The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-01-14
THE ARMY BEEF SCANDAL
GEN. MILES PUBLISHES THE LET-
 TER FROM COZ. ROOSEVELT.
Praticnlly Worthless-At Best 1t Was Tasteless; at the Worst it Was Nause- ating- Beef That Became Putrid and Had to be Thrown Away.

WaSnlngton, Jan. l3.-General Miles
 to-day made public the following letter
 bearing on the quality of the army beef, 1 which he had received from Governor 1 Roosevelt:
 State cf New York Executive Cham- Der,
 Albany, N. Y., Jan 9, 1899.
 General Nelson A. Miles. War Depart ment, Washington, D. G.: My Dear General Miles: I do not dis tinctly understand about the beef con-
 troversy, but possibly what l have to write may be of some use The canned corned beef we found to be good. The so-called canned roast beef that was is- sued to us for travel rations, both on the transport and on the train and which we occasionally got even at the front was practically worthless. Unless very hungry the men would not touch it, and even when suffering from lack of food, they never ate fifth part of it. At the best it was tasteless: at the worst nauseating. There was also a supply of beef Gin the shape of quar- ters) which was put aboard our trans port at Tampa It was supposed to be fitted by some process to withstand tropical heat. It at once became putr1d and smelt so that we had to dispose of it for fear of it's creating disease. I think we threw it overheard. , At any rate, 1t was condemned. The beef we got in Santiago after about the 18th or 27 of July-that Is. after the siege had ended, and when my brigade had been without fresh meat or vegetables for month-was generally bad. By that time the cavalry division was in sick ly condition. The fact that the meat rations was so bad as generally to be inedibe caused very great hardship to my men and reduced the supply of food below what was necessary.
 'Very sincerely yours,
 (SigneO "Theodore Roosevelt"
 Lowell Mass, Jan. 13.-The following letter was received to-day from General Nelson A. Miles by Captain Alexander Greig. Go. c, the Massachusetts, U. s. V.:
 Headquarters of the Army. Captain Alexander Greig, Lowell, Mass:
 My dear captaln Your very kind let ter of December 31 was duly received, and I thank you for the interest you have taken in the matter and for the furnished. Not only the welfare of the troops now in service, but the honor of those who have been in service and who have suffered on &C., count of sickness is 1t stake in this con- troversy. It has been charged that | sickness has been caused by the men | indulging in the use of rum and man. goes. which I am convinced Is a base 1 islander on the men. I am satisfied that | much sickness was caused by want of good wholesome food, of which they , were frequently deprived. l would be | glad to have any statement made by | you as we'll as the statements of any ! If the line officers or surgeons who are | familiar with the facts, and also the | of the soldiers who can tes- tify on this subject, l remember you verv well on the front line at Yauco, where you were rendering excellent ser vices in a campaign that was full of ,ood results, but which has not attract ,d so much attention as some others.
 Signed: Neisoii A. Mi'es'