The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-01
MEN CALLED TO TEST MEAT.
SAMPLES PUT BEFORE THEM ron
THEIR INSPECTION.

as the Cuban Cooked Article, ana
the Driest as the Cuban Beef Cold.
The Tainted Meat Was Trimmed.
Canned Beef Very BAD, While tho
Refrigerated Meat in Most In
stances Was All Right.
Washington, Feb. 2S.-The feature of
the court Of inquiry into Gen. Miles beef
charges to-day. was an object lesson in
canned meats prepared by the court and
served to the non-commissloned men who
testified at yesterdays hearing.
The court had prepared eight plates Of
beef, fresh beef, canned beef that had been
to Cuba aud canned beef fresh from tho
factory -Four plates were prepared hot
in 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 sam.
pile each and say which was the sort they
had had In Cuba. 1t was a trying ordeal
for the men, most OF them declaring that
none Of the plates looked anything like
what they had eaten In Cuba. BY re-
peated 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 succeeded I'm getting an expression
of opinion from each of the men.
An army surgeon, DR.. Bowden, kept
tally on the guesses OF the men and chang
ed the positions of the plates after each
witness left the room The result of this
record was not made public. however, and
viii be reserved till DR. Bowden testihess
probably some time this week.
Poor Grade of Inferior Meat.
The most interesting witness OF the day
was Lieut.. Ramsey, Ninth Infantry, who
had served as commlssary officer at Bal
quIr and Santiago, and who characterized
the canned roast beef as "an unpalatable
and uninvlting grade OF inferior meat"
which he would not willingly feed to any
man, sick or well
Lieut.. Ramsey, In reply to Col. Gillespie,
said that Il would have been perfectly feas-
ible to land live cattle at Santiago on ths
wharf, but 1t would not have been practi-
cable to land them before the capture of
the city.
Col. Davis then had can
Of beef opened and asked the
| witness to inspect II, saying iC
| sey smelled II, tasted 1t and pulled some
of Vt apart saying that 1t was decidedly
better beef than any he had seen Ia CUBA.
| II was more like that he had handled at
his barracks, but he still did not feel like
recommending It as good thing to feed
| soldiers
Witness said he had seen a great many
cans of beef rejected among a fve-car lot
| at Tampa. The cans had burst and the
| stencil In the cars was terrific. The con-
tractors replaced the spoiled cans In this
| instance, but there was the same stencil
from more defective cans when the car
goes were broken open in Cuba.
Tainted Meat Was Trimmed.
Tn quality the beef on the Mississippi
and Port Victor which witness personally
| inspected. was Of better grade than usual
| ly found at army posts He said he did
receive a number of complaints of the
| beef spelling before II reached some of the
| camps. Afterward witness rejoined his
regiment and saw something of the other
side Of the beef problem In the camp mess
| When outside of Santiago about half this
meat was lost by trimming Off the tainted
parts.
The witness was asked II he had any
reason to believe that any of the meat
treated
"only as a matter of general knowI-
edge" he replied.
What do you mean by that7" said the
| recorder.
"Well, have been informed by butchers
and others. and have generally understood
that 1t is the practice Of the large pack
ing houses TO treat the exterior Of tho
meat chemically with preparation which
will coagulate the aibumen and thus pro-
tect the interior. 1t is the custom TO triin
off the outer surface of the beef always
before II is used"
Canned Beef Was Very had.
Asked by Gen. Davis as to his PERSONAL
experience with canned roast beef wit.
ness said he had used Ii only once az
Baiquiri. He considered II IAN unpalata-
bic and inferior quality of badly boiled
beef.
Gen. Davis pursued this line of inquiry.
Witness said he had seen canned roast
beef frequently in HIS own post eanteen.
and In the consolidated mess of which
he had been I'm charge.
was IL the same in the canteen that
you had in Cuba?" asked Gen. Davis.
'The outside of the package was the
same. but not the inside The beef we
had at the canteen al Madison barracks
was quite popular for picnics and the like.
II was beef that could be sliced down.
1t was good and palatabe. That saw in
Cuba was evidently from the plates,
chucks and necks. / don't think in the
cans saw there was a single piece that
would weigh an ounce"
Col Gillespie questioned the witness with
some asperity, when he yentured the opin-
ion that the meat was unfit for sick men
to use, but witness replied firmly that he
considered 1t unfit to feed men either sick
or well lie considered It responsible, in
considerable part, for the sickness and
stomach trouble among the men. He had
1t frequently on his table, but never tasted
It but once. Neither did his sergeant eat
1t more than a few times.
Smith Saw Meat Rejected.
Lieut.. Col. A. l.. Smith, chief comnis-
sary at Havana, testified in some detail
as to the purchasing arrangements of the
commissary department when the war
broke out, and Of the proportion agreed
on between the bacon and the canned
meats In the ration Il was finally de-
cided TO make the ration half bacon and
half canned meat. roast beef predominant
ing over canned corn beef, because there
was more to be had on the market