Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-03-16
TESTIMONY ON BEEF.
illinois Doctor Who Comes Down
Very Hard on the Canned
Article.
JRITICIsEs GENERAL FRED GRANT,

Whom He Charges with Violating Mill
tary Law and Other ThinGs-Col. Fred
Bennitt Also Condemns the Stuff. as
Does Col. Turner-Some Witnesses Who
Favor the Chicago Beef Product-Pack-
House Experts Opinion of"Canners
Chicago. March I6.-The first witness
before the court of inquiry yesterday
was DR.. John y. Shaw. of Joliet, Ills,
who was surgeon Of the Third Illinois
volunteers. He testified that or the
voyage from Newport News to Porto
Rico canned roast beef was issued and
there was n great deal of complaint
about it. 1t was stringy, pulpy and
nauseating and did not seem to nourish
the men Much diarrhoea followed the
use of it. The witness attributed the
sickness to ptomaine poisoning. He be-
lieved ptomaine would develop in the
hot sun in five or six minutes after
can was opened. If the meat were prop
erly sterilized ptomaine would not de-
velop. While in Porto Rico fresh beef
was issued. The regiment was twerty-
dve miles from Ponce. They got refrig-
Grated beef two or three times a week.
II was partly good and partly bad-sim-
ply spoiled, not "embalmed."
Said the Beef Was All Right.
General Grant did not please DR..
Shaw. He charged him with issuing
whatever he saw fit in the way of or
ders and violating the law. Grant and
the commissary officer both insisted that
the canned meat was all right. ard that
the men would have to eat it. If the men
had depended On the goVernmen mt rationS
they would have starved. Subsequently
the witness testified that of meat the
troops had canned and refrigerated beef.
beef on the hoof and ''sowbelly." the
latter having maggOts in it. He did not
think any chemicals had been used on
the refrigerated beef; it simply spoiled
from the heat. When the men got their
pay and bought food for themselves they
improved in health. The brand of the
canned beef was. he thought, Libby,
Mcneil & Libby.
Col. Fred Bennitt's Views.
The next witness was Colonel Fred
Bennitt. cos)nel of the Third Illinois
volunteers. He spoke of the voyage from
Newport News to Porto Rico. There
We're a great many complaints about the
canned roast beef" he said. Just be-
fore embarking I succeeded in having
some of it made into n hash and that
was more satisfactory. The complaint
about the canned roast beef was that it
was Causeating- Specimens were
brought for examination ard I found
them very repulsive. The meat had a
disaereeab;e smell. If you put your
face down TO it you wanted to get away
at once. His experience with refrigerated
beef was similar to that of other wit
nesses. He do& ed the story about daily
wrangles at Chattanooga so far as his
regiment was concerned.
Is Informed on the Beef Trade.
Witness stated that he had been at
torney for some of the stock yards COM
panies and was familiar in a measure
with their business. He understood that
Gamer was an inferior grade of
cattle. just above the ''dOwner''-an ami
NAL that had been bruised by being
trampled on in the cars. He had never
seen ''Cowners'' or Gamers" used in
canning. He had no reason to suspect
that the refrigerated beef had been
treated with chemicals. He noticed
that the canned roast beef bore the label
of Libby, Mcneil 6 Libby.