Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-03

, bacon Some OF the canned roast beef was
absolutely spoiled when opened. but It was
all uneatable and did not satisfy the hunger
nor keep up the strength.
one Of his experiences with the canned
roast beef was on San Juan HILL when his
mess was out Of ratons. He found can
OF roast beef in one OF the abandoned
camps OF the Sixth cavalry.
Worse Than the Cigar.
II thought II was going to be a God-send
to the mess, sir" said he, feelingly, land I
put 1t in my shirt. l was smoking a cigar at
the time, but when the cigar went out l
smelod something awful and when found
out what was the matter 1t was the can Of
beef in my shirt. The can was cracked in
one corner, and, oh, sir, it was awful"
His first experience with the refrigerator
beef was on the San Juan hill, July 81. The
beef was mostly all of 1t mouldy and most
OF 1t tainted so that the men were sickened
by eating 1t. On the voyage home the men
could eat little but hardtack and coffee.
Then we started home sir" said
o'Dwyer, in conclusion, land when we got
to Montauk Point the Massachusetts, Aid So
clety rescued US from the Commissary de-
partment."
Lieutenant Newton Putney, another Sixth
Massachusetts man, followed. His story Of
the voyage Of the Yale to Porto Rico agreed
substantially with that OF Lieutenant Tay-
lor, the tomatoes being bad, the canned
meat worse, and bacon being issued without
any facilities to cook 1t. So far as he knew
the line officers complained to their colonel
but nothing came of 1t. On shore the men
complained of the canned roast meat, but
they were in the habit of kicking and wit
mid 1ittla nj IN
into the interior. They took two-thirds of
their meat ration in canned roast beef and
had thrown 1t all away
Quartermaster Sergeant NJ. w. Lethbridge
of the Second New York, whose service had
all been In the United States, said his eX-
perience with the refrigerator beef had been
quite satisfactory. or the canned beef he
had handled about 1900 pounds for his COM
pnny. Only about forty pounds of this was
ever used. A large amount was condemned
by board of survey, and of a large num-
ber Of apparently perfect cans he had per-
sonally opened, about one in five was alb
solutely putrid, while none of it was whole
some and fit to eat.
Sewell Disputes Walters.
Lieutenant John S. Sewell of the regular
army, who served as major of the First
Volunteer engineers, and was aboard the
transport that carried Clarence Walters to
Porto Rico, testified that there was no
canned beef aboard this transport to his
knowledge. There was canned corned beef
in cans, such as were described by Walters
as containing canned roast beef. He recol-
lected Walters, but the latter never had COM
planned to him of the ration or of his treat
ment while in the service. On the contrary
Walters said he had been very we'll treated.
riv Stuhh1abinA Of ba rSt
New York said he had been made sick three
times by eating canned roast beef and there
after avoided it as much as he could. He
was shown some of the freshly opened cans
of beef on the table and said it was in
general way like what he had seen In Cuba,
but was somewhat better meat. or the re-
frigerator beef nearly all that he saw was
tainted.
Guy p. Vistinski of the First volunteer en-
gineers had been three months in Porto Rico
and only ate canned roast beef once. 1t
made him sick. There was one brand OF
canned corned beef that also made the men
i'll, but another brand they could eat. They
only got little Of this sort. On the voyage
home the command was we'll provided for,
having good, fresh beef and some delicacies.
r. c. Miller Of Rochester. a machinist by
trade and private of the Eighth Ohio, had
had large experience with canned roast beef
while camped in Cuba. His testimony was
clear and more assured than that of most OF
the enlisted men, About one-thrd Of the
canned beef was fit for use and the rest con-
demned. One-half the refrigerated beef had
to be buried and of the rest very little could
be said to be good. The men were hungry
and ate it.
That Injecting of Meat.
DR.. Maxwell Christine of Philadelphia, the
witness who was supposed to have witnessed
the preparation of meat in the packing
house of Swift and Company of Omaha, tes-
titled that while in Omaha last year he had
been through the slaughter house of the
Swift firm and had seen man with a
canula on the end Of flexible tube showing
1t into sections of meat and injecting them
with fluid. He did not know at the time
what the fluid was, or whether the meat
being treated was corned beef pork or re-
frigerator beef. The meat was cut in fifteen
or twenty-pound pieces and was not in sides
or quarters. He paid little attention to the
matter at the time, but when the discussion
over "embalmed beef arose he deemed it
his duty to write to General Miles, telling
him what he had seen. He did not say in
his letter that it was "beef" which was be-
ing injected, but said merely that it was
'meat." He had regarded this communica-
tion as confidential, but it had gotten out
and brought him great many letters.
Among others was letter from man in
New York signing himself Wentz and ask
ing If DR.. Christine knew that the injection
process he had witnessed was the regular
way of corning beef and hams, as the in
lection with picking fluid required some
time.
He received letter from a man signing
himself Farnan, whom he had never seen.
Farnan said he had been stationed in
Omaha and knew all about the embalming
of beef and could give information very
damaging to the packers. On the strength
OF this letter Farnan was summoned to ap,
pear before an investigating commission,
but never responded.
CONFIRMATIONS BY THE SENATE.
Cadet Taylor of Omaha and Lafayette
Redmon Surveyors of Customs.
WASHINGTON, March 2-The senate In
executive session today confirmed these
nominations:
David d. Shelby of Alabama United
States circuit Judge for the Fifth judicial
district.
Vivian ]. Fagin. marshal for the southern
district OF Ohio.
Surveyors of Customs-Lewis Voight, sr.,
port of Cincinnati; Cadet Taylor Omaha,
Nah Iafa Moip Ia