The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-02-21


ofinquiry to-day made good start in its
work. The court was comfortably quar-
tered in the old meeting room of the
war investigation commission, in the
Lemon building, with accommodations
for representatives of the press asso-
Citations and the local newspapers. Calls
of ceremony on the president and the
general commanding the army occupied
a large part of the forenoon, immediate
ly thereafter General Miles appearing
as the first witness. He and three other
army officers summoned as witnesses
were examined, and disposed of before
the court closed its session at 8 o'clock.
General Miles testimony, of course,
was the feature of the days proceed
ings. Colonel Frank Michener, his chief
of staff, and a gentleman in citizens
clothes, who took a seat by the fire.
place and gravely watched the course
of proceedings, retired with the general
as silently as he had come, and ac-
companied the general to the court
room. General Miles appeared in ia
tigue uniform, rather striking in it's
contrast with the display of scarfs, bull
lion and buttons on the full dress uni
forms of the court. He submitted to
the questioning of Colonel Davis, re-
corder of the court, with equanimity
except for flash of mingled indigna-
tion and irony when he informed the
recorder that he was not compelled to
report to the commissary general of
the army. This was in reply to ques-
tion as to whether or not he had re-
ported to the commissary department
the fact that complaints had been made
to him as to the quality of meat being
issued to the troops. An instant later
General Miles resumed his cool and
carefully considered replies to the in
quiries of the court.
AS indicated by a letter of the adiu-
tant general, read by the recorder for
the information of the court, the scope
Of the inquiry was limited to the al
legations of General Miles before the
war commission as to the quality of
the army beef land the matter pur-
porting to have been furnished to the
public press by the same official"
Only two interviews We're called up
by the court, the first an interview
with New York Journal representa-
tive, early in the beef controversy, in
which General Miles was quoted as
charging that certain chemicals were
used in the preservation of the army
under date of Feb. l, covering about the
same ground.
General Miles was very slow and care
ful In his replies to the recorders ques-
tions on this point. He called attention
to the fact that in both instances he
was credited in the Interviews with re-
fusing ito answer certain questions and
insisted that these refusals should be
given due weight in considering the
uuPStiOnS ha T.
said in the case of the interview of
Feb. l that he had a letter from the
man who wrote the story offering to
swear that General Miles had refused
TO be interviewed, and that the whole
story was made up in the office from
the writer's general knowledge of the
facts. Notwithstanding this, when his
final answer was asked as to the au-
thenticity of the interview General
Miles did not specifically deny it, but
merely said that it did not fairly repre-
sent his own opinion in the case The
same qualified denial as to the Journal
interview of Dec % was made. leaving
the witness on record as not assuming
any responsibility for the newspaper
statements, but tacitly admitting that
there was good deal in them with
which he agreed.
The trend of questions put to the other
witnesses of the day indicated that so
long as they agreed with General Miles
as ITO the quality of meat furnished the
troops in the field, the only criticism
of their position the court had to make
was why they had not taken some Off
cial steps to have the matter remedied
at the time. In every instance the reply
was that the circumstances in which
the army was placed in a sickly, foreign
country, with large amount of fight
ing and great scarcity of transporta-
ton on hand, precluded the possibility
of any such action. In each instance
the question was pushed no further on
this line. 1t was said after the court
adjourned that Dr. DAILY, whose orig
inal 'embalmed beef" report was the
genesis of the meat controversy, prob
ably would appear at to-morroW's ses-
sion.
The court of inquiry to examine into
the beef controversy assembled at the
Lemon building shortly after 10 o'clock
this morning preparatory to the first
formal session At 1885 o'clock the
court, in full dress uniform, proceeded
to the white house, where it paid its
respects to the president, and then to
the war department, where it called
upon Alger and Miles. The court re-
turned at 1:25 o'clock from these visits
of courtesy. Then being ready for
business, Colonel Davis read a letter
from Adjutant General Corbin explain
ing specifically the lines along which the
court is expected to investigate.
General Miles then appeared as the
first witness. He was asked about his
statement before the war commission
He said he made one, and upon Colonel
Davis submitting a printed report of
that statement, Miles approved it.
Ihen he was asked about the alleged
interview which appeared in the New
York Journal of Dec. 23, whether it
represented completely or in part what
he said Miles said: Il do not recall
in that interview that has
not been given in my testimony or
transmitted in my reports. You win
observe 1t contains a number of my
declinations to name officers or my