Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-01
OBJECTLESSOy IN ARMY BEEF
All Kinds Of Meat srved and Tested Under
Eyes Of the Court
TRYING ORDEAL FOR SOME ENLISTED MEN
Repeated Declarations Are Made that
the sample Given Them IL Not
What They Hnd In the
Campaign.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2s.-The feature OF
the court OF inquiry into General Miles
beef charges today was an object lesson
in canned meats prepared by the courts
and served to the commissioned men
who testified at yesterdays hearing. The
court had prepared eight plates of beef,
fresh beef and canned beef that had been
TO Cuba and back, and canned beef fresh
from the factory. Four plates were prepared
hot in stew and four cold, as they came
from the can, the fresh beef being boiled
to make it resemble the others. The en-
listed men were ordered to sample each
and say which was the sort they had had
In Cuba.
II was a trying ordeal for the men, most
of them declaring that none OF the plates
Loo ked anything like what they had eaten
In Cuba. By repeated assurances that there
was campaign beef In two Of the plates
and after being urged that they should at
least choose ito the best OF their belief"
the court succeeded in getting an express
sion Of opinion from each Of the men.
An army surgeon, DR.. Bowden, kept tally
on the guesses OF the men and changed the
positions OF the plates after each witness
had left the room. The result of this rec
ord was not made public, however, and will
be reserved till DR.. Bowden testifies. prob
ably some time this week.
The most interesting witness Of the day
was Lieutenant Ramsay, Ninth infantry,
who had served as commissary officer ut
Baiquiri and Santiago and who characterized
the 'canned roast beef as IAN unpalatable
and uninviting grade of inferior meat"
which he would not willingly feed to any
man, sick we'll.
Supplies at Bniuuiri.
The first witness today was Lieutenant
Ramsay, Ninth infantry, who acted COM
pany commissary at Tampa and depot COM
missary at various times. He was also one
of Colonel Weston's , assistants after the cap
ture OF Santiago. He told in detail of the
unloading OF supplies at Baiquiri and ST.
honey and their transportation to the front.
He said that the order in which supplies
went to the front had been largely deter
mined by the way in which the ships were
loaded at Tampa. The commissary officers
In short simply sent forward the articles OF
food which could be first unoaded. Ration
turns and like formalities were dispensed
with and food sent to the front as
rapidly as possible So far as he knew no
complaints came from the front as to the
sort of rations that were sent out. After
further inquiries from the recorder, intended
to develop whether any protests were made
from the front against the canned beef, the
witness said that he received requests for
as much bacon as he could stand" The
men preferred bacon to canned beef and
their preference was respected whenever
possible AT one time he secured 10000 or
10000 extra rations of bacon from the Berk-
shire to supply just this demand
Lieutenant Ramsay, in reply to Colonel
Gillespie, said that it would have been per-
fectly feasible to land live cattle at Santiago
on the wharf. but 1t would not have been
practicable to land them before the capture
of the city.
Colonel Davis then had a can of beef
opened and asked the witness to inspect it,,
saying that it had come back from Cuba.
Lieutenant Ramsay smelled it, tested it and
pulled scme OF it apart, saying that it was
decidedly better beef than any he had seen
in Cuba 1t was more like that he had
handled at his barracks but he still did not
feel like recommending It as good thing to
feed soldiers.
Witness said he had seen a great many
cans OF beef rejected among fve-car lot
at Tampa. The cans had burst and the
stencil in the cars was terrific. The con-
tractors replaced the spoiled cans in this
instance, but there was the same stencil
from more defective cans when the cargo
was broken open in Cuba.
Spoiled on way to camps.
Witness had helped to unload the Missis-
sippi when 1t arrived at Santiago. The beef
was good and witness made especial effort
to get the beef ashore early in the morning,
going out frequently with stevedores in the
evening and starting the unloading at
or o'clock in the morning. The issue
ashore was made as early in the day as pos
sible and the meat protected from the
heat as much as possible with tarpaulins
In quality the beef on the Mississippi and
the Port Victor. which witness personally
inspected, was of better grade than usually
found at army ports.
He said he did receive number of COM
plants of the meat spelling before il
reached some OF the camps. He thought
this loss fell on the men, he knew moth
inc at that time OF the contract under which
the beef was furnished TO the government
lie had no chemical knowledge, but did moi
think any Of the meat he saw had beer
chemically treated. When outside OF San
tago about half the meat was lost by trim
ming off the tainted parts.
Returning To the question OF chemical
treatment witness was asked II he had any
reason to believe that any OF the meat is
sued In Cuba had been chemically treated
only as a matter OF general knowledge, :
he replied.
What do you mean by that?" said the re.
corder
well, | have been informed by butchers
and others and have generally understood
that it is the practice OF the large packing
houses 10 treat the exterior OF the meat
chemically with a preparation which will
coaSulate the albumen and thus protect the
interior. 1t is the custom to trim off the
outer surface of the beef always before II
Is used"
Witness said this was merely his under
D0CVET TDEACIIDE