The times., 1899-04-07
SECRET PROCESS
FOR ENBALNING MEAT
Armour's Agent Exposes the
Chemical Scheme.
A Tell-Tala Letter That Was Writ
ten to Eagan.
Positive Proof That Processed McDi
Was Furnished the Army by the
Commissary General.

letter was admitted in evidence before
the Court of Enquiry yesterday, showing
that one of the principal contractors for
supplying the American Army with beef
during the late war was in possession of a
secret process for embalming meat. The
contractor declared that it was his belief
/ that it was the only process which would
preserve beef for the number of hours re-
quired by the Governments specifica-
4 tions.
The letter was addressed to the Com
missary General and was signed by T. J.
Connor, Superintendent for Armour &
Co. of Chicago. who was in this city when
he wrote the letter.
The letter follows:
Washington, d. c. July ls, 1888.
Cen. Charles P. Eagan, Commissary General, L.
;. A., Washington, ID. c..
rs supplemental and explanatory OF our bid
10 supply dressed beef in Cuba. we wish to say
that we have the exclusive control of the Powell
/ process for preserving fresh meats and that. this
! process has been tested at Tampa, Fla. the test
| having been completed with most satisfactory
results
This test was made under the supervision of
! Col. John Weston. of your department, who
! las advised you of the results. We advised,
! however, that he received four carcasses of beef
8
! Grated and treated according 10 the Powell pro-
: cess.
. Part OF these carcasses were encased in sacks
/ or canvas. and part not
These UaTclsses distributed to the Third
Cavalry. the Sixth Cavalry, batteries of the
tillcry ard the medical department. and
hung in the air the upper deck of the trans
port tfoopships living at the wharf in the hot
sun, without any benefit of the fresh air OF
movement OF The ships. The pieces that
not wrapped fermented in less than seventytwo
hours while the pieces that were covered or
wrapped kept about 100 hours.
These practical tests, made under the super
vision Of your own officers, show that by
Of this process wrapped pieces or carcasses can
be Kept longer than the seventy-two hours
! quired by your Specifications
/ We believe We may safely say that snch
suits have before been accomplished in
the history of the fresh meat business In view
OF the tests which haze made in the past,
and Of the result of the tests made under rie
supervision of your own officer, we believe that
We are absolutely safe in the assertion that this
is the only process method which will secure
the results required by NpT specifications. Very
,RMoUR * CO..
Per 7. j. Connor, Supt.
The presentation of this letter in evi-
dence by Major Lee, counsel for General
Miles. produced a profound sensation.
Standing alone, II is a strong piece of evi-
dence, but considered in its relation 10
other things ii amounts 10 proof positive
that chemicals were used in army beef
The effect of the letter is to corroborate
the testimony of Dr. William A. DAILY,
chief surgeon on the staff of the major
general commanding, and DR.. Daniel a.
| Currie, lieutenant colonel of the Second
I New Jersey Volunteers. Another effect of
the letter is to discredit all the testimony
given by the Armour people and incident
ally TO weaken the testimony of all the
other beef men.
The physicians named swore that they
made chemical analysis of army meat and
found boric and salicylic acid-familiar
preseryatiyes of meat. The meat which
DR.. Daily anslyzed came from the Mani
toba- II has not been proved which con-
tractor shipped this cargo. The meat
which DIR. Currie tested at Jacksonville
was probably Armour's beef, as the con-
tract for supplying the Seventh Corps at
Jacksonville with fresh beef was awarded
to Armour < Co., of Chicago.
The Armour witnesses have sworn on
the stand most emphaticalIy that they
never used any preseryative other than
cold storage in connection with their meat
Many of the Armour witnesses have sworn
that they never heard of process beef
till they read of it in the newspapers.
On top Of all this comes a letter from
an authorized agent of Armour & Co., al
representative had the exclusive control of
a process for the preservation of beef and
insinuating that it was his belief that the
process was a great and good thing
The authenticity OF the letter has not
been called into question. The paper sub
mitted to the Court yesterday was a certi-
fed copy Of the original letter sent under
the seal Of the Department Of the In
terror.
The accuracy of the copy was certified to
by Mrs. Virginia Peacock, clerk in the
Department OF the Interior. In explanation
of the presence of this letter in that de-
partment, it was said that there is dvi-
sion in the Department of the Interior in
which all Government contracts and the
correspondence re.ating TO them are filed
hence the certified copy coming from that
department
DIR. Richard a. Pyles OF Anacostia.
Major and Surgeon of the District yolun-
teer Regiment. and Or. Cox Assistant Sur
geon in the same command. testified yes
terday that the canned roast beef was re-
Voting and unfit for use as human food
They attributed much Of the diarrhoea and
dysentery among the District Volunteers to
the use OF the so-called refrigerated beef
William a DeCsindry. Chief Clerk to
the Commissary General, was called to the
witness chair yesterday to testify as to
his connection with the formulation of the
beef contracts. When he drew the first
draft CT the contract the only data he had
was that contained in the advertisement for
| bids. He was unable TO interpret the two
clauses in the contract. one stipulating
that the beef should endure exposure for
twenty-four hours after removal from cold
storage, and another clause stipulating that
| II should endure for seYenty-four hours
He testified that he had never been able TO
harmonic these clauses. They were both
inserted in the contract under orders from
| the CCmmissary General and in one draft
of the document the seventy-four- hour
clause was interlined in the handwriting OF
Charles p. Eagan.
The witness knew that correspondence
relating TO the preservation OF beef by
, secret processes had passed through his
office. He recalled one letter from Armour
on the subject of process meat He made
the disclosure that only part of this let
ter remained on file at the department
This was the last page, which bore official
endorsements. The other pages of the
letter had been returned to the writer at
bis request. He was shown the letter
signed by i. J. Connor and he could not
recall ever having seen il before necessi-
tating the inference that there were at
least two letters from Armour on the sub
leei OF process beef part of one having
been returned.
4 Bit Of interesting inside history of the
Commissary Generals Office came near
being brought out during the examination
Of Mr.. DeCaindry.
Major Lee asked the witness how long
he had been in the position of Chief Clerk
TO the Commissary General. He said since
1871
Did you ever resign. or attemnt to