The record-union., 1899-04-12
Major -General Shafter Before the
Court Of Inquiry.
Testimony Differed Little From That at
War Commissions Hearing.
Had Eaten the Canned Roast Beef
Cold, and Found 1t Not Dis
agreeable The Refrigerated
Beef Was as Fine as Any He
Had Even Eaten.

WASHINGTON, April 11.-Major
General -Shafter was the principal VII
ness before the beef inquiry poard To-
day. His statement differed little from
his testimony before the War lnves1l-
CATION Commission. He had eaten tGe
canned roast beef cold, ana Iouna II
not disagreeable. The refrigerated oeeI
was as fine as any he had ever eaten.
The men who suffered for lack OF loou
had only themselves to blame. II
there had been mistakes. congress-
which provided the rations ana cioth-
ing of the soldiers, was responslple.
He admitted that he had never heara OIL
canned roast beef before the war Wnlie
it was not very palatable IN the
tropics, he thought it would be very
good in a cold climate.
Some of the Pennsylvania volunteers
gave direct testimony to the tainted
character of the refrigerated beef ami
the canned roast beef. One OF them
testified that beef aboard the Missis-
sippi hadSmaggots in it.
YESTERDAYS TESTIMONY.
WASHINGTON, April 11.-Sydney
Reid of the New York office Of the AS
sociated Press was recalled at the
opening of the session of the beef IN
vestigating board to-day, but his re-
examination developed nothing.
Captain Edward H. Plummer, aide dc
camp of General Shafter, and Brlsade
Quartermaster during the CUBAN CAM
paign. the next witness, was CLOSELY
questioned as to the facilities Tor get
ting supplies to the front, but ms tes-
timony in this respect developed MOTH
ing new He said that the reglm MIA
and brigade Cuartermasters toward the
close of the campaign generally request
ed bacon in preference to beef
There were but two days, according
to his belief, between the debarkatlon
and the end of the siege when the
troops did not have practically full neid
rations with the exception of potatoes
and tomatoes. After the surrender,
when refrigerated beef was issued, ne
said the only complaint he heard con-
cerning the meat was from the Eight d
Ohio He had no personal knowledge,
but he saw statement by Major Cal
lagher that only one one-hundredth of
one per cent of the refrigerated beef
issued had not been considered.
S. Ochsenchlager, the representative
Of Armour e. Co. at Jacksonville, fol-
lowed. He had heard very few COM
plants. To his knowledge no cheml-
Gals or preservatives were used; Ger
tainly not there He never heard OF
the Powell process beef until after he
saw mention of it in the newspapers
two or three weeks ago.
Major General William r. Shafter
was the next witness. He entered The
court room unaccompanied, and all the
members rose to receive him He de-
tailed the main events connected with
the Santiago expedition in narrative
form. The quantity of supplies taken
was largely determined by the capacity
of the ships.
He had no discretion in the matter
of rations. He took what was sent TO
him by the Commissary Department.
1t was utterly impracticahle to take
beef on the hoof. He regarded ii as
absurd to consider Looking back at
the campaign, he still considered 1t inn
practicable Had he encountered an
active enemy they might have lost a
beef herd, and in any event it would
have been imperatively necessary TO
take the same amount of salt and cured
meat to provide against such posi-
bic contingency.
After the troops were landed he or
dered all troops forward with three
days rations. The meat ration was
not specified. Each commander deter
mined whether it should be bacon or
roast beef He heard no complaint of
the canned roast beef between the time
of landing and the surrender. He heard
no complaints until after his return
from Cuba. Naturally, in such a cii-
mate, it was not appetiZing. He ate Il
himself every day. The troops were
furnis he'd with full raticns Of meat, hard
bread, coffee and sugar. There We're
one or two days when the full ration
of coffee and sugar did not reach them,
but it was made up the next day. The
question of supplying the troops was
the difficult one; the rest was easy.
There We're no complaints from
Washington. The health of the troops
was fairly good up to the time of the
surrender The sick report July 10th
would show but LOCO men sick, but
the troops had been weakened. and
after the surrender went down rapidly
The first case of yellow fever was re-
ported on the 9th. He only recalled
one complaint against the refrigerator
beef; he thought that came from the
Seventh or Ninth Infantry.
He took great interest in the refrig-