Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-01-21

1dLupd 10 HOTCO RICO, anu whose report
condemning the beef furnished the ex-
peditionary forces created a sensation
some weeks ago, made his long-awaited
appearance as a witness before the war
investigating commission to-day. Sur
geon Days report was the strongest
in language of those submitted by
Gen. Miles in -substantiation of his at
tack on the beef supplies. DR.. DAILY has
been too i'll to appear heretofore. He
was accompanied by Gen. Miles's own
s~tenographer, despite the presence of
the commissions official stenographer.
On being sworn the witness identified
the report submitted as his own
changing it's date, however, from Sep
TENDER 81 to October 81. He was will
ing, he said, to stand by his report.
1t was wholly voluntary and was not
called by any request or in obedience
to any circular or letter, so far as he
remembered. He had heard nothing
of an official circular calling for reports,
At Tampa on shipboard, he had noticed
a quarter of beef hanging free in the
sun on shipboard and he became inter
ested in the experiment of having fresh
slaughtered beef placed under such
long it could stand it. 81 observed"
he said, that the flies, especially the
bull flies, did not act it; did not alight
on it, or if they did they got away
from it very quickly. He had cut off
a piece of that beef at Tampa and cook
ed it, but it neither Smelled o tasted
naturally. Later he helped the men
corral some horses and subsequently
he had trouble with his stomach, which
he at first attributed to the activity of
c|orraling. Then he noticed indications
recollections of chemical stuff he had
used to preserve elk in a hunting expe-
dition in the Rocky mountains some
years before. All that day at Tampa
and the next he had an unpleasant
taste. In that previous hunting expe-
rience he had analysed the chemical
preservative and found it to contain
borax and salicylic acid. These were
to be used externally on the elk, but
he had rubbed it in the raw flesh and
also injected it.
Questioned as to these ingredients he
said borax was not safe to be used in
connection with food nor for ordinary
medicinal purposes, while the silicylic
acid was most nauseous, loathsome and
disgusting, almost always destructive
of digestion.
DIR. DAILY said he should say the at
tempt to preserve the beef by chem
icals was not a success. That had
been his experience on the transport
Panama, in the beef carried by which
ship he was pretty sure chemicals
were involved" That beef, he said,
was very foul. He thought the gov
eminent beef requirements of the con-
tractors were very unreasonable.
Everybody knows, he said, that beef
exposed to moisture and warmth for
"a hours, will be very much tried. Re-
curing to the transport Panama, he
said most of the beef it carried was re-
frigerated. They had secured a ton of
beef, and for this they at first had one
and one-half tons of ice, later in
creased to eleven and one-half tons Of
ice. The beef, however, had a decid-
eddy peculiar odor. AT Ponce" he
went on to say, II observed the re-
frigerated beef taken from the trans
ports. 1t had a peculiar odor. l OBJ
served the examination of spoiled beef
on one transport. 1t was done by d
butcher down in the hold. He thrust
his arm in every direction into the
putrid meat, trying to find a solid
piece. This meat had the same pecu-
liar odor.' He added that the Pan
anna beef warranted his representation
that it's odor was like that of a dead
human, injected with p~reservatives.
He also depicted the strong odors
aboard the transport Chester. General
Beaver asked if the witness did not
think his examination purely super
fetal and without any substantial
knowledge. No, l would not like to
say that" witness replied. He be-
lieved the beef on the Panama had
come from the transport Manitoba
On the Panama coming from Ponce, he
had made some tea. or soup, from the
refrigerated beef, the same that had
been condemned, had filtered it and
sealed it Theoretically in a can, and
when he reached his home in Pitts
burg had analysed it. From this he
got a lightesh brown residuum- This.
he said, disclosed the characteristics
Of borax and salicyc acid.
DR.. DAILY urged that he be permit
ted to demonstrate the test. DR.. Con-
ner objected. insisting that he leave