The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-04-06
CHEMISTS N COURT
Yale Professor Tells Why the
Canned Beef Looked Bad.
DR.. CURRIE FOUND ACIDS
Miles Witnesses are Not
Likely TO Be Called.
DR.. CURRIE FOUND ACIDS

Washington, April 5.-The two principal
witnesses before the beef inquiry court
today were Professor Russell II. Chitten-
den, of Yale college and DR.. Samuel a
Currie who was lieutenant colonel of the
Second New Jersey regiment, which was
stationed at Jacksonville during the war
Professor Chittenden is one of the chem
lists selected by the government to ana
we the canned beef. He presented his re-
port showing that the beef generally was
good. No chemicals had been found by
him in its preparation and it was gener-
ally wholesome. He however, expressed
| doubt as TO whether the heat Of the
| tropical climate would not cause the fat in
| the cans to Iiquify and thus render the
| food displeasing to the sight. Colonel
| Davis stated that the most of the cans
from which the samples were taken for
analysis had been exposed to the heat
| Of tropical countries, some of the cans
| being brought from Havana for the pur-
! pose of the test. Dr. Currie testified that
| the refrigerator beef supplied at Jackson
vile had on some occasions made the men
! sick. He had made chemical, analysis Of
| the beef, which in one case showed the
| presence of saIicylic acid and in another
| of boracic acid.
| Major Lee presented more of the CORE
| spondence between General Miles and the
| court and put in the request on behalf of
| Of the general that nine Of the $50 wit
! nesses whose names he had suggested be
| called, saying that they would testify con-
! corning refrigerator beef and chemically
| treated beef. The court did not indicate
! whether the request would be complied
with.
The court opened with Colonel r. W.
| Huntington, of the United States marine
! corps, on the stand. He was in charge of
the detachment of marines which made
! such a fine record at Guantanamo. lie
said the health of the troops while there
was good, varying with the weather. de-
| pending largely, apparently, upon the
| rainfall. There had been no complaint.
/ he said, concerning the food supply.
| about fve-sevenths fthe meat used be
| ing refrigerator beef. The beef was. how
! ever used almost Immediately after be-
! ing taken from the ice box. No canned
roast beef was issued. He attributed the
immunity of his command from illness
to adequate food and distilled water.
Professor Russell H. Chittenden, Of
Yale college to whom the court entrusted
| theanalysis of the canned roast beef of
the various companies from whom the
government had made purchases of this
article, gave the result of his examina-
ton, Colonel Davis reading his report and
| also the instructions of the court to him.
The instructions showed that three cans
each of the canned roast beef. prepared
by the Prairie Canning company. the Ar
| mour company and the Wilson company.
which had been exposed to the tropical
climate, were furnished to Professor
Chittenden. His report dealt largely with
the chemical methods employed, but the
result was entirely favorable to the beef
as food product. He stated that he had
made a careful study Of the samples fur
| nished, having analyed all of them, com
pairing them with fresh beef and devot
ing himself to determining the presence
or absence of preservatives He had. he
said, found the contents perfectly sweet.
an demitting the odor always given out
! by cooked meat. In some cans the meat
particles We're large, while in others they
/ were not. The fat particles were gener-
ally found collected on one side or the
other Of the cans. Notwithstanding the
meat had been placed in bottles and ex
posed to the warm air of the laboratory. it
had retained its frehsness for xeveral
days. It had then developed mould. after
wards decomposing. In all the samples
supplied the proportion of fat and por-
ton was such as to bring them into the
range Of good beef Considerable atten-
ton was given to the large layer of fat
found on the surface of each can which
as found by him, was always solid. Pro
| lessor Chittenden had found upon investi-
| cation that the fat melted at A. degrees
centigrade, or lib Fahrenheit, and some
| IN a lower temperature. and that. once
melted, it did not again solidify al high
err temperature than SIS ceutigrade. The
| doubtful whether the food was suitable
! Tor tropical climate except under con-
! diJlons where extreme heat could he
| guarded against or where vegetables 70
/ oe cooked with the meat are available
| Al samples had shown the presence of
! ge'atine. but careful tests failed to de-
/ Veiop either boric or salycilic acid. The
speciments supplied by the Wilson Pack
ing comoony which were corned1 showed
the presence Of saltpetre. Some of the
meats were red. giving rise 10 the srs-
| pi'ion that they might have been coIora5
I log andlyne dye, as in the case Of sausage
Tests had. however. failed to show that
such was the case. II was made evident
/ that the meat was boiled rather tbon
roasted. on this account there was .
loss of some . the inorganic salts and
/ therefore some Of lis autritive qualities
/ Lieutenant Colonel L. N NIaus. who as
| chief medical officer Of the Seventh army
! corps. served i'm various companies i'm the
southern states during the Spanish war
/ said there had been very little eomnI4inr
! concerning the meat. Al jacksonville the
! men had found 1t necessary n cook The
/ refrigerated meat as soon as received. as
/ otherwise il became tainted. Tn one ;n-
I stance an entire company OF troops had
[ been sick. as he believed. by eating the
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