The times., 1899-04-01
EAGAN PREFERRED
THE EMBALMED KIND
A Texas Cattlcman Before
the Court.
Officers of the Medical Department
Condemn the Meat.
Declare 1t Impure Food Which
Caused Much Sickness Among
the Soldiers.

| A great deal of testimony against army
| beef was presented to the Beef Court yes
terday, mostly by officers of the Medical
| Department of the Army.
Gen. J. Hale Sypher. former Representa-
| tive in Congress from Louisiana, testified
that he represented some of the Texas cat
tlemen. He called on the Commissary Gen
! eral, and was given the impression that
/ that officer favored beef on the block rather
| than refrigerated beef. The Texas ca tie
| men had plenty of beef, plenty Of money,
and plenty of ships, and they were prepared
| to carry out any contract they might have
| made with the Government for furnishing
beef to the army in Cuba. Their bid was
q cents a pound. This included shipment
to Cuba, shipment of feed for the herds,
and slaughter at the various army camps.
| When the bids were opened and those of
! the cold storage people ranged between
| and II cents a pound, he noticed that a
change came over the Commissary General.
The witness testified that the Commissary
General said something about pressure"
| being brought to bear on him. The i'm
preston left on the witness mind was that
political influence had been brought to
| bear on the Commissary General that the
award might be made to the great besf
| packers.
The next witness was Col. Charles R.
Greenleaf, Assistant Surgeon General OF
| the Army. He testified that the canned
| roast beef, or the canned boiled beef, was
unpleasant to the sight and mawkish to
the taste. He thought that when it was
prepared in the form of stew and mixed
with green vegetables it was not particu-
iarly dangerous, provided the solder did
not eat too much of it. 1t palled on the
appetites of the men. He used it only on
one or two occasions. He attributed a
great percentage of the sickness in the
Fifth Army Corps during the Cuban cam
paign to climatic causes. but the insult
| ability of the food had much to do with
the general condition of the troops He
did not consider canned roast besf a whole
some part of the ration
Col. r. F. Pope, Deputy Surgeon General
OF the Army, was called to the stand He
was chief surgeon of the Fifth Army Corps
during part of the Cuban campaign. The
canned roast beef he said was a failure
as the fresh-meat component of the ration
1t had bleached-out appearance he
continued, as though a great deal of the
nutritive property had been extracted. 1t
seemed 10 be ''eXsanguinated." When the
meat was eaten directly from the can and
this was necessary in many cases. il was
very unsatisfactory article of food When
the breakdown in the health of the troops
occurred just after the surrender of San
tiago the heavy army ration became I'M
bearable to the men. He testified that he
had never heard of the use of canned roast
beef in the army until the late war with
Spain. The witness said it was very try
ing food unless a man should shut his eyes
while eating it. and was possessed of a
strong digestion.
Major Louis A. LaGuard, of the Medical
Department, testified that he was chief
surgeon OF the military hospital at Sib-
oney. He was not fond of canned roast
beef, but ate it philosophically as the best
substitute which could be had for good
beef He thought it was a poor quality of
beef. He had often heard its toughness
and stringiness commented on. He thought
that there was too much meat in the ration
for troops operating in the tropics The
ration used in Cuba, he said was well
enough adapted for men living on the high
plains OF the Northwest, but he considered
it improper for men in the tropics.
Captain Ireland, surgeon who saw SER
vice at the Siboney hospital, testified that
the canned roast beef was nauseating TO
the men, and that the refrigerated beef
which he saw was repu!siye in appearance
Major Henry S. Kilbourn, an army sur
geon, testified that the food issued to the
troops during the Cuban campaign was not
NhS hihu III MS S0Oui0 nave
been issued.
Capt. A. B. Heyl, of the Medical Depart
ment, testified that the canned roast beef
sickened him. 1t was repulsive to look at
tasteless, and appeared to be without nu-
tritive properties
G. H. Giddings. who represented num-
Der of Texas cattlemen during the war.
was called to the witness stand to testify |
as to his interviews with the Commissary |
General. When the bids had been opened |
the Commissary General told him that the |
Secretary of War had been so much i'm |
pressed with the bids submitted by the re- |
frigerated beef men. and that there was |
so much difference between the bids of |
these men and the stockmen. that he |
thought the cold storage people should be |
given a trial.
The Commissary General told me-" said |
Mr.. Giddings, that the refrigerated beef |
men had some process known only to |
themselves by which they could preserve
the beef for seventytwo hours after its re- |
moval from the refrigerator"