The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-13


General Miles had severely reprimand-
ed the commissary general. the chief of
ordnance and the quartermaster gem
eral for the unpreparedness of their re-
spective departments General Miles
had no right in the world to deliver
such reprimand, and witness had at
once inclosed the clipping to the adju-
tant generals office, requesting an in
quiry as to the authenticity of the re-
port. No such reprimand was ever re-
ceived by him and the general COM
manding had taken no notice of his in
quiry nor even taken the trouble since
then to declare the unauthorized char
acter of the press statements. 1t was
such Indifference that had given
license to the yellow journalistic
knaves who had misrepresented and
bounded government officials through
out the war
General Eagan subsequently had tried
to get his letter OF inquiry and press
clipping from the adjutant generals
office, but it had disappeared and vas
nowhere to be found. Witness then
charged General Miles directly with
disarranging and hampering the ad
ministration of the war department by
calling officers from their duty where
their presence was absolutely neces-
sary. This was the case in taking Col.
John Weston away from Cuba to serve
putting Major A. L. Smith, very eff
cient officer, assigned as depot commits
sary i'll Porto Rico, to work on ''Some
transport duty" when his services were
demanded on shore.
General Eagan said the commanding
general went clearly outside his power
in doing this and intimated that Cen
eral Miles was moved to do so by the
ignorance and inefficiency of his own
appointee, Major Black, who was sup
posed to be the chief commissary off
GER on General Miles staff General
Eagan referred to General Miles testi-
mony that he had telegraphed to the
department from Porto Rico for COM
piete and proper rations and said that If
the commissary generals office had re-
ceived any such message he should
have considered it as the request of a
very Ignorant and ill-informed per
son. Continuing, General Eagan re-
ferred to Miles expressed preference for
native beef, of which he said there was
plenty, asserted there We're no cattle
whatever in the neighborhood of San
tlago. The native beef General Miles
referred to, General Eagan character
lied as stays, bulls and overworked cat
tie The use of such animals the de-
partment would never allow. General
Eagan, quoting General Miles allega-
ton that in his judgment there was
some serious defect in the refrigerated
beef, said General Miles would not say
this was anything more than his iudg-
ment
"Whoever.' said General Eagan,
calls it embalmed beef is liar"
Citing the proofs submitted by Miles
in confederation of his charges, Gen
eral Eagan submitted whether or. not
his course in securing these reports
would not be construed as seeking ad-
verse reports. He cited Generals Mer-
rift and Shafter as approving the beef.
Newspaper statements emanating
from General Miles that 100, 900 pounds
of beef were condemned at Porto Rico
is absolutely false No such quantity
was condemned there or elsewhere
Witness said that Surgeon Daly's re-
port that the beef was apparently in
jected with chemicals to aid in preser-
walton was a "falSehoOd' and he made
it out of whole cloth
He denounced the assertion that
chemically-pre beef had been is
sued anywhere, and said he did not be
lieve Surgeon Daily had that belief then.
since, or now.
Why" he asked, did he shirk his
duty? Why not then make chemical
analysis and why keep this informa-
ton to himself and spring it suddenly
on the commission and the whole coun-
try and imply that packing houses have
been cheating the government and
sighting their contracts? At no time
did he inform the commissary general
or the secretary of war of these things
An Anatomical Liar.
This" continued the witness. sis a
scandal calculated to ruin thousands of
people and discredit and put in infamy
one of the greatest industries of the
HJ11 ,,, l,i,-
refers to the beef as sent out under
pretenses of an experiment. This i'm
plies corruption, a serious charge, not
to be lightly made. Already the press
almost wholly has accepted this view,
and some have demanded my Dismissal
1t was not an experiment, nor pretense
thereof. General Miles lies in his throat,
in his heart, in every part of his body.
He should be drummed out of the ser
vice and imprisoned. I wish to force
the lie back in his face. Unless he can
prove his statements he should be
avoided by everybody, should be barred
out of every club"
Witness denounced in the most sensa-
tional terms his tMiles) scandalous IL
bells and malicious falsehoods. Eaean's
testimony on this point was:
Miles was asked by your commission
how timed fresh beef may be part of
had better ask the secretary of war
or the commissary general. l think
they can tell you. I know it was sent
to the army as food and it was sent
as pretense experiment. Miles
in saying this food was sent
to the army as "a pre-
tense for experiment says that which
implies corruption which SO out of every
100 people will understand to mean cor
ruption, because it was "a pretense of
experiment. He says, not even giving
credit to me for furnishing it as an eX-
pertinent but that l furnished it under
pretense of an experiment. This Is a
serious charge, and should not be made
by any man lightly-not without ample
evidence to support it. Taking the
statement in the sense it was probably
intended. the sense that will be accept
ed by the country at large, the sense
that already the press almost wholly
in the United States has accepted it,
indeed some of the press because cf it
called for my dismissal from the army
and my court martial answer it was
not furnished under pretense of eXperi-