The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-18


press any regret for the statements
| made in the press about the reprimand,
| nor to allude to it at ALL
General Eagan says he fitted out the
| expedition to Porto Rico with ample
subsistence and supplies, and sent .'.in
one of the refrigerator ships, the Mas
sachusetts. 2O3, 600 pounds of refriger-
ated beef, not emha lined beef nor
treated by anv chemical process what
soever. but ffrst-class refrigerated beef.
| as good as the country produces and in
| every way sound, sweet and proper
| food" So
After a discussion of General Miles
| statement as to the shortness of funds
| in Porto Rico General k,agan takes I'm
| the beef question and declares that il
| was good beef, and amy officer no
matter what his rank failing to use
proper supplies does so at his own peril:
and if he purchases a substitute for
| the good article inferior and ,1nwhole-
some. one which the whole medical fra
ternity of the United States will unite
| i'll saying is unwholesome. gives men
diarrhoea and dvsentery. then he does
so at still greater PERIL
BY General Miles own statement he
directed the purchase of native beef
! ashore while this good REFRIGERATOR
/ beef. not embalmed beef was there in
Ponce. It was not embalmed beef, ntG
was it treated with any chemical what
soever for its preservation"
Discussing General Milee' statement,
| that he wanted complete rations sent
! instead Of in bulk. General Eagan saws
! he never saw any such requests and
! if he had. he would have regarded It
| ''as extraordinary. for there is no sucn
| thing as sending complete rations in
| large quantities otherwise than in
| bulk
IF General Miles can explain to your
| commission what the difference is. ne
| will do more than I think he or anv
| other man can do and l. especially. ask
| the commission to note this as one Of
| the things bearing on the entire si1b-
| ject"
| Taking up General Miles testimony
| that the food was one of the serious
cases of sickness among the soldiers.
| General Eagan denies this, and points
out that General Miles gives it as his
| Judgment
Because he merely expressed lis
| Judgment that way, | cannot take fur
| ther issue with that statement than to
| dispute it,"
| General Eagan declares that General
Shafter cabled his appreciation of the
character of refrigerated beef sent to
Santiago and saws You have before
you reports of various officers describ-
ing the character of the superior and
fine cattle co that Porto Rico has fur
nishad to the United States at the low
prices mentioned by General Miles
bulls. stags runts, deformed cattle.
which means old work oxen-a class
and chara cter of beef that the suhsist-
ence department never purchased in
this country nor anywhere else, if it
could do better certainly not if it could
get good refrigerated beef T"
General Eagan says General Miles
testified that 327 tons of this refrigerat-
ed beef might be called 'embalmed
beef This statement means, in effect
a charge of dishonesty and corruption
on the part of the men who furnished
it. That is what I have to say in re-
gard to calling it 'embalmed beef "
General Eagan says General Miles
gives what purpOrts to be the state
ments of II officers expressing dissatis-
faction with the canned fresh beel
General Miles," say he, does not IN
form the Investigate tion commission how
he obtained them.'
As to the 'pretense of an expert
ment,' charged by General Miles in
connection with the timed beef, Gener-
al Eagan says: General Miles, in say
ing this food was sent to the army
as a pretense for experiment. says
that which implies corruption, which
80 out of every 100 people will under
stand to mean corruption: because it
was a 'pretense of experiment. he says,
not even giving credit to me for fur
nishfng it as an experiment but that I
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 that was probably intended.
the sense that has been accepted by the
press of the country-indeed some of
that press calls for nv dismissal from,
of it-I answer that If was NOT furnished
under the nretense of an exnari,nent
nor even as an experiment In deny
inc this 7 con,ent n,vse1f wi+b royina
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