The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1900-12-30

OF ex-Secretary Algers attack said:
Il have not read 1t in its entirety
Ager waited two years to make hi
attack and need be in no hurry {
reply 1t has been condemned alread,
by the press Of the country. II nee,
be. may yet have something to sa!
Of the rottenness Of the whole affair"
BITTER ATTACK ON GEN. MILES
NEW YORK. Dec. 2s.-In his articl,
in the North American Review
on ''The Food Of the Army During III,
Spanish War" Mr.. Alger takes up Gen
Mics testimony before the Dodge CON-
mission. on December 21. 1896. relative
to the beef furnished to the army. and
says:
Although the commission had been
sitting three months, the charges re-
ferring especially to canned and re-
frigerated beef were now made for the
first time; and. stranger and more mex
cusable and more unsoldierly stIll. dur
ing all these months with this present
knowledge Of facts which. IL they exist
ed. should have been made known to
the secretary Of war for the protection
OF the army. General Miles never men,
toned the subject. Nor did I ever hear
a rumor OF chemically treated beef be-
ing purchased for the army until the
generals testimony was given before
the commission.
''The allegations that unsuitable food,
not a part OF the legal ration. had been
furnished TO the army under pretense
of experiment and that refrigerated
beef. treated with poisonous chemicals,
had been and was supplied to our army
Of 275.00O men were indeed serious, i'm
plying. as they did. criminal incompe-
tence on the part Of the commissary
department. if not wilful negligence
and dishonesty.
Upon Commissary- General Charles
P. Eagan the charges fell with the sud
denness and sharpness OF a blow from
an assassin's knife out Of the dark.
General Eagan had been an officer Of
the regular army for thirty-six years.
He had risen from a second lieuten-
ancy to the highest rank in the commits
sary department to which his ambition
could aspire. Gallant and fearless on
the battlefelds Of the civil war and the
hostile Indian plains of the West. he
had a record for soldierly qualities Of
which any officer might well be proud.
With energy. honesty and zeal, he
had administered his department dur
ing the war with Spain. a fitting cli-
max to long and honorable career
in the service of his country"
General Alger pays a high tribute
to the energy and fidelity Of General
Eagan, saying he was almost prostrat-
ed from overwork. He adds:
''Then the charges Of General Miles,
made so publicly and so positively. and
the manner in which they were for the
first time made known seemed to Gen.
eral Eagan. in his nervous condition,
the more magnified and horrible. Up
on hearing them he pitifully exclaimed:
General Miles has crucifed me upon
cross Of falsehood and misrepresenta-
tion.'
General Eagan had already been ex-
amined by the war investigation COM
mission when Gen. Miles hearing oc-
CURED, but when the testimony of the
latter appeared in the newspapers,
General Eagan Immediately requested
a rehearing.
General Eagan read his reply to the
war investigation commission from a
carefully prepared typewriter manu-
script. Lashed to the quick by the al
legations contained in General Miles
testimony and his subsequent interview
which appeared on December % in a
New York paper. his Indignation ex-
ceeded the limits Of his control and in
his efforts to deny the charges made
his language became vituperative, ex-
travagant and highly improper.
Il believe that had General Eagan's
health not been seriously impaired by
overwork and anxiety, the two objec-
tlonable paragraphs of 300 words-out
of an aggregate of 1000 words contained
in his reply-would never have been
written or uttered Even yet, divested |
Of its offensive adjectives in the two |
paragraphs referred to. his reply to
General Miles remains unanswerable |
in its logic and incontroyertibIe in its
facts.
The allegation that had inspired or
had knowledge Of General Eagan's at
tack upon the statement Of General
Miles is absolutely untrue. He did not
make known to me the nature Of his
answer TO the charges. Had
General Eagan submitted his manu.
script TO me he would undoubtedly
At this writing still be In full possession
Of the rank and power Of the commits
sary-general Of the United States
army"
General Alger tells Of upbralding
General Eagan for his ill-timed utter
lnces and says:
Ills court martial was not the out