The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-03-01
Sets Eight Dishes Before witnesses
and Asks Them to Say Which
Kind They Had in Cuba
TRYING ORDEAL FOR THE MEN
RESULT OF THE TEST NOT To BE
MADE PUBLIC FOR A FEW DAYS.
Testimony of Lieutenant Ramsay and
Others Regarding CANNED Roast
Meat and Refrigerated Beef.

the court of inquiry into General Niles S
beef charges to-day was an object lesson
in canned meats prepared by the court and
served to the oncommissiOned men who
testified at yesterdays hearing. The court
had prepared eight plates of beef, fresh beef.
canned beef that had been TO Cuba and
back. and canned beef fresh from the fac
tory. Four plates were prepared hot IN a
stew and four cold as they came from the
can, the fresh beef being boiled to make
it resemble the others. The enlisted men
were ordered TO sample each and say which
was the sort they had had in Cuba 1t was
a trying ordeal fore the men, most of them
declaring that none of the plates looked
anything like what they had eaten in Cuba.
BY repeated assurances that there was cam
paign beef in two of the plates. and after
being urged that they should at least choose
ito the best of their belief" the court sue
ceeded in getting an expression of opinion
from each of the men. An army surgeon,
DR.. Bowden. kept tally on the guesses of the
men and changed the positions of the plates
after each witness had left the room. The
result of this record was not made public,
however. and will be reserved till DIR. Bow
den ~testifies. probably some time this week.
The most interesting witness of the day,
and the first, was Lieut.. Ramsay, Ninth In
fantry. who had served as a commissary
officer at Baiquiri and Santiago, and who
characterized the canned roast beer as
IAN unpaIa.able and uninviting grade of in
ferior meat" which he would not willingly
feed to any man sick or well. Lieut.. Ram
say was one of Colonel Weston's assistants
after the capture of Santiago. He told in
some detail of the unloading of supplies at
Baiquiri and Siboney and their transporta-
ton to the front. He said that the order
in which supplies went to the front had
been largely determined by the way in which
the ships were loaded at Tampa. The COM
missary officers on shore simply sent for
ward the articles of food which could be
first unloaded. Rations returns and like for
malities were dispensed with and food was
sent to the front as rapidly as possible. So
far as he knew no complaints came from
the front as TO the sort of rations that were
sent out.
THE MEN PREFERRED BACON.
After further minute inquiries from the
recorder Intended to develop whether any
protests were made from the front about
the canned beef, witness said that he read
requests for as much bacon as he could
stand. The men preferred bacon to canned
beef, and their preferences was respected
whenever possible. At one time he secured
20,O0 or 5000 extra rations of bacon from
the Berkshire TO supply just this demand.
Lieut.. Ramsay, i'm reply to Colonel Giles
pie, said Ii would have been perfectly feast
BILE to land live cattle at Santiago on the
wharf. but il would not have been practical
BILE to land them before the capture of the
city.
Colonel Davis then had q can of beef
opened and asked the witness to inspect it.
saying that it had come back from Cuba.
Lieutenant Ramsay smelled. tested il and
pulled some of it apart, saying that it was
decidedly better than any he had seen in
Cuba. 1t was more like that he had handled
ut his barracks, but he still did not feel
like recommending it as a good thing to
feed soldiers. Witness said he had seen a
great many cans of beef rejected among a
five-car lot at Tampa. The cans had burst
and the stencil in the cars was terrific. The
contractors replaced the spoiled cans in this
instance, but there was the same stencil
from more defective cans when the cargOes
Were broken out IN Cuba.
He had reported his opinion of the canned
remembered. said he had not received any
or many similar reports, but that he would
investigate the subject. Witness na0 nelDed
TO unload the Mississippi when she arrived
at Santiago. The beef was good and witness
made especial effort to get the beef ashore
early in the morning. going out frequently
with steyedores in the evening and starting
the unloading at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morn
ing. The issue ashore was made as early in
the day as possible and the meat protected
from the heat as much as possible with
tarpaulins. In quality the beef on the Mis-
sissippi and the PorL Victor. which witness
personally inspected. was of better grade
thn., rrcrrallv found NJ army n0SfC He said
he did receive a number of complaints of the
meat spelling before it reached some of the
camps. He thought this loss fell on the men.
as he knew nothing at that time of the con-
tract under which the beef was furnished to
the government. He had no chemical knowl-
saw had been chemically treated.
After witness r~ejoined his regiment he
saw something of the other side of the beef
Santiago about half the meat was lost by
trimming off the tainted parts.
CHEMICAL TREATMENT.
Returning 10 the question of chemical
treatment witness was asked If he had any
reason to believe that any of the meat is
sued in Cuba had been chemically treated.
"Only as a matter Of general knowledge"
he replied.
What do you mean by that?' said the
recorder.
We'll. 1 have been informed by butchers
and others aud have generally understood
that IL is the practice of the large packing
houses to treat the exterior of the meat
chemically with "a preparation which Will
the albumen and thus protect the
interior. 1t is the custom to trim of the out
er surface of the beef always before IL is
used" Witness said this was merely his I'M
derstanding and he had no personal knowl-
edge.
Asked by General Davis as to his personal
experience with canned roast beef. witness
said he had used it only once at Baiquiri.
considered Ii IAN unpalatable and in
ferior quality" Of badly boiled beef. Gen.
eral Davis pursued this line of inquiry.
frequently In his own canteen and in the
consolidated mess Of which he had been in
charge.
Was ii the same i'm the canteen that you
had in Cuba?' General Davis asked.
The outside of the package was The
but not the inside. The beef we Had
at the canteen at Madison barracks was
quite popular for picnics and the like. 1t
was good and palatable. That saw i'm
was evidently from the plates. chucks.
necks. | don't think i'm the cans / saw
there was a single piece that would weigh
an ounce
Colonel Gillespie questioned the witness
with some asperity when he ventured the
opinion that the meat was unfit for sick
men TO use, but witness replied firmly that
sick or well. He considered it responsible
m considerable part for the sickness and
stomach trouble among the men. He had
Il frequently on his table. but never tasted
il but once. Neither did his sergeant eat IN
more than a few times.
COLONEL SMITHS TESTIMONY.
Lieut.. Col. a. l. Smith. chief commissary
Havana. testified in some detail as TO the
purchasing arrangements of the commits
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