The times., 1899-07-17
MONDAY. JULY Il. 1899.
The Truth About Beef.

1t hardly seems credible but perhaps
the Administrator really did think that
the awful truth concerning the rotten beef
outrages on our Army during the Spanish
could be suppressed, or successfully
denied. through the carefully designed and
executed whitewashing work of the Alger
Relif Commission. The probability that
some of our authorities. at least, believed
it possible to exoaerate the War Office
= notwithstanding widespread public knowl-
edge of many damaging facts, has been
shown in several ways, notably in the de-
fiant defence OF the carrion producers by
the Secretary OF Agriculture Unfortunate
ly for all the influences, official and contri-
butcry on the outside interested in
smothering the scandal. the hideous truth
of the beef crimes against American SOL
diers and the American public is known
too generally and accurately not to find
its way to the light. In this connection
the following letter. received yesterday by
The Times from a prominent chemist.
resident in the District, viii explain itself.
our correspondent writes:
After reading. day or two ago. another
editorial in The Ifmcs referring to the rcye,a-
tions Of the late TO the character Of some
American canned beef, chanced the same day
n.
.sa. years age, in which / had marked an article
quoted from the London Times'' on the Grim
NAL Carelessness Of Preparing Extract e Beef
a IL Chicago. Some four years earlier still. hav-
ins received from a dealer specimen sample of
'becf extract made by { Well-kEown Chicago
firm, with the request for opinion, | found.
and reported, that there an unmistakahe
'earrion odur developed hy the heat necessary
10 prepare il for food. Such odor could not and
should not result from any extractive process
properly performed on meat of good quality, and
- reported. was at loss at the time to
conjecture how on earth this Objectionable favor
could be formed in product Of such boasted
: purity The revelations IN The Times of the
horrible character OF the meat supplied 10 our
gallant little Army last Summer, as well as
my talks with many returned soldiers, opened
~- ny eyes 10 the iact that when patriotism was
III che scale and profit in the other, the great
packing firms OF the country, or some Of them
al least. would not hesitate TO sell the Govern
ment stuff unfit for human food
A. tie "beci extract process i proved to
be one affecting canned beef and extract alike,
II would seem that the still appalling
conclusion cannot be avoided. that certain prep
aratioHs on which the physician relics 10 keep
alive the iicSeIing spark Of life in grave crises
OF disease have been and are coneocted in man
mere suggestive Of the ''heA-brOth Of Mac
beth's witches eauldron than OF any known food
preparation.
The article in the London Times" to
which attention is directed in the above
communication. appeared in that journal
some time in December, 1895. or January,
1886. 1t was widely copied in the medical
press OF the United Kingdom and Europe
and was particularly referred to in the
Pharmaceutical Journal and Transac-
tions" of London. Under the headline
Diseased Meat" the London Times
discussed report by one of its expert
correspondents who had visited a certain
Western packing and canning plant, for
the purpose of investigating the character
OF its beef extract" product. We quote
Certain circumstances incidental to the prep
sration of so-callcd extract of beef are
almost too revolving for publication. This con.
coction-"extraet Of filth" correspondent
calls it's offered TO the public in dainty jars,
but is made from the sweepings and DRAWINGS
OF the refuse from the canning and eel.
lars, and IS thus something very different from
the luscious extract OF Choice cuts Of beef
which the consumer may innoecnty think he pur-
class- The room in which TINS deectable
compound Il prepared Is described containing
times q typhoid atmosphere" The smell. -
SAYS correspodsnt, '-sickened completely.
The surroundings Of the were filthy. There
were several cans lying around, containing the
extract its crude state, and several trucks
containing the liquid extract Of beef Whilst
standing there two fully-developed rats tina; had
fallen into one Of these cans Of eStract and had
been drowned were pulled out by the man in
charge 81 this department just previous to using
the contents. How long they had been in these
cannot be proved, but the fact remains that de-
composition bad already set in, and the skins
and hair were leaving nhe bodies. and this Is
everyday occurrence. We understand that
material OF this description finds is way upon
the market under the guise Of the name which
well known before the Chicago meat trade
came into existence. Tic question arises, How
Is the unwary consumer to be psotectcds"
Whether or not at the time of the Eng
lish Investigators visit the packing and
canning industry supposed to be under
Agricultural Department inspection. we
are not prepared at the moment TO state.
1t has been shown. however that a simi-
lar state Of things existed later, when the
inspection system was in full working
order. and that inspectors who reported
the facts as they discovered them were
promptly removed; also. that the reports
have disappeared from the files OF the de-
partment.
Untii recently there has been a disposl-
tion in this country TO believe that the
packers and Gamers had cusiomarily fur
nished the trade and citizen consumers
with pure article OF beef extract, and
canned and refrigerated beef, and that
complaints Of diseased and decomposed
csrcasses only applied to the deadly stuE