The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1899-04-01
EAGAN WAS MISTAKEN.
Col. Davis Thinks He Relied To-
Much on Memory.
TESTIMONY CONFLICTS
a Reference to Certain Contract or
File Would Have Avoided
A, the Trouble.

Washington. II. C., March 2S-Capt.
George Il. Davis. commissary Of subsiSt-
cncc. was the first witness to appear be
fore the beef inquiry court today. lie
was on duty i'll the office of the commits
sary-gcncral and assisted i'll preparing
the Santiago beef contract with Swift \
Co, dealers, especially with the prcpara-
ton of the clIuSc covering the time the
beef was To be i'll rcfrigcrators on shore.
He had talked with Gen. Pagan on this
subject when the contract was in course
If preparation and understood from him
hat tn" beef was Il be kept in rcfri%
'raiorS for sevcnty-tNo hours after ar
rival and twcnty-four hours after its re-
morIl from them
Capt. Davis detailed some instances in
which b"arHS ~ survey had examined
beef which had been complained of while
III the refrigerator One instance oc-
CURED at Manzanillo and another at Snn-
tiago. In the first the beef was con
d"mncd and i'll the latter part of il was.
In reply to Maj. Lee, Capt. Davis said
the understanding in the commisSary gen
erals office was that the beef was [" I've
Kept good for Scvcnty-two hours 10y the
contractors after leaving the ship pro
'i"d good care was taken of it. This.
Said. was TN" extreme limit. but II
las not supposed that the beef would be
kept for more than twcnty-four hours.
Beef Preserving Process.
Capt. Davis said he had heard some
thing of the Powell process for prcScrv-
ing beef, that proposition WAS made
before the beginning of the war and af-
ter Gen. Weston had brought the pro-
cecdInGS to the attention of the depart
mcnt as the result of the experiment
Ia - III, h.. ti,,,a
of sailing of the Santiago expedition.
Maj. Lee pointed ont the apparent dis
crcpancy in Capt. Davis and Gen. Ea-
gan'S testimony aS To the conditions un-
der which beef was To be kept for Soy
rnty-tMo hours after the arrival of the
beef ut its point of destination lie read
Gen. EaGan's statement saving ii WAS his
intention that the beef should he good for
Scvcnty-two hours. no difference where
taken from, and saving that the twcn-
ty-four- hour clause must he Il clerical "r-
ror. He asked Capt. Davis To rcconCll"
the two statements, TO which request Tie
captain responded 10y saving:
Cen. Eagan had simply forgotten.
Probably he had not seen the contract
for sin months. 1t is not customary III
such cases To depend upon the memory.
the contracts being on file and reference
to them convenient and usual.
The witness said there had been con
.dcrahlc discussion i'll the office Of the
romnisSary general on the feasibility of
shipping beef on the hoof. but II had
been decided not to try the experiment
because of the difficulty of getting ships.
of landing the cattle and of taking care
of Thorn after landed. The subsistence
department had. however. gone 50 far aS
to gather the names of persons who
might desire To- bid.
Reef Packers Testimony.
Edward Morris of the Chicago firm of
Morris \ Go. was the next witness. H."
stated that his company had tor the past
ten years been III the habit of storing
AIMED roast beef III tn" Baltimore x
hin warehouses on Staten island for
.hIpm"nt tn either foreign or domestic
points. Some "f this beef had in lS9N
been returned to Chicago. Most of the
shipments (" foreign ports uad been sent
t" the English. None of it had ever been
sold t. or rejected 10y Il foreign govern
ment and none had been sold abroad
and condemned ana sent back to the
nitcd States for the American troops.
The goods returned Ia Chicago were sold
{" Il wholesale grocery house md it sold
to tn" government. 30 per cent. going to
Manila. The firm had sold To the GOV
rrumcnt direct about SlIu.ooo worth of
corn beef and Of canned roast beef
Charles T.. Smith of .lackSonyiIle Fla.
no acted as agent for Armour X Co
III III" spring and summer of 1N9S. test
fled concerning the beef delivered L. The
troops ut Lakeland. He said he had
been i'll the beef business for fifteen wears
and that the beef delivered ut Lakeland
was first class. There was nothing 80
Indicate that IL had been treated with
prcScrvativcS and there was no coatin.
upon il. During his connection with the
business there We're only two reicCtiou<
of beef and these were of very small
quantities