The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-03-14
The Cattle Scourre.

The Cattle Scourge.
Last Tuesday in company with com
missioner McCarley, J. NJ. Smyth ant
G. K. Wareham, we went to Neosh
Falls to attend the meeting of stool
men called to consider what measure
had better be taken for the eradication
of the foot and mouth disease that .ha
made its appearance among the cattl
of Coffey and Woodson counties. w,
went there strongly under the impress
sion that the cattle interests wer,
more scared than hurt, and that an ex
ira session of the legislature wonld bt
a useless and uncalled for waste o
money aud time. We came
away fully convinced that the magni
tude and far-reaching effect of the
SOURCE had not been realized and thai
an extra session of the legislature is an
Imperative necessity, and would prove
in the long run to- be the most econom
ical measure that could be taken.
The meeting was a very large and
representative one. Fifteen counties
were represented and there must have
been at least 200 men present. The
Governor was there accompanied by
Treasurer Home, Major Sims, Secre-
tary of the State Board of Agriculture
and by representatives of the
Topeka Commonwealth and Capital,
the Kansas City Journal and
the Chicago Tribune. Representatives
of the Emporia, Burlington and Leroy
papers were also present. State Sena-
tors, Judge Thacher, Kelley and FINCH
were there and in short the meeting
was made up of the most able and in
fluential men of the State. The meet
ing was called to order by Lieutenant
GovernorFinney who briefly stated the
origin and progress of the scourge 1t
broke out first about Christmas among
some calves owned by Mr.. Keith, five
miles north of Neosho Falls. Shortly
after that it made its appearance i'm the
herds of Messrs. Beard and Goodrich,
in the same vicinity. The real nature
of the disease was not known until last
week, when veterinary surgeons were
sent for and pronounced it the foot and
mouth disease. On Monday of this
week. the surgeons visited the herd of
Mr.. Pribbenow, on Owl creek, about
u miles south of Neosho Falls and
found eight animals of his herd infect
ed with the same disease. This is
the extent of the disease in our imme-
diate neighborhood. Some time after
the meeting had been called to order,
representatives from Lyon county ar
rived who stated that the disease had
also made its appearance in that coun-
ty on the farm of Mr.. O'Toole. Mr..
O'Toole had made large sale Of stock
after the disease had broken out, but
before its true nature was known, and
there is every possibility therefore that
the scourge may become wide spread.
As gathered from the report of the sur
geons the symptoms of the disease are
as follows: The animal stands with
back arched and head down. Shows
feverish condition by hunting cool
places to lie down. Becomes lame
usually i'm the hind feet first. Ulcers
appear about the hoof and the foot
gradually sloughs off by modification.
Ulcers appear also in the mouth
and the animal sometimes foams at
the mouth. The disease requires from
"a hours to four days to develope. I'll
is sometimes confined to the mouth
when it is of short duration. When i'm
the foot the animal may lose only one
toe, or it may lose all four feet
Animals seldom die of the disease,
but are of course made worthless for
market. OF all those infected near
Neosho Falls but one has died. The
disease is as contagf6us as virulent
smallpox, and is also communicated
TO sheep, hogs, dogs and rabbits.
Horses do not take it Fat cattle take
it but young cattle and cattle in Door
condition are more liable to it. The
surgeons are all agreed that the only eff |
nj n, OF q hx,I 3
to kill and bury or burn all the cattle |
that have been exposed and to burn |
over the ground they have been on,
the rails and trees they have rubbed |
against and every thing they touched. |
Until that could be done, the strictest |
quarantine was necessary. The COM
missioners of Allen, Anderson, Wood
son and Coffey counties presented a
resolution to the meeting in which they
pledged their counties to pay $500 each,
or SO much thereof as was necessary, to
maintain quarantine in the infest-
ed district. The following COM ittee
On resolutions was then appointed:
Usage county, Senator Finch; Lyon,
Col. Taylor; Greenwood, William
Anderson, w. w. Wilson:
Chase, S Jones; Coffey, VIM. Crotty
w oodson, w. II SiavenS; Shawnee, In
Maj VIM. Sims Leavenworth, J. Z.
Fenlon; Jefferson, VIM. Booth; Elk,
Eli Titus; Allen, A. J.. McCarley
Douglas, Judge Thacher; Marion, s. i
{. Howe. They reported resolutions,
ndorsing the action of the county
and after stating the /
xtent and nature of the disease, pro. 4
eded as follows: a
WHEREAS, There is no power now
xisting osuppress said disease; and
WHEREAS, Such spread of the dis
ase would produce incalculable loss to a.
he state, prevent the sale and export m
stock, depreciate the value of real
state, and result in quarantine bv C.
ther states against Kansas cattle: W
therefore,, be it
RESOLVED, That we ask the governor m
The state to convene the legislature
hereof in special session 10 pass laws 70
1 the subject, and none Others, where Il,
7 SUCH irreparable mischief may be On
1oided. OF