Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-28
ISSUED THE RATIONS
Testimony of Commissary Officers at
Beef Inquiry.
THEIR EXPERIENCES FULLY DETAILED
Canned Roast Beef Utterly Uufit
for Well or Sick Men.
RECALLING THE WITNESSES

Officers who had acted or assisted in the
commissary department of the army dur
ing the war with Spain received the larger
share of attention from the court of in
CURRY today. One of these, Lieutenant
Ramsay of the 9Th Infantry, unsparingly
denounced the canned roast beef, and said
1t was not fit for either well or sick SOL
d:ers. He said ne believed it directly re-
spons.ble for much of the sickness among
the soldiers. Another Lieutenant Colonel
w. l.. Smith, threw now and clearer light
on the seventy-two-ho clause of the
meat contracts and described the charac-
ter of canned roast beef and refrigerated
beef he had observed it.
Governor Roosevelt is not likely to ap-
pear as a witness before the court, al
though a summons las been received by
him. 1t is believed he will send a letter
outlining his experiences and restating his
written statement to Gen. Miles that the
beef issued to the army was unfit for con-
sumption.
Gen. Miles. Gen. Eagan and others will
be recalled the need arises with the
development Of new points in the evidence
requiring further explanation from them.
Enlisted men and meat concern representa-
tives a'so will be heard before the court
goes west to inspect packing houses.
racon Preferred to Canned Meat.
Lieut.. Ramsey of the 9th Infantry.
clean-shaven, youngish man, in civilian
clothes, opened the session as a witness.
He testified clearly and easily that while
with his command at Tampa he was at
various times acting depot commissary. At
Jacksonville he chief commissary of
the 18th Corps. He went to Cuba on the
transport Comal. and. upon landing as
sisted in the unloading of vessels. He also
aided Col. Weston of the commissary de-
partment at Santiago. He said that the
order in which the supplies went to the
IRON. depended on the way they were I'M
loaded. Nothing was said as to the COM
ponents of the ration and the commissary
O1ncerS made their issues in such propor-
tons rs the stock brought from the ships
warranted. They were Informed that ra-
ton returns and like routine details would
not be required. Some days they could get
bacon and other days only canned meat
The most vigorous effort was made to get
meat bread. coffee and sugar to the front.
as IL was thought that these were the prime
necessities. Other components of the ra
uoI were not sent, because, with bread
meat and coffee. 1t was possible for the
men to live and fight. No complaints came
from the 'front.' as to the meat furnished.
ASKED as to protests against the canned
roast beef the witness negatively reniied
that he received requests for as much ba
con as he could send" These were granted
mHtiisHer Bosslple as was also the case
WITH regard to demands for tomatoes. He
understood that the canned roast beef was
rot satisfactory to the men, and that they
preferred bacon my
All the officers were enthusiastic T.; .,;
eHorts to get all the supplies they couli
OBTAIN to their men. The officers and men
vi me SUBSISTENCE department worked day
anu hisht. IN unloading the transports one
at a time often the bacon would coma oit
flrst and again the canned roast beef wo,,Id
be the first. "o-"
Refrigerated Beef Spoiled.
Lieut. Ramsay said that at Santiago he
issued refrigerated beef. There were 200 900
pounds on the Mississippi, and then the
Fort Victor brought another CONSIGNMENT.
he saw 1t taken out of the ship refrigerator
plant and issued it to the division commits
saries. inefficient stevedores caused delay in
the transfer of the meat from ship to shore
by lighters. The average days issue of
peer was 10000 pounds, but the Spanish pris-
oners got as high as 10000 pounds
me Fort victor brought between 200, 600
ana "eo,ooo pounds. On the way down her
engines broke down and the refrigerator
engineer died So far as he knew the beef
reached Santiago in good condition Es-
peclal effort was made to get the beef off
early in the morning and often. the vii
ness said, he and his men would commence
unloading at or am The beef on both
transports was, he said, heavy and of bet
ter grade than is issued at army posts in
the United States. He personally inspected
1t. He did not think any of it had been chem
lcaliy treated but admitted that a good
the docks to the troops
AT that time he thought the loss Of meat
fell upon the men, he was not aware of
the provisions of the contract with the con-
tractors He did not think a copy of the
contract was known to or in the hands of
any commissary officer in Cuba Afterward
he rejoined his regiment While they were
quartered in a theater in Santiago the beef
miles from the city the meat was nearly al
ways spoiled. 1t did not reach camp until
the afternoon and about half was lost in
trimming off the tainted.
Asked again to the alleged chemical
treatment of the beef the witness said:
Personalities on Meats.
81 understood in a general way that IL
had been done"
What do you mean by that?' quickly
said the recorder
We'll, | have understood from butchers
and others that it is the practice of the
large packing houses to put preservatives
on the exterior of their beef so as to coagu-
late the albumen and protect the interior
1t is the custom to trim off the outer sur
race OF the beef always before it is used"
Lieut.. Ramsay added that this was mere
ly his understanding of the matter
Then you have no personal knoWledge?'
said Col Davis.
No, sir
lie declared that he ate the canned roast
beef only one time, and that at Raiouiri
He considered it .'unpalatable and in
ferior quality of badly boiled beef
He thought that the food had some eff
feet in retarding the recovery of the men
who were then sick. He believed that the
canned roast beef probably caused much of
the sickness in the regiment. He had seen
this beef frequently at his own post cam
teen and in the consolidated mess of which
he had been in charge
Made Up of Scraps.
Was it the same beef in Cuba that was
used at the canteen?' he was asked by Col.
Gillespie.
The outside of the can was the same
but not the inside. The beef l used at Mad
ison barracks was popular for picnics and
such use 1t could be sliced down and was
good and palatable. The canned roast
beef in Cuba was from the plates, chucks
and necks In the cans 1 saw there was
not one single piece that weighed an