!. troops. An instant later General Miles
! resumed lis cool and curefuli: consd-
cred replies to the inquiries OF the
| court.
MILES IS SLOW AND CAREFUL.
| General Miles was very slow and
careful in his replies TO the recorders
questions on this point. lie called at
tention to the fact that in both in
stances he was credited in the inter-
views with refusing to answer certain
questions, and insisted that these re-
fuSalS should be given due weight in
| considering the questions To which he
did renly. lie said III the case Of the
interview OF February / that hc had a
! letter from the man who wrote the
| story Offering Ia swear that General
| Miles had refused to be interviewed
and that the whole story was made up
| in the Office from the writer's general
knowledge of the facts. Notwithstnnd
ing this. when his final answer was
| asked as To the authenticity of the in.
terview. General Miles did not spccii-
| cally deny ii, but merely said that il
did not quite fairly represent his own
opinion in the case. The same qualified
denial as to the Journal interview Of
| December 23 was made. leaving the
| witness on record as not assuming any
responsibility for the newspaper state
ments. but tacitly admitting that there
was good deal in them with which
! lie agreed.
THE TREND OF QUESTIONS.
The trend of questions put to the
other witnesses of the day indicated
that so long as they agreed with Gene
raj Miles as to the quality of the meat
| furnished the troops in the = eld the
only criticism of their position the
court had to make was oily they had
not taken some official s;e3s to have
the matter remedied at the time. In
every instance the reply was that the
| circumstances in which the army was
placed in sickly foreign country, with
large amount of fighting and a great
scarcity of transportation on hand
prccluded the possibility of any such
action. In each the question was
pushed no further on this line.
AN ERRONEOUS INTERVIEW.
General Miles during his testimony
| as To the Herald interview, pointed out
| that the interview was erroneous iii
that where it represented him to have
| said that he had overwhelming evil
!
treated with chemicals. the fact was
| that his only evidence was what was
| contained in the reports of officers and
| statements OF men who claimed that
! the beef had the odor Of an embalmed
| body that they had seen fluid injected
| into beef. and other indications of
| chemical treatment.
! Colonel Davis. recurring to the state
| ment of General Miles before the War
| Commission. asked him what his idea
as TO the beef supply for the army
was when war broke out
USAGE OF \ CENTURY IGNORED.
| Replying. General Miles said while
| his attention was occupied with
! weightier matters of mobilization and
/ dent that the usage of an hundred
years would be followed. ana cattle
| herds would be shipped to the army in
the tropics and Killed there. just as
they had been through the South dur
ing the civil warm Arizona. Texas
/ and in Mexico. where it was so hot that
a soldier could not sit upon the rocks
He understood Cuba and Porto Rico
were excellent grass countries. and cat
tie could be shipped and kept in prime
| condition. He reviewed his action in
CO bling the Department 10 send no
more refrigerated beef TO Porto Rico
while he was there, finding 1t possible
10 use beef on the hoof.
STILL SUPPLYING EMBALMED
BEEF.
General Miles said that he under
stood that our troops in Porto Rico
were still being supplied with form