Evening star., 1899-03-02

would get ard probably would get good
deal less when they got on shore. That
was all j ever heard of the report"
He said that Colonel Charles F. Wood
ward was the colonel mentioned. and add
ed that a great many of the men were sick
bur he thought it due to the climate. he
could not trace any of 1t to the eating Of
fruit. He did not think that, even in Porto
Rico the full ration was issued 10 the men.
Returning from Porto Rico on the Missis-
sippi the men said the canned roast beef
was spoiled and the refrigerated beef was
tainted. He made q report by request of
his colonel on the subject.
Prior to going to Porto Rico. he said. his
command had been stationed at Camp AL
ger. Fresh beef was issued there but he
had not learned whether not it was re-
frigerated. 1t was of fair quality. AS gro
ceryman. he said he handles canned roast
beef, but the commercial brand is very
much better than the kind furnished in
Porto Rico The health of his men was
good before they went on board ship. and
their sickness and invaliding home was due
to lack of proper accommodations on ship
board. as well as short rations. The voyage
was a smooth one. and he did not think
seasickHess was responsible for the condi-
tion of the men.
The Meat Was Nauseatfng.
Another volunteer followed on the wit
ness stand. He was NJ O'Dwyer of the 9th
Massachusetts. On the trip of his COM
mand from Camp Alger to Siboney canned
heard no complaint against the corned arti-
Gle. There were some complaints against
the roast beef. This meat was issued till
after the surrender. On the march from
Siboney to 1.-The firing line the men threw
away most of their cans. The meat was
nauseating and without nutritive value.
On San Juan Hill when his mess was
short of rations he found a can of 1t in
the camp abandoned by the 9Th Cavalry:
Il thought it was Godsend, sir" he said,
"and | put il in my shirt. / was smoking
a cigar at the time. and when the cigar
went out the smell was something awful
I found out that II came from the can in
ner-and, sir the stencil was awful.
He said that sometimes the refrigerated
beef had "a queer mold on it. This was
cut away but. still. the meat had nasty
taste. On the voyage home the men TOOK
little more than flardtack and coffee.
when We reached Montauk Point. he
concluded earnestly, ''the Red Cross Socle-
ty rescued us from the commissary depart
ment.'
Tomatoes Bad and Meat Worse.
Lieut.. Newton Putney of the 9Th Massa-
chusetts succeeded TO the witness chair
His regiment went from Charleston to
Porto Rico Bacon was issued on the voy-
age. but the men had no way to cook It,
Complaint was made continually Of the In
sufficient ratiOns but the colonel Of the
regiment seemed unable to remedy the evil.
Canned roast beef was issued but little. and
he therefore did not hear any particular
complaint against it, The men subssted
principally on canned cOrned beef, tomatoes
and beans. He said the tomatoes were bad
and the beef worse
He said his regiment was about three
months in Porto Rico. The men complained
of the canned roast beef. He admitted that
he did not pay as much attention then as
perhaps he should have done. owing to his
belief that some of them were chronic
'kickers." He said that once he attempted
to eat this beef and found it tainted.
Responding to Gen. Davis ne insisted that
''fOr seventeen or eighteen days on the
Yale the men had barely enough to eat TO
keep them alive"
Had Canned Roast Beef.
The next witness. Sergt. Lethbridge of
the 2d New York. told of war food condi-
tons within the United States. His COM
pany did net leave the country, but were
encamped at Chfckamauga, Tampa. Miami.
Ferrandina and various other places. He
ment. He said that the refrigerated beef
WAS good. but would not keep longer than
tWenty-fOuT hours. He said the men had
sick st0machs after eating the canned roast
beef He found the meat i'll some of the
cans had tainted He thought that al least
one out of every five cans was spoiled
Tn"ir contents were not ''siUshy but per
tectly dry-like sawdust"
He said he handled about / 2nn pounds of
the canned roast beef for his company. and
but forty pounds were used. A large num-
btr were condemned by a board Of survey
Al this point case of red cans of roast
beef. returned from Porto Rico. was OPEN
ed and several were sampled. They look
ed badly, bu: were not offensive i'm odor
The witness was then excused and recess
was ordered.