Evening star., 1899-04-04
THE BEEF INQUIRY
DR.. Daily Tells Of His Examinatio ms
of Canned Beef.
HIS CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
His Deductions Supported by Tests
of Government Chemists.
BORACIC ACID FOU ID

When the army court of inquiry met this
morning at the Lemon building DR.. VIM. H.
Daily, major and surgeon in the volunteer
army, on the staff of Gen. Miles, appeared.
DR.. DAILY was examined by Maj. Lee. Ex-
Representative James Hamilton Lewis was
one of the spectators in the court room
while DR. Daily on the stand.
DR.. Daily spoke of a piece of meat he had
eaten at Tampa which had made him ill.
While on the Panama he suspected there
was something wrong with the beef. He
could not say that this meat was from the
Manitoba. He said he wanted to empha-
size the fact that there was a good re-
| frigerator on the Panama, because the re-
port of the war commission stated that the
| beef on that vessel had spoiled because
| there was no refrigerator on it.
Having previously referred to the decom-
posed beef smelling like boric acid and de-
cayed beef, he said this expression had been
used to describe smell merely, though it
had been interpreted as having another
meaning At Jacksonville, he said, he
found the cooks using the refrigerator beef
with onions and high seasoning, which he
was told was necessary in order to get the
men to eat it.
As to Preservation by Chemicals.
Maj Lee read the report of DR.. Daily to
the assistant adjutant general. in which he
Eau SAID peer on the Panama, on WHICH ne
returned to the United States from Porto
Rico, had apparently been preserved with
| chemicals, this report having been publish
ed some time ago and was placed in ev-
idence by Maj. Lee. DR.. Daily had thrown
| 1850 pounds of this beef overheard. DIR.
DAILY said a correction should be made to
his report as read by Maj. Lee, q mistake
evidently having been made by his type
writer. The report, after stating the
dition of he beef. said it had been treated
with chemicals. The witness corrected this
statement to make it read that the beef
| had apparently been treated by chemicals.
| The witness said that at ChickamaUga.
| while meat was being cut up, the soldiers
complained that while it looked all right,
| it didn't smell right
| Il am satisfied with the large amount of
testimony on chemically prepared beef"
| said DIR. DAILY, that that beef was chemi-
| cally prepared. That is. l am as well sat
is fled as any one can be without making
| a chemical analysis
A Chemical Analysis.
| After my report on the beef was made,
in order to further satisfy myself as to the
| conditions of the meat l began chemical
| analysis of some residuum l obtained from
some soup made from refrigerator beef on
| the Panama. l was obliged to leave the
| matter to obey orders from the command
| ing general and go tour of inspection.
| After that l made my analysis more care
| fully and without Interruptions, and they
| We're strongly confirmatory of previous
| tests. In that ANALYSIS | found the pres
| ence of boracic acid indicated by the flame
| test and also salyciiic acid. This analysis
| was made for my own satisfaction. to show
| me whether l had been right or wrong in
| my suspicious 1t might be as well to say
| here that the report of the commits
| sion intimates there was a trace of these
| chemicals. which are deleterious to health,
/ and want to say, regardless of what may
| have been said written about these
chemicals, that they are deleterious to
| health.
'In the report of the war commission they
| suppressed the report Of the chemist"
| Col. Davis Objection.
| Col. Davis objected to having the witness
bring the report of the war commission into
| his testimony saying that that commission
| was not under consideration by the court
| of inquiry.
| There was a long discussion in regard to
| allowing the witness to continue. DR.. Daily
said he simply wanted to read the report
of the expert chemist of the government
| who made an examination of the same re-
Slduun, and confirmed his analysis as be-
ing correct in unmeasured terms.
| DR.. DAILY produced a duplicate of this let
ter, which he said he could not allow to go
| out of his hands, as if he should lose it it
| might happen that his analysis would be
called in question He was finally allowed
to ,o9 centinus AZ an and Oh he read the following:
| DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
| United States Geological Survey
January 21, 1899.
Dr. P. S. Conner.
Sir: In accordance with your request we.
| have examined the powder submitted by
DR.. w. II. DAILY for boric and salyc:lic
acids, both the flame test and turmeric
paper test giving distinct evidence of the
presence of boric acid We submit here
with the slips of turmeric paper showing
| the red coloration given by the sample ex-
amned and also the slip showing the re-
| action obtained with bor:c acid alone We
| also obtained good reaction with peric chIo-
| ride, showing the presence of salycilic acid
in tie powder. Total weight of sample sub
| mitted was 8.2S36 grams, of which o. 1896
| grams have been returned to DR.. Daily in
| whose presence the tests were conducted
| (Signed 7. w. CLARK
| Chief Chemist.
| (SigneO w. H. HILDEBRAND.
| Chemist.