The record-union., 1899-03-18
Inspeets the Packing Plant Of the
Armour Company.
Also Examines Witnesses Relative to Meats
Furnished the Government.
A Former Emp1oye Of the Packing
Department Gives Damaging
Testimony as to Some of the
Canned Beef Sold to the Gov
ernment, but Later Returned to
the Packing House.


ernment, but Later Returned to
the Packing House.
KANSAS CITY, March 1.-THE army
beef court of inquiry arrived here from
| Omaha at 8 o'clock this morning, and
was quartered in the Midland Hotel.
! During the morning an hour and a
half was spent in inspecting the Ar
mour Packing plant, from which more
than 1,O0O,OOO pounds of canned roast
! beef was sold to the Government dur
| ing the recent war. In the afternoon
two hours and half We're spent in ex
amining witnesses.
| Soon after the courts arrival here
this morning a brief session was held.
1t was decided that as the Armour
| Company was the only local firm that
had supplied meat to the army, it.,
plant alone would be visited. William
M. Miles, general monager and Super
| intendent Tourtellot piloted the party
| through the different departments,
each of which, with the exception of the
| killing room. which was not visited,
was inspected critically They watched
the process of canning, sterilizing and
roasting. The foreman declared that
no preservatives had ever been used
in canning the roast beef.
| The court returned to the hotel at
noon and began taking testimony at
2:10. Eleven witnesses were examined.
| Nothing sensational was divulged. To-
morrow evidence will be taken and later
the court will go to Fort Leavenworth,
kas., and take the testimony of some
of the regulars recently returned from
Cuba
| William M. Miles, general manager
of the Armour plant, was the first wit
ness called. He said that his company
j had furnished the Government with L.
/ 100000 pounds of canned roast beef
during the war. 1t was sold to Com
miSSary Eagan at Washington and
Commissary Woodruff at New York
The meat was inspected at Mobile and
other point of delivery in the South.
Two carloads were returned from Mo-
| bile and three carloads from Jackson
vile. On its return to Kansas City the
company inspected the meat and found
that less. than one-half of one per cent
was bad. That from Mobile, witness
said, had never been inspected there
| The returned meat was put back in
stock, and possibly some of it re-sold
to the Government" One portion of
| it was resold to a foreign Government
and accepted
| Ex-Congressman Mason S. Peters,
who was formerly in the livestock
commission business in Kansas City.
and Lionel A. Lennon, a commission
man, defined Gamers as quoted in
the daily markets
| H. L. Antoine, foreman at Armour's
canning department, told of his de-
partment working night and day dur
ing May and June, 1898, to fill the Gov
ernment orders. Because of the big
orders, it was necessary to kill fresh
cattle of higher grade than usually
used. Notwithstanding the rush. prop
er precaution in packing was taken, and
all cans were inspected four times be-
fore they left the plant. The reflections
amounted to one-half of one per cent
l.. L. Rambo swore that in June 1898
he was in the employ of the Armour
Company, and helped in the canning
department. He frequently nailed up
cases. Cans would often swell up and
| burst.
In reply to question, witness de-
elared that some days as much as a
third of the cans prepared We're re-
| Jected for this and other reasons.
Mr.. Antoine was recalled and denied
that Rambo had worked in the canning
department at the time stated, or that
the number of cans rejected was the
amount alleged by Rambo. Hes said
that record was kept of all cans re-
jected, and the court instructed him to
bring this record before it tomorrow.
s. B. Morse, who has charge of the
killing at Armour's, said that all cat
tie passing through his hands bore
tags showing Governmental inspection.
He had no knowledge of chemicals be-
ing used in preserving meats, and said
/ that it could not have been so used
without his knowing it.
DIR. S. e. Bennett of the Bureau of
Animal Industry in Kansas City, and
Thomas w. Carmichael, Government
meat inspector, said the proportion of
cattle rejected because of disease or
for other reasons was from one to
nine day, rarely as high as eight.
John Spence, foreman of the cutting
department, testified as to the good
quality of cattle used for canning
DR.. Ernest w. Slusher. hospital stew
ard of the Third Missouri Volunteers.
/ oAiA tAde "iAiiC SldllO0eu at Fort
Meade, Pa, he was one morning called
to attend fifty members of the reei
ment who were vomiting. 1t was his
opinion that they had been made sick
by eating spoiled canned corned beef
The matter was not investigated. The
cans, he thought, bore the label of
Libby, Mcneil & Libby.
Carl Holtzschue, a member of Troon
A, First U. S. v. Cavalry. said there
was no complaint of the canned roasf
beef served on the voyage from Tampa
to Cuba. In Cuba, up to June 22d. each
soldier received a can of roast beef and
one pound of bacon, with potatoes AMI
bread, as three days rations. and there
was no complaint. Later at Camp
Hamilton some of the refrigerated beef
was tainted, and had to be thrown
away.
At the night session of the board Jo-
seph G. Mccoy, employed by the State
of Kansas as livestock inspector at
the Kansas City yards, was called as a
witness, at the request of Major Lee.
The substance of his testimony was
that the poorer class of cattle was
taken by the packers for canning pur-
poses.
| At the request of Major Lee the court