The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-01-13

. FROM GeD. Eogon's 9
9 denuDciotion Of Mo- Q
Q jor GeperoI Nelson .
9 A. Miles. . .
CO @ G @ c c c GO Q Q @ Q Q Q Q
would never allow. General Eagan. quot
! ing General Miles allegation that in his
/ judgment there was some serious defect
IN the refrigerated and canned beef, said
I General Miles would not say this was
anything more than his judgment
Whoever" said General Eagan, calls
/ IL 'ernbalmed beef is a liar"
Citing the reports submitted by General
Miles IN confederation OF his statements,
General Eagan submitted whether or not
/ his course OF submitting these reports
would not be construed as seeking adverse
reports. He cited Generals Merritt and
Shaiter as approving the beef.
Newspaper statements emanat ting from
General Miles that 80. 600 pounds Of the
/ beef were condemned at Porto Rico. is alb
soluteIy false. No such QUANTITY was
I condemned there or elsewhere"
Witness said Surgeon Days report that
I the beef apparently was injected with
/ chemicals TO aid in preservation was "a
/ falsehOod and he made IL out Of whole
/ cloth" He denounced the assertion that
/ chemically prepared beef had been issued
/ anywhere and said he did not believe
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 information
4 TO himself and spring It suddenly on the
I commission and the whole country and
imply packing houses have been cheating
/ the Government and violating their con-
/ tracts. At no time did he inform the
( commissary general or the Secretary OF
/ War OF these things"
This continued the witness. lis a
I scandal calculated 10 ruin thousands OF
I people and discredit and put in infamy
world. General Miles, in his testimony.
refers 70 the beef as sent out under pre-
ruption. a serious charge not TO be lightly
made Already t-e press almost wholly
has accepted this view, and some have
I demanded my dismissal. II was not an
experiment nor pretense thereof.
/ General Miles lies in his throat, in his
/ heart, in every part OF his body He
I and imprisoned | wish 10 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
The witness denounced in the most SEN
! sationaI terms his CMiles) seandalous.
| lIbelous and malicious falsehoods.
/ General Eagan's testimony on this
/ point was
| mission how timed fresh beef became
/ part Of the army ration. His answer is.
! You had better ask the Secretary OF War
I or the Commissary General I think they
/ can tell you I know it was sent to the
/ army as food and the pretense is that It
! was sent as an experiment
General Miles, in saying that this
! food was sent TO the army as a pre-
/ tense for an experiment. says that
which implies corruption. which ninety
! nine out OF every hundred people will
/ understand TO mean corruption, be-
/ cause it was pretense of experiment.
/ he says, not even giving credit TO me
/ for furnishing il as an experiment, but
/ that / furnished it under the 'pretense
! of an experiment. This is a serious
/ charge, and should not be made by any
man lightly nor without ample evidence
| TO support it. Taking the statement in
| the sense it was probably intended, the
! sense that will De accepted by the coun-
! try at large, the sense that already the
1 press. almost wholly. OF the United
! States has accepted it-indeed some OF
| the press called for my dismissal from
the army and my court-martial-I
I answer that IL was not furnished
4 under the pretense of experiment, nor
/ even as an experiment, and when Gen
! eral Miles charges that ii was furnished
as z pretense OF an experiment he lies
in his throat, he lies in his heart, ne lies
+ in every hair of his head and every pore
I of his body he lies wilfully, deliber-
IF his statement is true that this was
furnished under 'pretense of an expert
ment' then 1 should be drummed out OF
Z the army and incarcerated in prison
with other libelers. Hiss statement is
a scandalous libel, rejecting upon the
honor of every officer in the department
I who has contracted for or purchased
this meat, and especially and particu-
/ larry on the commissary general-ny-
; self In denouncing General Miles as
/ liar when he makes this statement
wish TO make il as emphatic and as
/ coarse as the statement itself l wish
to force the lie back into his throat
/ covered with the contents of a camp
latrine l wish TO brand il as a false
/ hood of whole cloth, without a particle
I of truth TO sustain il, and unless he
can prove his statement he should be
{ driven cut OF the clubs barred from the
society OF decent people and so ostra-
/ cized that the street bootblack would
/ not condescend 70 speak 10 him, for
/ he has fouled his own nest, he has as
! persed the honor Of a brother officer
/ without a particle OF evidence or fact
/ TO sustain in any degree his scandalous,
/ ubelous, malicious falsehoods, viz,
\ that this beef or anything whatever
/ was furnished the army under pre-
4 tense of experiment
/ General Eagan referred 10 the pub
Iished interviews of General Miles and
/ correspondence between them as TO their
! authenticity, General Miles having made
/ a non-eommittal reply, and the witness
/ then said:
When man refuses TO deny q libel or
( falsehood or a statement attributed to
him IL is we'll known that he assumes the
matter When he avoids the question the
I suppoSitiOn is that he cannot deny IL
My question is not answered yet. He has
/ not yet denied the interview published in
1 the New York Journal dated December
| o. 1888 and having refused TO distinctly
/ denv IL he should be held TO the stricrest