Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-23


sary officers were on duty as early as 7
O'Clock. There was an insuficiency of wa
CONS, and they wfre without covers. As q
rule the issue was over by D O'Clock.
Meat SpoiledIdn Twelve Hours.
He had never received an official COM
plant about the beef, but he did near that
one regiment had buried lot of it, owing,
he thought, to .snoiling. If meat spoiled
within NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. after leaving the
refrigerators the loss fell upon the con-
tractors. He saia he saw the refrigerated
i beet on tine MI Mississippi and It was not
was slightly discdfored, but not bad It
hours. rI~to
If any preseryative were used on this
beef, then the fellow who did it ought to
be whipped for stupidity, for, as told you,
1t would spoil within twelve hours"
he declared he had never heard of any
chemicals being used.
Col. Weston said frozen beef was a fail
ure. Three or four boxes of it had been
sent to him at Tampa, and while there
ne sent 1t to Ripley for tests. 1t was found
that 1t would not keep without re-icing.
therefore, he said, 1t turned out failure.
The Beef Chemically Treated.
Concerning the Powell preserved beef
placed on the transport Rio Grande at
Tampa, he said he was told that it was
process beef. but he did not then and does
not now know what chemicals, if any, were
used. He had nothing officially to do with
it. A Mr.. Edwards, representing Armour
q o. toid MIN some beef was coming that
had been treated and asked him if he
would place it on a ship and see how long
1t lasted. .-~,
The beef came and he asked Mr.. Powell.
the inventor. what had been done to the
meat: He was told that nothing injurious
mad been put on it. The inventor had sup
piled it to Florida hotels and never had
any complaints He said it ought to keep
seventy-two hours. and If SO, and the gov
eminent would enter into a contract for
1t, the secret process would be explained.
Six or seven quarters of it were placed on
the ships. Some were in canvas sacks, and
this meat kept seventy odd hours and the
other about twenty hours. He said that
hfteen to twenty per cent of the vitality of
the men was pretty well Slapped by the
Florida climate before going to Cuba, and
he believed this accounts for the great sick
ness during the campaign on the island.
Nothing but Excitement kept them up till
after the surrender. and then they went
quickly to pieces.
Why the Men Broke Down.
The deterioration was not due to bad food,
but perhaps in some measure caused by in
sufficient food, as the men threw 1t away
rather than be numbered by it. The heat
in Cuba made the canned roast beef unin
viting, but did not spoil 1t. 1t was whole
some and excellent used as a stew.
He made the significant statement that
the commissary department considered the
question of live cattle supply for the army,
but the proposition was abandoned because
there were no transportation facilities. Cat
tie could not have been put on shore until
after the harbOr was opened. Horses could
be made to swim, but not steers.
Col Weston swore that he saw DR.. DAILY
on the bridge of the transport Rio Grande
at Tampa and called him down to look at
the process beef hanging there. He said he
told DR.. Daily all that he knew concerning
it; that it was process beef, put there by
Mr.. Powell as an experiment to see now
long it would laBt in the sunlight.
Recalling Capt. Piper to the stand, Col.
Davis drew out of him the fact that at
Chickamauga he drew out of the brigade
commissary stores and sold to soldiers 13S
pounds of cannes roast beef.
Col. Osgood Tells About the Beef.
Col Henry Osgoodi of the commssary de-
partment, grayIhaired, with large, aquiline
nose and bushy., Exchanging eyebrows,
nervous, but direct ,in his replies. was the
next witness. He was acting commissary
general at tae beginning of the war. He
was assigned to duty with Cen Miles and
went with HMM To- Tampa. He remained
there some time, and took part in the load
ing Of the transports. No refrigerated beef
was put on board, and the soldiers were
given the travel Tatiohs. He saw the Powell
process beef at Ia mGla. Prom July 4 he
was at Chickaneu aga until August. The re-
frigerated beef issued there and at Tampa
YVES the finest he ever saw. Next event
in August to Santiago, and looked after the
issues of beef, t-E .1r... ..
He said he had heard complaints against
the meat and had Inspected side of it that
had been returned as bad. The contractor
took the meat, put it in his refrigerator and
later brought Colonel Osgood steak from
the condemned piece. 1t was served. eaten
and found good. He has known some regi-
ments to complain against the fresh native
beef and to desire to be given the refriger-
a4ed beef instead r." So
Speaking of the contract with Swift &
Co.. the witness said 1t required that the
beef should keep good seventy-two hours
after leaving the transport refrigerator,
and if transferred to the concerns refrig
orator on shore it should keep twenty-four
hours afterward. He never heard of any
spoiled beef coming out of a refrigerator.
Officers Charges Denounced.
Col. Osgood said when he ran out of re-
frigerated beef at one, time he used cattle
on the hoof, The meat did not become
firm before using, and was not so good and
cid not give as great satisfaction as the
iced product. Once he favored beef on the
hcof for Cuba but since then he has been
forced ito back water on that" This new
conviction came after he had seen the use
Of refrigerated beef
He said that many of the claims of Off
GERS that the refrigerated beef was bad
were false.
He said that often the beef looked spoiled
and offensive from the outside but if a
knife were used to cut the outer part off
the best beef you could find" sail the
witness, would be discovered Snap judg-
ment was taken too often on that beef
He had never learned whether or not the
beef would keep seyenty-two hours 1t was
chilled to the bone at 80 degrees tsmpera-
ture.
"All their Hvers were out of whack."
said he, in speaking of complaining SOL
diers. II estimate that 80 per cent had en-
larged livers and were ready to complain
a bout everything They wanted to be fed
on delicacies all the time"
In Executive Session.
The court went into executive session
after the recess ended at o'clock and re-
manned so for more than an hour The
arrival of Gen. Eagan was expected mo-
mentarily, but as late as 3:15 O'Clock he
had not appeared. Other witnesses we're,
however. in waiting.
DEATHS in THE ARMY.
Reports Submitted by Generals Otis
and Brooke.