Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-02-23
TIE ARMY BEEF INQUIRY.
Continued from First Page.

Continued from First Page,
ments. The general object of the in
spection, according to the witness, was
to get the troops into the best possible
condition for active service and to rem
der assistance and instruction Wher-
ever it was needed.
Reports were rendered after the in
spection of each camp visited. These
reports in the course of regular routine
passed through the hands OF the gen.
eral commanding the army. During the
trip he became so i'll that he was oblig
ed to return home to ittsburg, where
after remaining for some time on sick
leave he rendered his resignation.
In all of this very detailed recital
the question of beef was not once
preached by the court, but when DR..
DAILY had been chronologically carried
through his term of service and out of
the army the recorder handed him the
famous "embalmed beef report and
asked him if he recognized it. DR..
DAILY said that he did and it was all
right except perhaps the date which
in the copy was September q. He
said to the best of his recollection the
exact date was October IA. The date,
however, he said, was not essential, the
report being genuine and in opinion of
DR.. Daily perfectly accurate.
Col Davis then addressed the court
| briefly, saying that it was only within
"A hours that he had been able personally
to study this report of Dr. DAILY, and he
found therein certain allegations against
certain persons who had made contracts
for supplying food material to the govern
ment. To continue the examination of the
witness on this subject in the absence of
those persons against whom his charges
were directed would be to deprive them of
rights
ACCORDED THEM BY Law.
He therefore suggested that the other
parties interested (the meat contradictory
should be given reasonable notice of the
proceedings and that the witness be ex-
| cused subject to recall when the examin-
alton could be continued with the other
interested parties present.
Prior to leaving the stand, however,
DIR. Daily was examined in regard to the
Powell experiment with beef preserva-
tives at Tampa, Col. Davis pointing out
that it was merely experimental and no
contractor was involved. DR.. Daily said
Col. J. E. Weston called his attention to
a quarter of beef, which was hanging on
a transport and which Col. Weston said
had been for sixty hours in the open, and
he was waiting to see what would even
tuate. DR.. Daily did not recall anything
of Col Weston's statements indicating
| the beef was other than part of the gen.
eral supply or that it had been treated
with chemical as an experiment. He
noticed that flies would not remain on
the beef, and that no lavae were de-
POSTED. He thought that strange, and
that beef would not purify in the Tampa
air after sixty hours exposure. Witness
finally cut a piece from the beef and
later cooked and ate it. After riding
horseback he became nauseated. He did
not suspect preservatives on the beef,
although his taste suggested an expert
ence he had with preservatives he had
used on antelope some years before while
hunting. Nevertheless, Dr. Daily said he
remarked to no one about the matter
Witness wanted it made plain that Col.
Weston had said nothing about the quar-
ter of beef being experimental, and he
had no reason to suspect the government
was conducting
AN EXPERIMENT
as to efficacy of any chemical preserva-
tive
Replying to Col. Davis, witness said he
supposed the beef was a part of a con-
signment from the contractors supposed
to keep q hours in the sun, and perhaps
Col Weston was merely curious to see
if the beef would stand the test. Recur-
ring to the taste of the beer as suggesting
an experience with preserved antelope
meat, witness said some years ago while
en- route to hunting grounds in the West
he secured in Chicago what was recon-
mended as a preservative-a white pow
der. 1t was used in camp, preserved the
meat but the latter when eaten, nau-
seated him. An analysis divulged the
presence of boric and salycilc acids
In regard to the Tampa experience, DR..
DAILY said it did not arouse any suspicion,
he did not look upon the incident as a
government experiment, and did not feel
called upon to report or take any official
action about 1t. He gave it little thought
then, and. replying to Col. Gillespie, said
he first considered his Tampa experience
sufficiently serious to present TO the de-
partment when he had experience with
contract beef on the Panama DR.. Daily
was then excused.