The evening bulletin. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1887-1905, 1899-03-29
TESTIMONY OF DAVIS
In Reference to the Contracts For
Furnishing Army Beef.
BAGAN'S MEMORY IN ERROR
witness Says the Apparent Discrepancy
as to Length of Time of Keeping
Meat Was Due to Form
er's Fors etIuIness.

washington, Marcn ZS.-CapIdln
George B. Davis, commissary of sub
sistence, was the first witness to appear
before the beef inquiry court.
He was on duty in the Office of the
commissary general and assisted in
preparing the Santiago beef contract
with Swift & Company, dealing espe'
cially with the preparation of the
clause covering the time the beef was
to be kept in refrigerators on shore.
He had talked with General Eagan
on this subject when the contract was
derstood from him that the beef was
to be kept in refrigerators for 70 hours
after arrival, and "a hours after its re-
moval from them.
Captain Davis detailed some in
stances in which boards of survey had
examined beef which had been COM
planned of while in the refrigerator.
One instance occurred at Manzanillo
and another at Santiago. In the first,
the beef was condemned, and in the
latter a part of it was.
In reply to Major Lee, Captain Davis
said the understanding in the commits
sary generals Office was that the beef
was to be kept good for 72 hours by
the contractors after leaving the ship,
provided good care was taken of it.
That" he said, was the extreme
limit but it was not supposed that the
beef would be kept for more than "a
hours"
Major Lee pointed out the apparent
discrepancy in Captain Davis and
General Eagan's testimony as to the
conditions under which beef was to
be kept for Il hours after the arrival of
the beef at its point of destination.
He read General Eagan's statement,
saying ii was his intention that the
beef should be good for 70 hours mo
difference where taken FROM" and say
ing that the 24-hour clause must be
a clerical error.
He asked Captain Davis to reconcile
the two statements, to which request
the captain responded by saying: Gen
eral Eagan had simply forgotten.
Probably he bad not seen the contract
for six months. 1t is not customary
in such cases to depend upon the mem
DRY, the contracts being on file and
reference to them convenient and
usual"
The witness said there had been con-
siderable discussion in the Office of the
commissary general of the feasibility
of shipping beef on the hoof, but it had
been decided not to try the experiment,
because of the difficulty of getting
ships for landing the cattle, and of
taking care of them after landed. The
subsistence department had however,
gone so far as to gather the names of
persons who might desire to bid
Edward Morris Of the Chicago firm
of Morris & Company was the next
witness. He stated that his company
had for the past 10 years been in the
habit of storing canned roast beef in
the Baltimore and Ohio warehouses on
Staten Island for shipment to either
foreign or domestic points. Some of
this beef had, in 1898, been returned
to Chicago. Most Of the shipments to
foreign ports had been sent to the
English
None Of it had ever been sold to or
rejected by foreign government, and
none had been sold abroad and con-
demned and sent back to the United
States for the American troops The
goods returned to Chicago were sold
to wholesale grocery house. and by
it sold to the government, 80 per cent
going. to Manila. The firm had sold
to the government direct about $780,
600 worth of corned beef and of canned
roast beef.