The Portland daily press., 1899-05-08

aThat the canned beef was described
as FRESH because 1t was not salted, but
that the meat was not old or stale. That
the refrigerated beef furnished the army
was not doctored or treated with any
other agency than cold air. That the
meat purchased for the army was the
meat of commerce.; that both kinds, re-
frigerated and canned, were such as are
we'll known In both hemispheres - COM
mercial articles. of which there Is and has
been very large consumption not only by
the trade generally, but by the U nited
States navy and by the armies and ma
vies of Europe. l8
That no reports of unfitness or insult
ability of the beef sent from the United
States were forwarded to the war depart
Cuba or Porto Rico, while the field opera
lions were In, progress nor were any such
reports received until more than one
month after hostilities ceased. That bar
ring some defects In methods of inspe CT
ing the beef on its delivery to the subsis.
tenoe department. the deterioration OF
the meat In the shipment was due to the
fault of nc. one"
= The charges of Gen. Miles as made In
newspaper interviews as we'll Is those
made before the war investigating COM
mission are referred to at length, among
them being an interview with the general
sent out from the New York office OF the
Associated Press on the 3lst OF January
in which Gen. Miles was quoted as saying
that he had Overwhelming eytdepce that
the beef was treated with chemicals 10
preserve it and that he had an1dayits
from men who saw the beef undergoing
the embalming process"
Tho court notes the denial which Gen.
Miles made of this part of the conversa-
tton as 1t was printed in the New YORK
Herald, but prints the charge as part
Of the allegations, saying on this point;
- I,ANh Ar al n
Mr., Berry of the New York Times agree
in the verify of the interview rs report
ed by the former and this is found In the
Herald clipping. The court does not
therefore ignore this paragraph, but treats
II as a part of the allegations which are
under Investigation"
Summing up the results OF the investl-
CATIONS of the chemists employed by the
court, the court says:
"The contents of all the cases, which
consisted of boiled rather than roast beef,
were found to be perfectly sweet. with
an odor Of cooked meat. The beef In
nearly all the cans appeared to have been
soetened by exposure to heat, but appar-
entity without injurious effect as to its
quality. Apart from this the meat cen
tents were found to be in good state
OF preservation in every case. NO traces
of preventative acids We're found in any
of the cans there is no
testimony to the effect that any Of the
canned fresh beef supplied to the subsis-
tence department since. April %, 1898,
has been chemically treated or subjected
to the aotionof preservatives OF any kind
ave as small quantities OF common
salt have been added az seasoning 10 the
product of certain packers.
Detailing the numerous Investigations
made of the keeping quality OF the canned
fresh beef, the court concludes that In
no case did the number OF swelled or
tainted cans discovered greatly exceed
In amount of ! per cent OF the entlre
number examined.
Several pages of the report are devoted
to the consideration of the allegation
made by Gen. Miles that the refrigerat-
cd beef was treated with personalities,
but the statement is made upon the thres-
hold Of this question that but little tes-
timony was submitted by him in support
OF this contention. The inference drawn
by the court from the absence of such
testimony Is ad verse to the existence OF
the practice alleged to prevail by the
Major general commanding"
Attention is then called to the fact that
the testimony bearing upon the chemical
ization of the beef deals with 1T only at
the time of its issuance to the troops and
an analysis of this testimony Is made
with the result of showing considerable
difference of view as to the substances
used and the mode OF their application.
Days testimony concerning The rofrig-
Grated beet on the transports Panama
ana also to his report concerning tbs
beef supplied TO tho imiuunes stationed
at Chiokamauga. Referring to the doc
tors analysis of residuum from beef &C.
cured on the transport the court calls at
tention to the fact that he approved the
finding of the board of survey and not
outstanding there we're other medical
officers on board, no reference was made
by him to his suspicion that the meat
had been chemically treated. ls
Referring to this and to another inoi-
dent the court says:
1.-THE Testimony shows that the beef
treated by the Powell process, which was
declared by DIR. DAILY to contain boric and
salioylio acids, was in fact, treated by
fumigation, and the materials employed
contained neither boric nor salioyl lie
acids. The beef from which the broth
was made on the Panama has not been
positively identified as refrigerated beef
and the connection between the residuum
of the sample taken from the ship caul-
dron and that analysed by DIR. Clark
has not been established to the satisfac
tion of the court.
A chapter of the report is devoted to
the consideration OF the cause Of the sick
ness in the army in the Santiago cam
paign, but "the court finds 1t impossible
TO conclude that either the canned fresh
beef or refrigerated beef appeared to any
appreciable extent as causes OF intestinal
disease.
Speaking of the ration as whole, the
court says:
"As to the effects of the food supply,
having regard to both sufficiency and
quality, 1t seems to be clearly established
that the army ration as supplied. without
modification, to the troops serving In the
West Indies, was 5y no means well adapt
ed for use in a tropical climate. If this
be true, the untitness of the ration should
have manifested itself by its failure to
keep the troops who subsisted upon 1t,
IN the best possible condition for service
in hot climates. This. in the opinion Of
the court is fully established in evidence.
The insufficiency of the food supply in
Cuba and the irregularity attending up
on its distribution due primarily to a
marked deficiency in transportation IA
cilities and the condition of the weather
and the roads, appeared, to some extent,
as causes of diseases among the troops
who were thus insufficiently and irrsgu-
larly subsisted.
The report closes with the following