The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-03-23
Testimony Directly in Line with His State
ments Given at Chicago.
BEEF WAS TREATED WITH CHEMICAL pRHsERvA1IvHs
Witness Said Was Within His Knowledge That Condemned
Cattle Had Been Slaughtered and the Meat Sold
to Canning Establishment

"A welt will there be taken. after which the
"a court will proceed to Governors Island
The evidence Brought forth today was
RI lsrgely cumulative in its character, con-
n sisting mainly of criticisms of the canned
& beef and refrigerated beef from soldiers
81 who ate It and watched its effects in Cuba
Esnd Porto Rico. David Fleischman, bell
n boy, told of q visit to the stockyards. in
the company of an unknown man, whose
&purpose, he supposed, was to experiment
Min the matter of preserving beef by chem
|5icsl treatment,
n Lieutenant ]. d. l.. Hartman of the First
&cavalry, who was acting regimental quar-
@ ermaster while the regiment was sta
Hioned at Lakeland. Fla, was the first
Ewitness today. He testified that refriger-
Eator beef was received from Armour &
|&Co. II was brought to Lakeland in cars.
Hal first It was very good and there was
Edays it began to get poorer in quality. In
1.-Two instances the board of survey reject
Led the beef. In one case the witness re-
|Fj ected whole carload XAa stencil wus
|#observable before the car was opened; the
Meet was not received because decomposi-
IA ion had set in. He had no reason to be-
|#1ieve or suspect that the beef had been
|treated with preservativcs or chemicals.
1.-THE spelling was due to the fact that the
|5neat had been chilled and would not hold
|&up after exposure to the excessive heat at
@.akeland. After the rejection of a car
load the agent of Armour said that would
|5not do. referring to the way In which the
|H1neat had been furnished. The agent tried
|to get the meat shipped in ice: in some
4,
|#Rave the meat Shiny, repulsive appear
|&ance and it was rejected. Witness then
got authority TO buy beef in the open
|81narket.
|3 David A. Fleischman testified that he
|tNvss employed as bellboy at the Hotel Nor
EFison, Chicago. during the month of June,
Eases,
| zone day in June" he said, "a gentle
Eman in room 1S1 asked me il would be
E;Rt leisure to go to the stockyards with
him. | went out there with him and had
Gao carry two boxes, tin or galvanized iron
E,foxes. He went out to see some man
|ERbout some meat. he told me. We took
:lhe boxes and Went to a car where there
|Nere three or four rows of meat. In each
Epf the boxes there were four smaller pack
|#Fges, containing, as | recall it, black,
ZOE rather light gray colored. substance.
2>4}e put this into perforated trays, made
P3or that purpose, set fire to 1t and placed
|&fNas done for, and he said IL was done rs
LIN experiment to preserve the meat, Next
FTay ] was to go back and get the cans
|<H asked him whether 1t was to kill germs
|@pr anything like that. but he said no, sim
|tply TO preserve the meat, put my finger
ZOE the meat and tasted 1t and it burned
|&3he end of my tongue. | called attention
|*io the fact that the meat looked rather
bIarger than when We were there before.
|<4fe said that was simply an enlargement
Ffr the meat from the ice. There was a
|1fulphurous spell in the car and another
|&bdor which can not describe. took the
|fans back to the hotel.
| Il noticed In one end of the car there
|iNas card marked Tampa, Fla This
|&Fas at Armour's packing house. There
WAS only one car; there we're only about
|EIhree rows of beef; | think it was halves.
En- asked him who he was and If am not
|fnlstaken. he told me he was a quarter
III aster or quartermaster general, or
"a omething like that. He was about five
|94eet ten inches tall, wore eyeglasses, and
E8 should judge was about Ia years old.
|*#ie wore no uniform, but was dressed in
p ain clothes. ] understood from what he
IS aid that he bad some connection with the
military service"
|# DR. r. Il. Murdoch. who for two years was
r. resident of the auxiliary medical staff in
Pc Chicago health department, and is an
e. haiytc chemist, was the next witness.
|9e stated that he had made several ey-
E ininations of both canned and refrigerat-
H. Geef. dating back several years. Some
|W me In The latter part of June. 1895 he
XII pa some canned meat was brought to
H2 i'm to determine its character; the frst
NH mple was brought with the assertion
|3Bat ii was horse flesh, but on oxamina-
|Mon was round TO be untrue. The wit
|44esS found that the meat in the can was
n pparentlv, boiled beef, 1t probably had
ECfl .1 - =
X the cans and somewhat afterwards.
~ mere was In the can quite quantity of
|Fnlnlon salt aud also nitrate OF potash,
|8E lied saltpeter. These pTeservatiyeS, said
|N{he witness. must have been in the can
|Hnetore he boiling was complete. because
|# h9d saturated tho fibre Of tsn-.ueat and
hardened II.
| IN his report to the gentlemen, who
F plought him tho meat the witness stated
tnat this was the graz objection to can
JED meal. Il should be cooked without
u IN or'!pr TO be nutritious the season.
should be placed in it ar on it after
f1e cooking is complete The character
|R the meat, In Dr.. -Murdock's judgment,
/! as largely poor grade. or rather low
E&iade. Two If the cans contained but a
|8erN small quantity of muscular tissue.
|* hich is the nutritious portion Of the beef
|& ne examination continued by the boilin
|l the meat In retort to see how much
EXounds of ii; the amount produced was so
Enali that II was not perceptble: II was
Fot enough even TO be used as culture
|7p edium in experiments on bacterolngy.
|% WIN reference 10 the examination Of
|A5Seef the witness said that at three different
|fnes here were brought 10 MIN pieces
|2t what seemed TO be ordinary meat from
Re market which evidently had heen kept
some time, presumably, in refrig-
| found salt in very email guam
|&&y said Dr. Murdoch, "and some nj the
eat was coated with boracic acid. In
|T her specimens found that they had
EXpell eosled with a preps alton OF selicylic
|$ n Tor preserving the meat. gave the
|Winion that saiicylic acid Was rot only
MATRIMONIAL to DIGESTION. hut produce
ausea. Boracic acid. while In itself Is not
nseating, delays the process OF digestion,
<<&o hence Is not a ft preventative for
eai used as a diet l understood this
be refrigerated beef; found boraeio
70 IN two specimens and salicylic in two
peeimens and salicyiic acid in one. These
psrlmenis were made about the middle
June. 1885,"
lenei Dayls--Had any connection with
government?