The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-21

|
Dr. Daily said he should say the attempt
| to preserve the beef by chemicals was not
| q success. That had been his experience on
| the transport Panama. in the beef carried
! by which ship he was pretty sure chemi-
| Gals were involved" +" That beef he said was
| very foul He thought the government beef
| requirements of the contractors were very
| unreasonable. Everybody knows, he said,
| that beef exposed to moisture and warmth
| for "a hours will be very much tried
| Recurring to the transport Panama, he
| said most of the beef it carried was refrig
| Grated. They had secured ton of beef and
for this they al first had one and one-half
| tons of ice later increased to eleven and one
! half tons of ice. The beef. however. had
| decidedly peculiar odor. AT Ponce" he
| went on to say Il observed the refrigerated
beef taken from the transports. 1t had a
| peculiar odor. ] observed the examination
| of spoi ed beef en- one transport. 1t was done
! by butcher down in the hold. He thrust
his arm in every direction INTO the putrid
| meat trying to find solid piece. This meat
! had the same peculiar Odor. He added that
| the Panamas beef warranted his report that
| its odor was like that Of dead human in
| jected with preservatives, He also depicted
the strong odors aboard the transport
Gen. Beaver asked If the witness did not
| think his examination purely superficial and
| without any substantial knowledge.
| mo, / would not like to say that" wit
| ness replied. He believed the beef on the
| Panama had come from the transport Man
| itoba. On the Panama, coming over from
| Ponce. he had made some tea. or soup, from
| the refrigerated beef, the same that had
been condemned. had filtered it and sealed
| it Theoretically in can and when he reached
| his home at Pittshurg had analyzed it. From
| this he got lightish brown residium. This
| he said disclosed the characteristics of bo-
| raX and salycilic acid. DR. Daily urged that
he be permitted to demonstrate the test.
DR.. Connor objected, insisting that he
| leave the powder the witness brought as
| the resdium of this beef with the commits
| sion to be examined by a government chem
| ist.
Witness pleaded not to have the matter
| talx NJ of q
| was effected by deciding that DR.. Daily be
! present with the official chemist and 1t was
| arranged to have Prof Clarke of the Geo
! logical survey here, examine the powder.
At the afternoon session DR. Daily under
went a rather severe oss-examination; es-
! pecially on the subject or the date on which
| he had reported as to his suspicious in re-
| gard to the beef and why he had not re-
| ported sooner. DR. DAILY said he had never
! discussed with any officer the subject of
| bad beef Instead of commenting on such
matters he had rather attempted to allay
! discomfort with the meat. While at Chick
| amauga he had found meat which appeared
! to have been treated indicated in his re-
| port If the government was supplied with
! chemically prepared beef he was asked did
! he not think that the government had been
fraudulently dealt with? DR.. DAILY replied
| that in his judgment when such beef had
| been supplied by contractors it had not been
| with fraudulent intent. The persons supply
| ing the beef probably considered the prepar-
| ations used no more harmful than salt He
| had not arrived at the conclusions he did
until after tests. Instead of weakening his
recant any statements he had made.
DIR. DALY'S TEST.
DR.. DAILY was questioned closely in regard
to the examination of an extract of beef
which, he said he lad made and which he
said resulted in a disclosure of the charac
teristics of borax and salicylic acid. He stated
that the kettle from which the extract was
taken was perfectly clean and the fluid was
transferred to a perfectly clean glass bottle.
The beef used in making the extract was of
the ''refrigerated' variety. At Jacksonville
he had inspected meat which, while of good
appearance had IAN unmistakable odor,"
! The cooks there said that much seasoning
| was required to overcome the unpalatable-
ness of the cooked meat.
The weather in Cuba and Porto Rico was
! always warm, said DR. Daily in answer to
another line of interrogatory. This, how
! ever did not mean that similar means
would be necessary to preserve beef in
| those places at all seasons of the year.
/ Beef decomposed much more rapidly during
| the rainy season than when the weather
! was merely warm. The beard" referred to
! in this investigation he said could only
! grow upon meat containing putrescent
germs. Many persons preferred to eat
! such persons almost invariably drank wine
or other spirits afterwards Such spirits
| the doctor said would kill any germs con-
| tanned in the meat 1t was another ques-
! tion. however, when it came TO feeding SOL
| diers on meat in such condition.
|
| ing beef chemically The boracic acid, or
/ salicylic acid. he said, was sprinkled upon
the meat in the shape of powder, and that
| which would not adhere was brushed off
/ The meat was then hung in a room, where
! 1t was kept cold by means of ammonia
| salts. This was one means of preserving
| meat but there were other methods The
substance placed upon the surface of the
| meat penetrated its inner tissues, and there
! chemical changes took place.
DIR. DAILY also explained the methods of
| embalming human bodies Many persons
! had methods which they claimed to be
! periOr to all others, but the common method
| was to use boraic acid, salicylic acid or
| glycerine.
In making examinations of beef he was
| possessed of a knowledge which led him to
! look for two particular substances. In re-
| gard to his report on the question of the
whether It had been forwarded from army
| headquarters to any person interested. He
replied that in his opinion the major gen
! eral of the army was the person most like
| ly to be interested.
DR.. DAILY was at Tampa about the 30th of
| May. His suspicious in regard to the beef
he said were aroused about the nth of
| June He reported this fact in August. DR.
DAILY denied that his report stated that the
| tality," of the soldiers. He had said that
it was detrimental to to health. Ti.I :, ,,s
| opinion an officer had performed his duty
| when knowing that the beef supplied the
| army was detrimental to health, he had con-
| cealed that fact and had not reported for
| many weeks.
| DR.. DAILY replied that he had reported upon
| the facts in a regular way and after ma
| ture deliberation. He could not, he said,
'howl about it to any and every one he
| met"
| interrogatory, asked whether he would have
| treated a patient as he had treated the SOL
| diers of the army You are on trial, now;
| doctor" continued Mr.. DENLY; ION trial
! before the country.
To this the witness protested vigorously
| that he was not upon trial and the coun-
| try
| Dr. ConnOr questioned the witness in re-
| gard to the decomposed boracic acid fire.
| duentv referred to- This brought out the
| fact that DR. DAILY used the term in It's
| chemical sense but he said as a matter or
| fact the acid was really compounded with
! some other element in the meat and its ma
| ture changed in this way.
| During the course of the afternoon DR..
| DAILY stated that it was a mistake to believe
| that freshly killed meat was detrimental to
| health Meat from an animal just slaugh-
; tered was in no way injurious, he said.
| Tomorrow morning DR.. Daily will meet
| DR. Connor of the commission, and DR..
Clark of the Geological Survey. when an
examination will be made of the powder
which DR.. DAILY believes to exhibit character
| istics of boraX and salicyhc acid.