The age-herald., 1899-01-12
WAS SAD NEED OF SURGEONS
Patients Demand t,tentiOn Which They
 Diq : sRsceiVe.
STILL OEf5s SING ARMY BEEF
Packers Alp . @ Before the War Inves- tigation o.s-. mission and Testify That $ Chemicals Were
 Uso..f in the Product.

Washington, January 11.-Mr. Tilden, sec- rotary, and one of the directors of Libby McNeil & Libby, timed meat packers of Chicago, testified before the war investiga- tion commission today as to the company's method of selecting cattle, killing them and preparing them for market. The company
 had sold the government 2,oOO,o0O pounds
 during the war, and had received no com- plants either at home from abroad His house had furnished identically the same meat to the English, French, German and Japanese goYernmets as was furnished to
 the United States during the recent war. There had never been any complaints from these customers.
 Arthur Meeker, general superintendent of Armour & Co.'s Chicago plant said Ar mour's general methods of slaughtering in- spection and cooling were practically the same as Swift x Co.'S. He shipped about S,0OO,OOO pounds of refrigerated beef a week. ANheir export trade was exclusively Eng fish and there very few complaints | from customers. The firm had supplied re- frigerator beef to permanent United States
 army posts for fifteen years without sn- | gle complaint
 Had No Complaints P. J. O'Connor, eastern manager of Ar Hour & Co.,, who made the contracts for fresh beef at Camp Black, Camp Alger and Camp Meade, said he had received no com plaints, but on the contrary had been com plmented by the various commissary off, cers with whom he had dealt.
 Jeannette Jennings, newspaper woman and volunteer worker of the Red Cross who was at Santiago the supply ship | Texas, appeared at the afternoon session
 and varied the monotony of the technical 1 beef inquiry by telling her experience as a | nurse aboard the Seneca, which was de- 1 scribed on it's arrival in New York as a 'horror ship Her description of the yes- ] sel did not differ essentially from those of l the correspondents and sick who were 1 aboard the Seneca on the voyage to New
 York. She said that except for single case of beef extract the vessel had not aboard it single article for the use of the sick. The captain was very attentive and supplied many meals to the sick soldiers from the passengers table, but he pro- tested before starting that the vessel had not been cleaned and was in no condition to receive sick or convaescents, and that she mad no supplies nor even eating facilities for the sick aboard.
 Seed of Surgical Attention Witness spoke of the lack of surgical in- struments aboard, and Dr. Conror who was conducting the examination, asked what need there was for surgical instruments beyond scissors and bandages. Witness re- piled that one soldier who had nearly suf- focated, being shot through the lungs had IA ounces of liquid pumped out of his tho
 raX as soon as they could get him into Bellevue hospital Others, she said were almost as badly in need of surgical attend- tion.
 She said further that, in spite of the fact that the Seneca and other transports were
 uAtitted for the care of sick and wounded,
 they were loaded to their utmost for the home voyage, the Relief, which was fitted to carry 800 sick, came home immediately afterward with only 125 patients aboard of her.
 The next witness was pr. w. A. AtWater special agent of the agricultural depart- ment, who was called as expert chemist on the subject of "embamed meat" The g!st of his testimony, which occupied some hours, was that he considered the ordinary canned beef of commerce, both corned and roast, excellent food and about of equal nu- tritive value. He had never heard Of chem icals other than salt and saltpetre being used in preserving any sort of meat to be found in the general market.
 -Dr. Atwater was exceedingly guarded in his testimony, however, and would not give categorical answers. He was indulged by flied and explanatory answer to almost ev- cry question.