Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-04-01

noon session of the army beef inquiry
board opened with number of officers
of the medical corps of the army pres
ent, who had been summoned as wit
nesses.
Col. Charles R. Greenleaf, chief med
ical inspector of the army, who was
the chief surgeon in the field during the
Spanish war, and who was with Gen.
Miles in his Porto Rican campaign,
was the first called to testify. He said
that while in Cuba on his way to Porto
Rico he had been able to give no atten-
ton to the food supply of the corps,
but while in Porto Rico he had looked
into the question of the food to GER
tain extent, but only incidentally. He
never heard of any complaints of i'm
portance, except as to the character of
the cooking. His attention had not
been brought to any complaints con-
corning either the canned or refrig-
Grated beef He had eaten some of the
IOdSl Uttl dlld ulQ lOI lCllon H.
''It was not pleasant to the sight" he
said, land it was mawkish to the taste
without condiments, such as salt and
pepper"
In reply to the question as to what
effect the use of this meat as food
would have upon the health Of troops,
DR.. Greenleaf said. "The effect of its
use would be similar to the use of all
canned meats. If good and prepared
with condiments and vegetables, and
not used too much, it might be eaten
without detriment. If spoiled it would
produce sickness, or probably il used
steadily the system would not accept it.
1t would, if used daily and without con-
diments or vegetables, pail on the ap-
petite and the taste would revolt
against it"
He had found that in the hot climate
Of Porto Rico the meat did not keep
long when opened. He bad not taken
the food question into account in con-
nection with the health of the troops,
attributing the sickness solely to the
climate.
Col B. F. Pope, chief surgeon of the
Fifth army corps in the Santiago cam
paign, testified concerning the food sup
ply on that campaign. The hard bread
he found good and the canned vege-
tables generally so. The canned beef,
"wronly labeled roast beef" he did not
speak of in such high terms. 1--WE ac-
copied it as a part of the ration" he
said, because it was all we could
get, but it was unsatisfactory in ap-
pearance and entirely lacking in SAVIOR.
1t was also stringy and tough, and in
some cases it decomposed, causing the
cans containing it to swell. | also no
ticed that it deteriorated rapidly after
being exposed to the air. The great
trouble seemed to be the lack of facil-
tiles for cooking the beef. 1t was not
so bad in the form of stews or hash as
when eaten alone, as it was necessary
it should be used by the soldiers in the
field, without cooking or preparation
in any way. Taking that way it was a
very unsatisfactory diet. In appear
ance it was bleached and washed out
1t looked like beef from which beef
tea had been made. 1t has struck me
since that the nutritive qualities of the
beef were extracted in boiling and my
personal opinion is that as food it pos
sessed a very low order of nutritive
value. 1t was very trying food unless
eaten with the eyes shut. THE roast
feature of it," he added, was all in the
label-not in the can" He had been
unable to trace any special diseases to
the food used in Cuba, but he thought
that the use of canned beef would tend
to weaken men and cause disease
after the command became broken
down by disease he said. "the can
ned beef became uncomfortable and nau-
seating and dysentery became very
common" Upon the whole he would
not advise the use Of this food in trop-
les and thought the bacon ration would
have been better. Most Of the canned
beef used at Santiago bore the label of
the Wilson Packing Company.
Ptomaimes were, he said, characters
tic of canned meats, and they might ex-
list without being easily detected. The
refrigerator beef Pope pronounced
good. The troops had been compelled
to trim of spoiled parts. but after this
was done and the meat nicely cooked
was very palatable and nutritious.
Major Louis A. La Garde. in com
mand OF the reserve hospital at Sib-
ony, stated that the canned roast beef
had been furnished at his table at the
hospital and TO the patients. Il was
not especially fond Of it," he said, "but
as substitute 1t took the place of
fresh beef. When we could cook it
with vegetables it was far more palat-
able than otherwise. The patients in
the hospital used the canned meat re-
gularly and there was no especial COM