Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-09-09
UNFIT BEEF SALE
CHARGE REEUTED
Federal Trade Commission Rec
ords Show Wilson & Co. Were
Exonerated After Long Probe
BOUGHT FOR SERVICE MEN

Federal trade commission records re-
fute charges that Wilson & Co., Chi
cago packers, sold unfit beef to the gov
ernment for consumption by service
men.
Not only was the packing firm exon
Grated but letter which led recently
to a revival of the charge was branded
as mere hearsay and was not, admitted
TO the commissions records.
Although the incidents involved oc-
Cured early last year, public attention
se.was focused on the matter recently
through publication of letter written
Z by T. G. Lee, district superintendent
here for Armour & Co., to his superiors
in Chicago.
In that letter, dated February 25,
1918, Mr.. Lee spoke of "bad condition
/, beef held by his company in this city,
part Of which was bought by Wilson &
Co. and shipped to New York for frcez-
ing.
The district superintendent concluded
his letter with this comment:
'1 certainly do not think beef in
the condition they are buying ought to
be exported or offered to our armies"
Absolved Of Charge
From that letter arose, charge
against Wilson & Co. that the firm had
offered meat unfit for human con
sumption" to the Pelham Bay Naval
Training Station and to the steamships
Ceramic and Samland.
After exhaustive hearings by the fed
eral trade commission, Wilson & Co
was absolved of the charge that the beef
was unfit for consumption. Discussing
the beef sold the naval training station
the commissions s findings, announced
October II, 1918, are:-
This meat, in part, was purchased
from Armour & Co.'S branch house al
Philadelphia. 1t appears that out .oi
6311 pounds offered to the Pelham Bay
station on April 20, 1918, 5506 pound:
were accepted and SO5 pounds were re
jected.
"The evidence shows that the re
iected meat thus offered for sale to thu
navy did not fulfill the navy's speciica
tions, but it Is not conclusively showl
that it was actually unfit for human
consumption. On this showing the com
mission finds for the respondent"
At hearing before the federal trad
commission, June IS, 1918, Mr.. Le'
was questioned by counsel for Wilson
& Co., es to what he meant in his ref
erence to bad condition beef"
The witness was positive in his dec
laration he did not mean beef unfit fo
human consumption.
At later hearing Mr.. Lee declaret
his belief that the beef bought by vii
son & Co., was good enough to be sol
to anybody but the army or navy. Hi
reason for making exceptions of th
army and navy, he said, was that tn
government called for freshly froze
beef for the service men.
Termed "Choice Beef
Mr.. Lee further testified that mea
in that conditions would be terme,
choice beef" for the Waldorf -Astori
Hotel in New York, but that it coul
not be sold to the navy because of tn
navy specifications.
Freshly frozen beef, he explained, j
meat taken from the killing room int
the refrigerator room and frozen solid
whereas the meat in question wa
slaughtered in Sioux City, placed il
refrigerator cars with temperature o
80 to As degrees, transported to Phila
delphia and from there to New York
before freezing solid.
Numerous witnesses, including nav
commissary steward, testified the re
jected beef was fit for human consump
tlon. Reasons given for the rejectio
Of the FIVE quarters of beef were tina
:. they were moist and not properly GOV
cred.