Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1899-03-16
WILSON ON ARMY BEEF
Founder Of the Old Packing Company
Interviewed.
HIS IDEA OF CANNED MEAT.
He Declares That There Never Was
such an Article as Canned
Roast Beef For COM
mercial Purposes.

Chicago, March l6.-William ]. Will
son. former West park commissioner
and founder of the Wilson Packing
company, which supplied the British
army with canned beef during the first
Zulu war, where the temperature was
hotter than in Cuba or Porto Rico, may
go before the war inquiry board before
1t leaves Chicago. The Wilson compa-
ny went out of existence in 1885, and 1t
has no successor, according to Its
founder. 1t Is said the firm was the
first Of the Chicago packing companies
to go into the business Of canning COM
pressed beef.
There never was such an article as
canned roast beef for commercial pur-
poses" said Mr.. Wilson in an inter-
view. 1T is possible to can It, but too
expensive to make it practicable. Ev-
cry bit of beef that is sold under the
label of canned roast beef is nothing
but boiled meat. Canned roast beef Is
a trade lie, and that is all you can say
Tor 1t.
II don't hesitate to speak plainly OF
it for the reason that believe 1t will 40
the packing trade good to have the
beef and canned tongue at my house
which my company put up 10 years ago.
and it is as coed and as sweet as the
lay it was put up.
II will not say that the beef put up
now will keep as long as that. 1t does
not look so from the testimony before
the war Investigating board. Competi-
| ton has driven the packing companies
| 10 can their beef in a different way
| from that in which it was canned ten
| years ago. TO save money and time
they have to use less effective proc
| esses.
Packed ny Vacuum Pressure.
"When the first Zulu war broke out
was supplying the English government
with canned compressed beef. not corn
ed beef hut beef in square cans that
had been packed by vacuum pressure
When the English troops were dereat-
ed, the Zulus captured more than sloV'-
900 worth of the ration and ate 1t. !
never heard Of their being made sick ny
it either
| "Seriously, though during the whole
| Of the Zulu war the Wilson Packing
| company shipped thousands OF dollars
! worth of canned beef to the English
army in the hottest country in the
world. Out of all that quantity we
| never received protest from the Eng
| lish government. Some of the beer was
kept in the tropics for months ana eat
| en-, and there was no cause for COM
! plant from the English troops
ut was not the same kind of canned
beef that was furnished to the Ameri-
can troops last year. The beef the
American troops complained of, as
understand It, was in round cans. II
was not what is known as compressed
beef. 1t was simply boiled beef
"Rusiness Is business. but the lives o.
the American troops are worm more
than a few dollars. and I believe the
war inquiry hoard ought to get at tn
facts. IT ought to give some of these
people chance to tell their stories.
have been asked time and again since
the talk about bad beef to tell what
think was the cause of the canned bee
spoiling. II it spoiled. have my owl
opinion, but | am not going to expires
it,"
Beef Made Men sick.
DR.. John r. Shaw of Joliet Ills. sur
geon of the Third Illinois volunteers
| testified before the army beef inqulr,
court that on the voyage from NeWpof
News to Porto Rico canned roast nee
was issued and there was great den
Of complaint about it. 1t was strlngI
pulpy and nauseatng and did not Seer
to nourish the men..~AuNh sickness fol
lowed the use offt.
The Witness attributed the sickness
to -Nomaine poisoning. He believe
l~ntomaines would develop in the hot su
in five or six minutes after can wa
onened II the meat We're properl
sterilized ptomaines would not develol
While in Porto Rico, 25 miles frol
Ponce. the matter of rations was take
. ont of the regiments hands to grea
extent. General Grant seemed to kno
more about it than anybody else. IN
(. witness took no particular interest in
because of the action OF General Gran
4. "Dd he issue orders?" the witnes
was asked
"He issued whatever he saw fit
"The law required the surgeon
SUPERVISE the cooking of that which
issued. Did you interest yourself to al
certain what was being issued to u
enlisted men,"
!. I'VE saw what was issued and took
because we could not get anything els
We had canned roast beef nearly all u
while. and the men refused to eat
If wss ordered condemned. and
buried a lot of it. One of the men sa
Z IL we didn't bury it it would bury us.
| "a hoard of survey was ordered ga
' the witness, "but I never heard an
. thing more about it, AS to the feifi
erator beef very little of it was used,
At least tnrae -fourths of it would ma
"a he cut off. l do not think any cnei
ica,s had been used on the meat.
was si,..ply spoiled. The meat hah "
doubtedly been acted upon by the net
which had softened it. The rat a
rreaso and gelatin had all interml"sl