Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-16
Vituperative Epithets Eliminated
From His Statement.
APOLOGY TO WAR COM ISSI0N
Testimony Regarding Beef Pre-
pared for the Army.
NO CHEMICAL PROCESS USED

the war investigating commission this
morning and considered in executive ses-
sion. Afterward a copy of the letter was
given The Star. 1t follows:
Office of Commissary General of
Subsistence.
Washington, D. c., January Ia, 1889.
To the Commission Appointed by the Presi-
dent to Investigate the Conduct of the
War Department in the War With
Spain:
Gentlemen l have the honor to hand
you herewith my testimony, which is now
resubmitted and revised in accordance with
the views expressed by you in your letter
to me of January Is, 1889.
The Objectionable features and what is
considered irrelevant matter by you, in
which opinion l entirely agree, are eilml-
mated. In this connection l desire 10 state
that there was never thought or lnten-
ton on my part OF any dlsrespect what
soever of your commission, but i'll eXpiana-
tion and in eXtenuation of the language
used by me heretofore L beg to invite
the attention of the commission to the fact
that L have been accused practically Of
feeding the soldiers with poisoned beef,
which made them Sick-"embalmed beef,
so called that l have furnished meat to
the army under the ''pretense of expert
ment,' which charge, in effect, is corrup-
tion and worse, because it jeopardzed the
lives of soldiers sent to the front in tropi-
cal climates and who were dependent on
such food as was sent them: that these
statements have gone to the whole country
uncontradicted: that they have been pub
lished and ] have been pilloried in the
press of the country a who had fed
the army on poisoned meat, and corruptly
so; that for about three weeks time l
have kept silent. for the reason that l
was debarred, after talking with the hon
orabie the Secretary of War, from prefer
ring charges because of the immunity
prs fed nv he a To It-jtp 1,n-
fore your commission, Notwithstanding the
gravity of these accusations; that it is un-
reasonable to believe that such monstrous
charges could have any other effect than
to work upon an honorable man in such
way as to goad him to a species of des-
peration, and that it but natural
when the proper opportunity was given
him. to meet and refute the charges. that he
should characterize them in harsh Ian
guage and in terms that are deemed i'm
proper, no matter what the provocatiOn.
l therefore withdraw the language anS
matter SO Objectionable and resubmit to
you now my sworn statement with the
abiding faith that your commission, having
al the facts before you, will decide the
points at issue justly.
Very respectfully,
(Signed) CHAS. P. EAGAN
Commissary General of Subsistence.
Chairman Dodge stated that the COM
mission is not now prepared to let Gen.
Eagan's statement be seen by The Star,
for the reason that it has not been read by
the commission. He could not say whether
or not 1t is deemed satisfactory or would
be accepted in lieu of the Objectionable
original.
The commission today continued probing
into the 'embalmed beef phase of their
inquiry, and several important witnesses
were heard.
Preparing Refrigerated Beef.
Mr.. Frank E. Vogel was the first to be
examined. The witness stated that he has
hoo,
Morris & Co. for the past nineteen years.
He is vice president of the Fairbanks Can
ming Company. He said that his firm uses
the same process for refrigerating beef as
is employed by Armour & Co and other
firms. He described the method of govern
ment inspection of cattl3, which is fol-
lowed by the slaughtering and refrigerating
of the meat. His firm does not pay or
contribute anything to the support of the
inspectors. He sold s15O,00O worth of canned
meats to the government during the Span
iSh war.
Col. Denby-"Do you treat refrigerated
beef by any chemical process?''
The witness-"None whatever"
Col. Denby-"Dd you ever know of any
chemicals having been used?"
The witneSs-"No, sir"
Col. Denby-"Have you ever had or heard
any complaints about this beef?"
The witneSs-"No, sir.'
canned corned beef, the witness was asked
by Gen. McCook if any deleterious chemi-
Gals are used in their preparation.
The witness No chemicals of any
kind"
The witness stated that no complaints
ever have been made of these kinds of
beef. He said that the cans would last
hfteen or twenty years. The canned roast
beef is fresh beef, put in cans which are
Theoretically sealed up and then subjected
to heat. He explained the difference be-
tween these two kinds of beef by stating
that corned beef is first cured with salt
and then canned and cooked.
Captain HoWell-"Is any of this beef
made out of scrapS?'
The Witness-"No, SIR
Captain Howell-"Did you have any old
stock on hand when the war broke o,It?,
The witness-"No, sir
Captain Howell-"What kind of meat do
you make this canned roast beef out of?''
The witness-"The same beef but of a
hlgher grade that is used for the table"
Sdpt. hoWeil-Do you know of any pro-
cess used by any packer of the United
states other than the usual process?'
The witness-"No, sir"
Capt Irvine Tells About the Beef.
Ihe next witness. Capt. R. ]. C. Irvine Of
the 1lth Infantry, was called for the DUR
pose of investigating the statement by Sur
geon DAILY, made to Gen Miles. that the
beef served on the transport Panama was
bad and had the odor of an embalmed
body. Capt. Irvine was the acting commits
sary on the Panama. He said the trans
port sailed from Ponce on September T.
The refrigerated beef brought to Ponce on
the Manitoba was in fairly good condition
when taken aboard. There was, however,
lack of ice with which to keep it. He
stated that about two days aAer starting
complaint was made to him about the beef
He called board of survey which con-
demned nearly 1000 pounds and threw it
overheard.
DIR. Conner-'Was there medical officer
on the Panama."
Capt. Irvine-"Yes, sir. Major DAILY,
DIR. Conner-'Did DR.. Daily make any
complaint to you as acting commissary of
the condition of the meat?''
Capt. Irvine-'No, sir. The complaint was
made by his assistant"
Dr. Conner-"Did the meat look wen?"
Capt 1rvine-"1t looked like meat that
had been in storage. 1t did not look bad.''
DR.. Conner-"Was there any odor?''
Capt. Irvine-"Yes, SIR
DR.. Conner-"Can you give us any de-
scription or idea of the character of the
odor?"
The witness stated that il was different