Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-01-03

contain an article on Food of the
Army During the Spanish War by
Former Secretary of War Russell A.
Alger. In the article Alger defends
Commissary General Chas. P. Egan
and roundly scores Major General Mel
son A. Miles, and styles the latter's &C
ton and charges concerning canned
beef as inexcusable and unsoldierly.
The former secretary says that Gen.
Egan was retired not as the outcome
of Gen. Miles charges but as the re-
suit of Incorporate and unmilitary
language.
The secretary continues: THE al
legations that unsuitable food, not a
part of the legal ration, had been fur
nished to the army under the pretense
of an experiment and that refrigerated
beef, prepared with poisonous chemi-
Gals, was being supplied to our army
of 275,00G men, were indeed serious,
implying, as they did, criminal incom-
petence on the part of the commissary
department, if not willful negligence
and dishonesty. Upon Commissary
General Egan these charges fell with
| the suddenness and sharpness of a
blow from an assassin's knife out of
| the dark.
No other supply bureau of the army
| had eXcelled the cOmmissary depart
ment in promptness, efficiency and
| successful administration during the
war. Indeed, Gen. Egan's zeal and
| anxiety for the soldiers in camp and
field was so great that his efforts in
their behalf, during the long, weary
days and nights of the hot summer,
nearly resulted in his prostration from
| over-work. He 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,
Gen. Egan Immediately requested a
rehearing. Lashed to the quick by
the allegations contained in Miles
testimony and in the subsequent in
tervieW which appeared in New York
newspapers, his indignation exceeded
the limits of his self-control and ID his
efforts to deny the charges made, his
| language became vituperative, eXtrav-
agant and highly improper.
Gen. Miles should have known that
neither the secretary of war nor the
commissary general could legally alter
or add to the ration of the army.
The ration is fixed by law and its
components can be changed only by
the president of the United States. If
Gen. Miles did not know that canned
fresh beef was part of the army ra
ton, then he displayed ignorance in
an important matter of his profession
that is to say the least most remark
able If he did know canned fresh
beef was a recognized part of the ra
ton, then his allegation to the con
trary was so much more reprehensible
THE allegations of Miles that canned
fresh beef was not part of the army
ration and that it was issued as the
Ipretense Of an experiment, were not
only contrary to fact, but were made
absolutely without a particle of evil
Idence or of excuse. Fresh canned
beef was preferred over corned
canned beet because of the fact that
the salt in the latter produced thirst,
a decided objection in a tropical coun-
try, but the timed beef should have
been used only when cooked with vege-
tables and properly seasoned. In this
statement lies the secret of the course
of the complaint about canned fresh
beef. The only fault found with the
ration was that it was unpalatable
when served without additional cook
ing and without vegetables and condi-
mentS.
| After these charges were made by
Miles, the most expert and scientific
men in the country were therefore en-
| ployed by the government to further
the investigation-such physiological
chemists as Prof. R. H. Chittenden of
/ Yale, Prof. w. o. Atwater of Wesleyan
| university as well as DR.. w. D. Bige-
low, chemist in the bureau of animal
| husbandry in the department of agri-
culture. What did this
tribunal find? That there was no
louhudIlOu lOI tuc Charge LudL Cduucu
fresh beef was not part of the ration
or that it had been furnished as the
pretense of an experiment, or that it
was pulp from beef.
Astounding as this statement may
seem Miles did not base his allega-
lions upon personal experience or sub
NIT any proof in support of them. His
startling and scandalous accusations
appear to have been based entirely up
on the verbal statements of DR.. w. H. |
DAILY, volunteer major and a surgeon /
upon his staff during the war with |
Spain, and upon a single letter subse- |
quently sent him by this volunteer" !
In conclusion, the ex-secretray says: |
The army had won it's battles in |
Cuba and the Philippines; Porto Rico |
had peacefully come into our hands,
after few skirmishes, the protocol |
had been in operation for over four
months, even the treaty of peace had
been signed at Paris. Then comes the
major general commanding the army
of the United States, with his charges
While the allegations of Miles were
not based upon fact, they were conclu-
sively disproven by two separate tri-
bunals, unimpeachable in their compo-