The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1899-01-21


Commissary- General Charles H.
Eagan reppeared before the war in
vestigation commission Thursday,
the 18th inst, to answer the charges
of General Nelson A. Miles con-
corning the commissary supplies
furnished the army during the re-
cent war. The subject in controversy
was General Miles already famous
"embalmed beef" testimony, and
the letters and documents support
ing it. General Miles had charged
that the canned and refrigerated
,neats sent to the army in Cuba
and Porto Rico were unfit for use.
that they were preserved by the use
of chemicals, and that they had
"been bought and sent to the army
under pretense of an experiment"
In his sworn testimony before
the army investigation commission,
Commissary General Eagan thus
referred to Majof General Nelson A.
Miles, commanding the army:
.When General Miles says this beef
was furnished under pretense of an cx-
pertinent, he lies in his throat, be lies in
his heart, he lies in every hair of his
head and every pore of his body, he lies
wilfulIy, deliberately, Intentionally and
maliciously.
ain denouncing General Miles as liar,
I wish to make it as emphatic and coarse
as the statement itself. I wish to force
the lie back into his throat covered with
the contents of the camp latrine.
"Unless he can prove his statements he
should be driven out of the clubs, barred
from the society of decent people aud SO
ostracised that the street bootblack would
not condescend to speak to him.
"He lied with as black heart as the
man who blew up the Maine, and he de-
serves to be characterized and known to
America and Europe as being the colos-
sal, prodigious liar of the nineteenth
century,"
When General Miles was seen in
regard to General Eagan's state,
ment before the war commission,
he said:
II shall pay no attention to man who
seems to forget that he wears the uniform
of the United States army and that this
dignity should carry with it the instincts
of gentleman. If the secretary OF war
chooses to take cognizance of General
Eagan's language we'll and good. l GER
tainly shall not do so.'
The war investigation commits
sion took prompt action on the
sensational testimony submitted to
it by Commissary General Eagan,
and sent the statement, incorpora-
ting his testimony, back to him
with the privilege of resubmitting
if he chose to eliminate the vile
language which he applied to Gen
eral Miles.
President Mckinley announced
to the cabinet at the regular meeting
Tuesday that he had determined to
courtmartial General Eagan.
The detail for the court-martial
which is to try Commissary-General
Eagan on the charges growing out
of his statements before the war in
vestigation commission last week,
in which be attacked General Miles.
has been made public at the War
department. The court is made up
of thirteen army officers, of whom
Mai. Gen. Wesley Merritt is at the
head, and a judge-advocate, and it
is to meet in Washington city on
Wednesday, the 25th inst, or as
soon thereafter as practicable.
The penalty for the offense for
which General Eagan probably will
be tried, conduct unbecoming an
officer and gentleman, is one OF
the most severe known in the army,
being dismissal from the service.
IN nT nrN rIMEa