The age-herald., 1899-03-31
BOUGHT SHIPPERS
 TO CONDEMN MEAT Gigantic Army Scandal Developing At
 Chattanooga. COM MISSARY AN EASY PREY Shippers Thrown on Bacon in Order to
 Have It Condemned. THE MEAT WAS THEN cLEANSED And Sold to Dealers Throughout the South-Thousands of Pounds Said
 to Have Been Treated
 in This Manner.
THE MEAT WAS THEN cLEANsED

Of Albany, Ga, against Adoiphus Horn, of Chattanooga, has gwen rse to many ru- mors here involving one of the biggest and most sensational army scandals growing out oI the lale encsunpnenl at Chicka- mauga national park.
 The suit was hIed several weeks ago. but penong it's hearing m une court Of ehancery, an invosugNtion wa, quietly .n- augurated, and the runiois g4ow4ng out of this investigation, II true, snow that thousands of pounos of beef, Lam ana bacon were condemned by bdth commis- stoned and non-commIssloned oincers and thousanos of dohars were reaped in py pardes both ou,slde the army and in rne ranks.
 It is matter of general comment he;e that many cars of bacon were conaemneu when as matter Of 1act the bacon was absolutely good, out in order to secure its condemnation it became necessary Tor ,he officers and outside partles to become en- gagged in the wno. .esaIe Li.,ilic of sKipp.Es and maggots, wIien were pdiclased ana placed on the bacon in order to nave it condemned.
 Thousands of pounds Of bacon, cordemned in this manner, were cared out of tlie camps sold to outside parties and snlpped to Cnattanooga, wnere il was s.l to wn~le- sale meat houses and chen snipped to ali parts of tue state. In fact, it IS said that a vast amount of this meat, condemned oy being temporarily covered w.th shippers, found it's way to Atlanta, Augusta, Co., lumbus and even into the most remote cor ners of the state, leaving the my officers and outside parties interested with an in- dependent little fortune as the result of ti.e irregular and shadowy dea.s in army ra- tions.
 Shippers Sold for & Bottle
 It is said on good authority here and is generally believed that wholesale traffic Tn shippers and maggo,s was necessary in Crder to carry out the wholesale conoem- nation of provisions of a perisllable nature and that those engaged in the manufacture of these wiry and energetic creatures found the army remunerative prey and an easy victim.
 The story that is told in Chattanooga, retold again again in Chickamauga park and that comes from the lips of all the farmers and peddlers who did business at the park, is that when meat was desired it was one of the easiest things imag .nabie to get it condemned, sod and then resold, sometimes a profit of as much as 800 per cent. being made in the deal.
 According to rumor, principally negroes were engaged in the manufacture or sklp- pers which were sold to parties wishing meat condemned. The negroes could sup ply any order fo- shippers that was left with them, as the weather was burning hot and shippers were in abundance every where.
 Two classes of shippers were in exist ence; one class was the regulation skip per that would bury itself in the meat an liftla channels and fuTrOWS in the oily substance; these slippers were cheap in the market, as they practically destroyed the meat on which they were placed unless quickly removed. Another class of shippers did not enter the meat, and as soon as the meat was condemned, could be shaken off, leaving the meat in perfect condition
 It is said on good authority that these shippers were in great demand and the market price for them was $1 per bottle, and even then the most desirable shippers were difficult to be obtained.
 Vast Quantiti 6 Condemned
 It is impossible to ever know how much good meat was condemned. The records show how much meat was cast aside. but it was supposed that all of it was bad. It is now said at the park that nearly all the condemned beef was good.
 According to several who lived at the park during the presence of the soldiers, it was neCGSSdIy lO ilISl SSCuT0 tne COHuutuCS of cooks or non-commissioned officers be- fore 1t was possible for outside parties to do any business.
 It will be remembered that hundreds of persons were hanging on at the park, watching every opportunity to make money, and Chichamauga park, at Lytle station, looked very much like the pictures of Dawson City in the first days of the gold fever. More than 300 store sand shacks sprang up in a night and farmers became merchants and tramps assumed the role of peddlers and army officers, it is said, seeing their golden opportunity, closed their eyes to the situation and counted their profits at night after taps sounded. Whether all these rumors are true or not is speculation, but the fact that the same story is given by all who saw the operations of the army at the camp has given them at least the color of truth and branded them worthy of con- sideration, if indeed not belief.
 When the merchant contractors at the park wanted bacon, it is said they would carry a bottle of shippers 10 the cook or to the person whose confidence they en- joyed The cook would throw the shippers on the pile of bacon. the officers of in- spection would condemn the meat; 1t would be carted away, gathered up by the purchasers, the cook would receive his take out and more money would come to all interested
 Forrester's Suit on Record
 Among those who were engaged in busi- ness at the park, selling melons, fruits, eggs and poultry was J. R. Forester Jr., of Albany, Ga, who alleges in his suit that he was given the monoply of the park to sell melons, fruits. eggs and poul- try. He said this monopoly concession he secured from the provost marshal and Major General Brooke.
 Forester bought the bacon after 1t was condemned and although he was the second party to handle it, he says he found profit often of more than 600 per cent He sold the meat and exchanged 1t to various wholesale houses in Chattanooga
 In his suit Forester says he secured the monopoly concession from General Brooke