Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-04-07
BEEF A LA PROCESS
Offered the Government by a
Letter in the Name of
Armour e Co.
CONTROL. OF THE POWELL SCHEME

Claimed by the Chicago Packers and Its
Product offered the Only Beef That
Would Meet the Specifications - War
once Clerk Who Could Not Make Out
the Disputed Contract-Resigned the
Day After Eagan's Philippe.
Washington. April I'm the army
beef court of inquiry yesterday the
letter of Armour & Co. proposing to
use the Powell process Tor the pr=serva-
tion of beef was submitted as evidence
by Major Lee. acting for General Miles.
1t was addressed to the commissary
general. dated at the firms Washing
ton office July 10, 1898, and reads as
follows:
LAS supplementary and explanatory
of our bid to 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
has advised you of the results. We are
advised, however. that he received four
carcasses of beef which we seRt him
from Chicago. duly refrigerated and
treated according to the Powell pro.
cesses. q
Holds the Experiment a Success.
Part of these carcasses were eh>
veloped in sacks or canvass and part
were not. These carcasses were dis
tributed to the Third cavalry, the Sixth
cavalry. batteries of artillery and the
medical department and were hung in
the air on the upper deck of the trans
port troopships lying at the wharf in
the hot sun, without any benefit of the
flesh air or movement Of the ships. The
pieces that were not wrapped fermented
in less than seventy-two hours, while
the pieces that were covered or wrapped
kept about 100 hours. These practical
tests, made under the supervision IF
your own officer. show that by means
of this process wrapped pieces or car
cases can be kept longer than the
seventy-two hours required by your
specifications.
Tests Made Under Army Supervision.
I'VE believe we may say that such
results have never before been accom-
plished in the history of the fresh meat
business. In view Of the tests which
we have made in the past and OF the
results of the tests made under the
supervision of your office. we believe
that we are absolutely safe in the as
method which will secure the results
required by your specifications" This
letter was signed Armour & Co., per
II. ]. Conner. superintendent"
Helped Draft the Contract.
William y. DeCaindry, who has been
chief clerk in the Office of the COM
general of the war department
for twenty years, related his connection
with the work of letting the beef con-
tracts. DeCaindry had been instructed
by General Eagan to prepare the orig
inal draft of the contract for the beef
supply, and after some rearranging
submitted a draft, feeling confident that
it was complete. 1t was then that man,
whom he understood to be representa-
tives of Swift & Co, brought up the
question as to the length of time the
beef should keep after issue. Memoranda
for changes containing the twenty-four-
hour clause were brought to him by
Captain Davis, assistant commissary
general.