Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-03-03
DADDY KENNEBEC JOURNAL. FRIDAY. MARCH 3 1899

and most of ii tainted, so that the men
were sickened by eating 1t. On the vow
axe home the men could eat little but
"Then We started home sick" said
Dwver in conclusion, and When we got
to Montauk Point, the Massachusetts Aid
Society rescued us from the coinHiissary
Lieut.. Newton Putney, another. 6th
Mass. man., followed. His story OF the
voyage of the Yale to Porto Rico agreed
the tomatoes being bad, the canned meat
worse, and the bacon being issued with
out any facilities to cook it. So far as
he knew. the line officers complained to
their colonel. but nothing came of It.
On shore the men complained OF the
canned roast beef. but they were IN the
habit of kicking and witness paia ia. n.als
with six men on detached duty, they took
two-thirds of their meat ration In canned
roast beef and had to throw u Al away way,
bridge of the I'd New York, whose service
mad all been in the United states, said
his experience with the refrigerated beef
had been quite satisfactory. NJ ~ inc
demned by board Of survey ana OF 4
large number of apparently perfect cans
he, had personally opened, about one n
five was absolutely putrid, while none Of
it was wholesome and fit to use.
Lieut.. John S. Sewell of the regular
army, who served as major of the LIST
transport that carried Clarence Walters
to Porto Rico, testified that there was no
canned roast beef aboard this transport
to his knowledge. There was canned
scribed BY Walters as containing canned
roast beef. He recollected Walters, but
the latter never had complained to him
Of the ration or of his treatment while
in the service. On the contrary, Walters
said he had been very well treated
DIR. Maxwell Christine of Philadelphia.
the witness who was supposed to have
seen the chemical preparation of meat in
the packing house. of Swift & Co. in
Omaha, testified that while in Omaha
last year, he had been through the
seen a man with a canula on the end os
a flexible tube showing it into sections of
meat and injecting them with fluid. He
did not know at the time what the fluid
was corned beef, pork or refrigerator
beef. The meat was cut in Is or 2O-pound
pieces and was not in sides or quarters.
He paid little attention to the matter at
the time. but when the discussion over
"embalmed beef arose, he deemed it his
duty to write to Gen. Miles, telling him
what he had seen. He did not say in his
ing injected. but merely that it was meat.
He had regarded this communication as
confidential, but it had got out and
others was letter from a man in New
York signing himself WentZ. and asking
if Dr. Christine knew that the injection
process he had witnessed was the regu-
lar way of corning beef and hams as the
injection with picking fluid reduced the
period of picking the meat by several
weeks. He received another letter from
one James Farnan whom he had never
seen. tarnan said he had been stationed
in Omaha and knew all about the en-
balming of beef and could give informal
ton very damaging to the packers. On
the strength of this letter Farnan was
summoned to appear before the war in
vestigation commission but never re-
Snonded.