Omaha daily bee., 1899-04-01

of facilities for cooking the beef 1t was not
so bad in the form of stews or hash as when
eaten as it was necessary it should be used
by the soldiers in the field, without cooking
or preparation in any way. Taken in that
way it was a very unsatisfying diet. 1t
looked like beef from which beef tea has
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 possessed low order of nutritive
value. Il was a 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 the use of the canned beef would
tend to weaken men and cause disease
Upon the whole he would not advise the
use of beef for food in the tropics, and he
thought the bacon ration would have been
better.
No Fault in Refrigerated Beef.
The refrigerated beef, DR.. Pope pro-
nounced good. The troops had been COM
PEELED to trim off spoiled parts, but after
this was done and the meat nicely cooked 1t
was very palatable and nutritious. Most
OF the canned beef used at Santiago bore
the label OF the Wilson Packing company.
Major Louis A. Lagarde, in command OF
the reserve hospital at Siboney, stated that
the canned roast beef had been furnished at
his table at the hospital and to the pa
tients.
81 was not especially fond of it," he
said, "but as substitute it took the place
of fresh beef. When we would cook It
with vegetables it was far more palatable
than otherwise. The patients in the hospi
tai used the canned meat regularly and
there was no especial complaint about it.
There was considerable darrhoea, however,
and | presume much of this was due to the
Use OF this and other meats. The ration
contained more meat than it should have
contained for food in the climate
sickening Eject of Beef
Captain Ashton b, Heyle, who was chief
surgeon of the Rough Rider brigade in the
Santiago campaign, the first witness at the
afternoon session, testified to being made
violently sick on three different occasions
by eating canned roast beef, and that on
one occasion several others who partook of
the meat with him also became very ill.
Soon after this experience he had found a
piece of bacon lying by the roadside. This
he had taken up, cleaned and cooked and
he found it very paatable. This meat had
not caused any Inconvenience. The surgeon
OF the Tenth cavalry had reported similar
experiences among the men of that regi-
ment as d result of eating the canned beef
Others had eaten 1t without apparent i'll
effect. The beef was tough, stringy, taste
less and devoid Of nutrition, and Mr.. Heyle
thought its use had promoted disease in the
army.
At this point the line OF surgeons under
examination was broken in upon by the in
PRODUCTION OF Mr. George II. Gddings of San
Antonio, Tex, who had put in a bid TO
supply the beef for Cuba on the hoof
In reply to a request from Major Lee, Mr..
Giddings detailed the particulars of various
interviews with General Eagan concerning
the letting OF the contract for beef His
first conversation had related to the spec-
| fications for bids, at which Mr.. Giddings
had called attention TO the fact that they
were vague. General Eagan had then said
that the specifications were necessarily
! vague, as he could not at that time give
any specific information. General Eagan
had at that time said his preference would
be for refrigerator beef If he had any con-
! tdence in II; but he did not think the re-
| frigeator beef could be made available in
the Cuban climate. II had been in Cuba
| several times myself" said the witness
land | agreed with him that 1t would be
| impossible to keep the refrigerated beef in
| that climate without refrigerators."