New-York tribune., 1899-03-26
REEF COURT SITS HERE.
GOVERNOR ROOSEVELT TESTlFlES
ABOUT THE MEAT.
CANNED ROAST BEEF, HE SAYS. WAS To-
TALLY UNFIT AS RATloN-rfo'"i
REFRIGERATED MEAT GOOD
THIRTEENTH INFANTRY
Nr\ FNAMI\FD
MEN EXAMINED

REFRiGERAlfb MEAL N'Nt
THIRTEENTH INFANTRY
MEN EXAMINED
Tho r,,,r, or Inquiry appointed to investigate
~ on,,,es OF General Miles regarding the beef
s,rnl,es 10 the Army during the recent war met
d, his city yesterday. Two sessions were held'
one IN the afternoon AZ Governors Island where
oe,cors and men OF the 18th Regiment were exam
,rd while In the morning at the Army Building
IN Whichall-s,.. sitting was devoted TO the hear
80 ~ Governor ROosevelt's testimony In en-
n,,ic terms and without the least qualification the
Governor condemned the canned roast o"ei Wh'h
was served ont to the troops in cuba as being
,nw wholcsonc and unfit for consumption
4 regarded the canned roas; beef. he said IN
cumming up his evidence "as an utterly unfit IA
,i,, FOR the troops The canned roast beef we had
down I'm Santiago unfit and unwholeSome
ration make that statement without reservation
and without quaus | have heard that 'he
.ans up here have been examined ana iouhn 10
b. wholesome But | would state emphatlcaE
,h,t m, experience of that beef proved to me oe-
,.cra a shadow cf question that the canned roast
beef We had with Us at the best unpaataole
and al the worst uneatable and unwhoiesome. 10
the majority II men & was not only unpala'aore
h,,t sufficiently unwholesome 90 make many OF
them sick"
somewhat similar dcnpncatory evidence was
gwen later in The day. when officers and enlisted
mon belon1iaS 70 the 18Th Infantry were called
before the court II shown also that cans
p,rportins To hold two pounds Of roast beef con-
tanned on an average not more than three-Quai-
,ers of p pound Of tough and strngy meat
Naior-General J r Wade presided over the In
c,i-, The other members OF the court were Briga-
dic--General George w Davis. Colonel G. l. Gill
laspic and Lieutenant Colonel G. b Davis recorder
Major Jesse NJ Lee. Of the sth Infantry. repre-
sen,ed General Miles
THE MORNING SESSION.
Tn. morning session i'm the Army Building he
r.n ~ II O'Clock. when Governor Roosevelt VINO
arrived promptly at that hour was sworn Reply
irr 90 the preliminary qu 'stionS Of Colonel Davis
r, told Of MS rank in the volunteer cavalry regi-
r~.rt known O., the Rough Riders. and Of rs or
a..tzatiou After these and other formal details
bad GONE ON record Colonel Davis proceeded az
one, 2, draw from Governor Roosevelt his opinion
o~ the to,f Throlghou; his evidence Governor
Roosevelt relu rel little or no leading from Colonel
Davis Hi, evidence was more of "a narrative than
r.-l.,s 20 questions At the outset he asked that
r. r.i-hi D.. allowed TO ansSc~ in his OWN way
Tho FIRST knew Of any trouble with the canned
ro,.t hsef" pc began wa Wien We were still
lrtrc ~ Key West at Tampa Bay prior TO our
f.-arture for cuba. ! saw man. a kentuck'an.
r red- headed fellow think nis name was Ash
shou. % tarov his portion Of roas; beef overheard
n. 1o Jared tha; hc could not eat IT, and that II
Dr.. de him vonit
-. Arc Won seasick?' asked him. NO he said,
.fu- 7 can't eat that stuff | told him that II he
we've hahy ne had no business 10 enlist for the
va~ .rat he d.i not volunteer for good time ana
ought 70 take things as they came. Mterward
heard complaints from others and later found
.r.. th.rc was "a general complaint that the canned
~o..t beef was not good did not know al the
Tine whether these complaints arose merely from
certain cans Of bal meat being found or whether
- Wa that tho men ware Grnmbling because tney
v.ro arry-fod.
trg~fr. and
r.ta. nv men were receiving was the the
REGULARS were having and at the time ! was told
f1a, the Regulars were satisfied while only the
volunteers were grumbling ! told some Of my
men that their food was the the Regulars
were getting. and that they could no, expect 10
fare better than the Regulars.
TASTED TT HIMSELF.
II ate a mouthful Of the canned roast
beef and while / did not think that the can which
then opened good. # had no putrid smell. and
there was nothing TO make me feel that | had TO
take any positive action. | spoke TO Colonel Wood
ab-u; IL hu, the transports were just getting off
and nothing could be done The canned meat was
The only ration We had until We landed in cuba.
After landing in cuba had pork mostly
served out 70 US. with sometimes canned roast
meat But I always got pork If | could. because |
found that AN the Regulars objected to the roast
heef as much ds my men did. Moreover. tried TO
cat som, % that beef myself, but could not"
Describe the appearance OF the canned roast
beef during this period" suggested Colonel Davis.
The cans when opened" Governor Roosevelt
said slowly as Il weighing his words. would show
usually ON top what looked Ike a layer OF slime-a
very disacreea ble-o looking substance. The beef IN
side was stringy and coarse like bundle of hbree
Sometimes We could stew II. II YOU could stew II
with potatoes and onions YOU could eat it. BIZ, a,
that time ! think ] could have eaten my ."t
s'ewed with potatoes and onions. We also tried
stewiug II with mangoes and IL there was a chance
80 fixing il up in that way good deal OF 1t could
BE- eaten by some Of tho men There were very few
men who could eat all the canned beef ration.
There were some who could not eat 1t at all The
great majority mon. after having been put upon
10 FOR two or three days. became sick and would
not eat IT, even If they were hungry. They pre-
ferred salt pork and l made every effort to get It
instead Of the beef.
HAD PORK HALF THE TINE.
Toward the end we had pork about half the
tir, and beef the rest Of the time. During this
period never heard anybody question the fact
that the canned roast beef was bad ration. But
30 was a matter OF surprise to me when came
back 20 find tnat the quality Of the meat was a
subject Of controversy never heard any one
during the Siege speak OF the canned beef except
10 take il a. A matter OF course bad ration.
Some spoke Of il As being insipd; others spoke Of
' As being unhealthy and utterly bad. never
heard any one in fact. officers or enlisted men
alike speak OF q save unfit ration"
DO you remember the brands OF the cans?
Colonel Davis asked.
no ! remember an oficer once saying that one
brand was better beef than another. but did not
Investigate A. and 1t was only hearsay would
not care to say what the brand was.
What efforts were made 20 get other meat prior
70 me close OF the operations?
Jus, before the refrigerated beef came Gov
ernor Roosevelt answered. Il made report-it
was on July 2o-wherein ! called attention to the
general deficiency Of proper ratons but the canned
roast beef was only one Of the things where We