Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-04-24


| wherever troops. mules and horses were
| moved. The records of the quartermaster S
| department show that 2.295 horses and
| mules were landed with the invading army
| at Daiquiri and Sboney without serious
| loss, and certainly beef cattle could have
been landed with equal, If not greater.
| facility.
| 4. The travel ration which has been used
| for years, composed of corned beef, beans.
bread, coffee. etc, had been thoroughly
| tested and found satisfactory, and is In
general use today.
3. The fact had been known for years
| that in Cuba a million and a half of people
and quarter of a million of Spanish
| troops dn their military operations during
! the last three years. had been principally
| fed upon the cattle of Cuba, and those that
| had been shipped from the United States
| and South American countries: also that
| the Cuban army had subsisted in the same
Garcia had marched and Unanswered
i against the Spanish forces in eastern Cuba
| sustained principally by cattle that accom-
! panied them.
| 1t was also known that nearly a million
people and 17,O00 troops in Porto Rico had
| lived upon the herds with which that island
! is abundantly stocked. and, in addition to
| this, that cattle were exported from that
| island, the same as tobacco coffee and
| sugar. Upon the invasion and occupation
! of Porto Rico by the army under the maj or
| general commanding, he repeatedly wired
superior authority that there was an abund-
! ance of good native cattle and that no
! other fresh beef was needed.
o. Instead of supplying the troops dur
| ing this war as other armies have been sup
| piled with wholesome food (of which there
was an inexhaustible supply in the coun-
try), there was gathered up all of the cam
| ned food possible, much of which had been
| stored for years in the warehouses of the
Baltimore and Ohio railroad in other places
! and in foreign storehouses and falsely la
beled Prime Roast Reef when there was
not an ounce of roast beef and, believe,
not an ounce of prime beef contained in
the cans.
AS shown in evidence, and of general no
toriety, it was meat of the most inferior
| grade, or the boiled pulp from which beef
extract had been made, and the cans were
found filled with grease or tallow, making
a substance unpalatable, nauseating, of
fensive and unfit for human food-so nau-
| seating, in fact, that after a few efforts to
eat it the troops often went hungry rather
than try to live upon it In many cases 1t
caused sickness, and in innumerable cases
the troops We're made weak by thus being
supplied in lieu of having suitable and
wholesome food
IT is true that a small amount Of canned
roast beef was purchased for experiment
with small dettachInents of the army prior
to lS.6. but owing to unfavorable reports it
had been practically abandoned and was
| not purchased for four years prior to the
war: and through the many reports that
have been received by those who have tried
1t during the war and almost universally
condemned it. it has been, in effect aban-
doned as a part of the ration. and the prin-
opal use now made of it appears to be to
issue it to the starving Cubans
The evidence that has been presented
which condemned this food can be confirm
ed by the testimony of thousands of SOL
diers. if any additional evidence were
needed
l. The sending of troops, chained to re-
frlgerators and cold storage and ice houses.
INTO campaign against a hostile enemy is
so unprecedented and unmilitary that it
would be a waste of words to discuss it:
yet this was done, and there was fuII
knowledge that the commissary department
required from the contra ctors furnishing
Ietriserated beef that it muse keep for
Il hours outside of the refrigerators (See
the commlsSary generals letter inviting
proposals and other correspondence, as
Wen as his sworn testimony on three &C.
caslons, and his Endorsement of June Il on
Armour & Company's letter. per their at
torneys, of June Is 1889
10 fulfill these contracts the evidence
SHOWS the contractors would be compelled
10 resort to artificial preservdtives That
they possessed and intended to use chem
zeal appliances is evidenced beyond oues-
tlon. Written documents and other evil
dence prove this That such appliances
were used is, We believe, a fact established
| by unlmpeachable testimony.
- The serious and injurious effect upon
the troops that were compelled to receive
and use these two classes of food or to
some food is as apparent as any well es-
tabhshed fact, but the extent of such in
jury upon the health and lives of the troops
cannot well be measured
3. While our troops were thus derived
of wholesome food many parties were ready
TO supply them at all times and in all
camps IN this country and on foreign sta
| lions with any number of cattle
1t is also a fact that during these very
months in which our troops were serving in
Cuba there Were shipped from the Atlantic
ana gulf ports upward of 81 900 of the best
beef cattle produced in the United States
ana sent across the Atlantic to foreign
narketS-enough beef to have supplied the
troops sent from Tampa to Santiago for
thirteen years.
10. We believe these facts have been es-
tablshed beyond question, and we believe
tEat a great fraud has been perpetrated
upon the government and a great crime COM
mitted upon its soldiers; and as to the
party or parties who have committed this
ofense, and whether the evidence should be
referred to the judicial officers of the gov
eminent. in order that justice shall be done.
are matters that we leave to the considera-
ton of your honorable court.
GnrIington's Report Not Received.
Prior to the address by Maj. Lee, the
court announced the following opinion:
The report of the investigation conduct
ed by Lieut. Col. Darlington. inspector gen
eral, under the orders of the major gen
eral commanding contains the result of an
inquiry carried for the most part at the
same time and in the same places as that
intrusted to this court by the President.
During the progress of his investigation,
Col. Darlington has submitted the names
of witnesses, and, from time to time, has
suggested subjects of inquiry, all of which
have been fully considered by the court
THE reports which were furnished him by
officers Of the army have already been read
and submitted in evidence. In view of
these facts, and as it does not appear that
Col. Darlington had any other or better
means of information than Were accessible
to the court at every stage of its inquiry,
it is ordered that his report be not received
in evidence"
AS stated in The Star last Saturday the
report of Col Burlington bears out the al
legations by Gen Miles and is considered
by him as presenting a complete and ex-
haustive examination of the subject. 1t
finds that the nned roast beef was unfit
and that there is evidence to support the
suspicion that the beef elnbalmed 1t
remains now for the Secretary of War to
give it out for publication after he has
completed his perusal of it, which he had