Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-01-29
No COMFY.
. al Advance.
lursday, Ian.29. 1895.


-nsndnsDt to The pleuFo- pnsu-
rs IL Law which has just passed the
uensxal Assembly is TO be allowed 70
stsnd, tnose who have taken an interest
in The formidable work Of stamping ont
the disease In this section feel that they
might just As we'll give up, fold their
arms and Let the dairy business OF New
Castle county 60 TO perdltion by The
speedisst route.
Wspublish the provisions Of this Emstd
ment elsewhere. Incredible As 1t may seem,
'it RESTRICTS the state'A expenditure for
the employment Of . capable veterinary
surgeon, the fees Of the assessors |
appointed TO value condemned stock and |
the necessary incidental outlays growing
out Of their work 10 the beggArly sum Of
$500
Do our Legislators know what they are
doing Have they any idea OF the ire.
mendous importance OF stamping out this
disease while 1t Ia possible to do 80 : DO
they know that the country around VIII
mington IL saturated with It that no
man's cow or herd Of COWS in the State ia
safe 30 long a. . faint Of this appalling
Boourge remains on our soil Do they
know that this plague in . few months
wiped out the entire cattle trade Of South
Africa and turned the pastures Of that
region into commons or, a. best, into dis
sricts over which only sheep could grazsf
Do they know that other communities
have poured out money by the thousands
and millions Of dollars TO rid themselves
Of this infection
Turn to the report Of the Pennsylvania
State Board Of Agriculture for 1858 and
read such passage as this:
Australia was infected in 1850 by an i'm.
ported short-ho COW. This COW had had
slght attack (ln Engiand) some two years
previously, OF which she was declared, IT the
time to be perfectly cured. Two other cows,
imported at the same time, were subsequently
taken sick, and, in the course Of q year, the
proprietor lost Il head Of cattle. The neigh.
boring owners Of herds then recognized Inc
danger, and, by subscription, bought and
slaughtered the entire herd, but too late. A
pasture OF the infected herd, and his return
trip inland was afterwards marked by the
spreading infection. In 1878, one million
four hundred and four thousand and ninety
seven-or 40 per cent Of the cattle of the
island persisted, amounting at $50 per head
to total value of s4S,5OO,OUO.
Or this:
South Africa was infected in 1854 by
means Of bull imported from Holland to
Cape Town for breeding purposes. This
animal had been two months at sea and six
weeks at Cape Town before ne was noticed to
be amiss. The desire to avail Of the coveted
Dutch blood sufficed to insure wide diffusion
of the infection before the bull sckened and
died. The colonists, too ignorant at first OF
the terrible peril which threatened them, Ok
no pains to destroy or segregate the animals
which had run the risk Of infection, aud be
fore they became alive TO their danger the
plague had spread beyond all human control
The result was speedy on account OF the
peculiar nature Of the country and Its inland
trade. Being unfenced South Africa pre-.
sents on q still larger scale method like that
which has been followed in Texas and our
western states and territories, Of herds
branded with their owners marks, running
free from year to year, and subject to no con.
troll except at the yearly 'round-ups."
And the report goes o. TO stats hoE
the disease has "killed hundreds and
thousands Of cattle" and that the in
habitants shave given up all idea 0
trazing cattle and are now turning thsi
estsntion to sheep, for the disease is 8,
"idely spread that they have no hog,
t1At II will ever BE- exterminated. ="
The report does not give any Agures o
rinnsylvaniA's expenditures but state
lat It cost Massachusetts Is years' lSbo
d over s77 900 in cash to get rid OF tn
sease.
with our present knowlsdg of tn
'n1g plague" writes Prof Huidekoper
y it'll the instructive and costly expe
noe OF other countries, and with ou
'reAsing and fatal danger in the Units'
les to-day, there seems to be but on
=" alton Of the problem, and but one dut,
any Of us TO aeoept-thAt ia, to srAdi
the disease from its very source, a
expense" Treatment, he says, Their
'aotioAlly more. 7 he total DETERMINATION
sick cattle aud Of those which hav
contaminated or have run the risI
illumination 10 the only method tina
w relied on.
mpetent veterinary surgeons SO,
- unless this wholesale policy @
ihtering every animal tina! can pos
have been exposed to Injection /
I'd here, we cannot expect with tn
! quarantine regulations to rid 90
II this disease for year or two a
At the present time 1t Is spread
'sry day aud it will require tn
Atchtul and unren lifting csre an,
i'n TO hunt up the animals whicl
sve contracted the infection aud II
i may be developing Tor weeks o
TO come.
,ng entirely out Of considera.ioi
LEGATIONS to our neighbors, to
7 Delaware cannot, in visw of he
ss ;erests alone, afford to be so uiS
this matter. By the census {
ie live stock Of Delaware wa
sted As follows;