The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-01-17
TRANSPORTATION AND BEEF.
General Humphreys and Others Tes-
tifv Before Commission.

| Washington, Jan. 16.-General Charles
/ F. Humphreys, who was in charge of
the water transportation at Tampa for
Santiago. chief quartermaster on
| General Miles staff. and with Cen
eral Shafter prior to General Miles ar
rival, was the main witness before the
war investigating commission today.
Prior to his appearance Captain J. c.
| Irvine of the Eleventh United States
infantry, cOmmiSSary on the Panama
at the time that transport was in
charge Of Surgeon Daily, who wrote
report on the beef, CONCERNING it in
the most sensational language, testi-
fed that the vessel sailed from Ponce
on Sept. l or ,. and on the eth there
was Il well-marked odor, as of some
thing that had been CLOSED up" He
was not prepared to say the odor was
like that emanating from a dead hui
man body injected with chemical pre-
serVatives, as Surgeon Daily had re-
ported. As soon as complaint was
made on the beef, he said it was eX-
amined and found to be very odorous.
The beef was thrown overheard. The
men were then put on the rest of the
rations, living without fresh beef The
witness said the lack OF it was not felt
by the men. AL the beef carried was
refrigerated beef The ice taken
aboard had net been sufficient to pre-
serve the beef even, as the commits
sion asked, IF il had been received
in good condition" 1t was received in
fairly gOod condition, however, witness
said. After the beef was thrown over
board he had thought it must have
undergone some change before it was
brought aboard. or while aboard, be-
fore it WAS put on the ice.
HUMPHREYS TEsTIFIEs.
General Humphreys. the chief wit
ness Of the day, said the congestion au
Tampa was due 10 the inability of the
reads to handle the cars.
Asked as 10 serious complaints that
had been made of the improper condi-
tiCn Of the Seneca, Concho, Breakwater
and the City Of Washington, witness
insisted the responsibility rested with
the medical department. When the
Seneca, IrCquois or the City CT Wash
inston sailed FOR home with the sick. he
said, they had no ice. unloss the Red
Cross had had little. The first ice
schooner, he said, reached Santiago
July 80.
There was a long wrangle over the
responsibility for the loading of the
transports for the sick.
IF the Concho," asked Ex-Governor
Woodbury., was overcr0wded, was it
because the government had not pro-
vided sufficient transportation, CT
through an error Of judgment OF the
medical department."
Why, tire medical department, GER
tainsy,' replied General Humphreys
cmphaticaliy; because there We're two
mere ships each as coed as the Con
cho. available"
Speaking of the Santiago expedition,
he said it was e1sy enough now to look
back on things which might have been
done. bat there we're 4 Thousand and
one things which happened which could
not have been anticipated.
He was closely questioned by DR.
Conner as to the supply of medical
stores and the transportation furnished
to convey them to the front. Witness
said that the transportation. the pack
trains usSd before the wagon trains
were unloaded, We're under the dre.c-
ton of the commanding general, with
orders to get ammunition and stores to
the front, preferably ammunition, but
there was, in his opinion. no reason
why the medical stores should not have
reached the front
THE medical corps" said he, were
denied nothing when it was possible to
give it to them"
General Humphreys said medicine
chests belonging to many surgeons
were not landed with the troops as they
should have been. Tons and tons of
regimental property were landed in
some cases, but not the surgeons med
ioine chests. Why, he could not under
stand
Asked if all the supplies were landed
by July TO- General Humphreys said
he could not say. II don't know what
was taken with the expedition said
he, and don't think any one knows |
This was the result of the confusion |
when everything went by the board |
In the first instance, I directed all the |
hospital stores to go on the Santiago. |
Iroqucis and Seneca, but when they did |
not come we loaded what came to the !
piers at Tampa. No one knows ex-
actly what arrived
ABOUT THE BEEF.
Asked about his experience with re-
frigerated beef, he said the first he saw !
was at Santiago. THE trouble was, |
there was too much of it, said he. |
But what l saw was pretty good. 1 |
think it was all good when landed at |
daylight each morning. but l know
nothing about it's condition when it |