Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1899-03-20

Chicago, March 16.-The last witness
called before the army beef court OF
inquiry yesterday proved to be sensa-
tional. He was an officer of the reg
ular army, First Lieut.. M. f. Davis,
of the LIST cavalry, called at the re-
quest Of Major Lee, the representative
of Gen. Miles. Davis testified that in
Cuba one-half Of the canned roast
beef issued to the soldiers, was
thrown away because it was
unfit to eat. He testified that he had
opened one can himself and found
maggots in it. The board left for
Omaha last night. An inspection OF
the stock yards will be made at Omaha
and Kansas City, and at the latter city
some evidence will be taken. IL
court will return to Chicago by next
Tuesday to proceed with the examina-
ton Of witnesses here. The evidence
brought forth yesterday was largely
cumulative in it's nature, being prin-
cipally in reference to canned and re-
fTigerated beef when issued to troops
on shipboar1 and in Cuba and it's eff
feet upon the soldiers.
Lieut. Davis said that in Cuba
the men opened all the tans
of roast beef issued but only con-
sumed half the contents on an aver
age; the rest was thrown away because
it was unfit to eat. The contents of
the cans, he said, were about three
quarters suet. Perhaps one-quarter or
one-fifth of the can would be good
fibre meat; the rest appeared to be
tailings or clippings. The witness said
that he once opened can which
smelled bad; he examined it and
found maggots in it,
Maj. Lee:-"How did maggots get in
there?"
Witness: They were canned in
there"
Col. Davis fare you aware that
in the process of canning this meat
undergoes such intense heat that no
animal life could survive it?"
Witness II don't mean to say they
were alive; they were dead
Major Lee:-"In consequence of the
roast beef not being sufficiently sus-
tanning and not having nutriment in
it, did your men lack for food?'
Witness: They did,
Col. Gillespie: What was the name
of this brand that you found with mag
COTS in it?'
Witness:-'It was Swift & Co.'s
brand"
Are you certain of that?"
Il am certain
Sergeant SalaVin, of the 7th y. S.
infantry, testified some of the men
complained that the canned roast beef
was not palatable The witness ate it
himself AS to the refrigerated beef
about half was spoiled and buried.
On the voyage home most of the men
would not eat canned roast beef. Cor
poral Regain, Of the 7th infantry, said
! that he saw some canned roast beef
which smelled bad and had green
slime over it. Very little Of it was
eaten. There was shortage of ra-
! tions at times and he had hardly
enough to eat. The men got the re-
| frigerateu beef two or three times a
/ week alter IL WIS 1SSuGu L L1S LII 81
time it was good, but began getting
bad and about half would be buried.
Many men vomited after eating canned
roast beef Lieut.. Pearce of the 18th
infantry testified that during the Is
days before the surrender Of Santiago
ne heard no complaints about the
canned roast beef Complaints were
heard that the refrigerated beef was
not good and that it had a mouldy ap
pearance and an offensive odor.
good deal was destroyed. After the
surrender the men went hungry at
times, but no longer than one or two
meals. The men ha0 diarrhoea and
vomiting, but he did not know if they
were caused by rations.
Col. Turner, LIST Illinois infantry,
said that on the way to Cuba there was
good deal of complaint about the
canned roast beef. The surgeon con-
demned a lot of it and it was thrown
overheard, the cans were sweIled and
the meat was very bad. In Cuba there
was a shortage of rations. The princl-
pal meat was canned roast beef. He
reported the shortage to Gen. LaWton