The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-12-15
OYSTERS NOT GUILTY.
Proof That Some Statements Made Against
 Them Are False

OYSTERS SOr GUILTY. Proof That some Statements Made Against
 Them Are False
 To tho Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER: The signed and sworn statements which appear below prove that the re- ports concerning many of the cases Of typhoid fever. which have been at. tributed to eating oysters. are merely the results of the imagination of cer- tain sensational and excitabie people. On December q meeting of the oyster growers and dealers was held at the office of c. D. Parmeiee and com mittee was appointed to ascertain whether the sensational statements which have appeared in some of the newspapers. causing the typhoid fever scare, were true. At another meeting held at the office of II. c. Rowe & Co. on December IS. the committee made a report on as many cases as they have had time to Investigate, and 1t shows clearly that the imaginations of many people has run wild on this subject. Some of the people who are living here are descendants of those who believed in witchcraft l50 years ago, and they are just as imaginative.
 Here follows a portion of the report of the committed:
 New Haven, Dec. II, 1894. Mrs G. H. Simmons. Dear Madam Is the statement attributed to Dr. Leighton in a recent newspaper, that Miss Simmons. your daughter con- tracted typhoid fever by eating New Haven oysters, true? That and simi- lar reports have been a serious injury to the oyster business all over the United States. The means of livelihood of hundreds of persons is impaired or taken away by the publication of this and other statements of similar char acter.
 The undersigned, a committee ap- pointed by the oyster growers and dealers, are desirous of ascertaining the truth concerning these rumors. Any facts you can give us bearing on the case will be thankfully received.
 Respectfully yours,
 (Signed) HENRY c. ROWE,
 DWIGHT CHAPMAN,
 LEVI S. ROWE.
 Committee. 129 Howe street, New Haven, Dec. 13,
 1894.
 Gentlemen-In reply to your inquiry I would state that my daughter has not eaten any Fair Haven or New Haven oysters for several months. tThe only oysters she has eaten came direct from Chincoteague, 150 miles distant, and were eaten not only by my daugh- ter, but by my son and myself at the same time; neither my son nor myself have been i'll.
 We do not, and have not at any time, believed that the oysters caused my daughters illness. Dr. Leighton jest ingly suggested it at first, and has stated later that all he has said about it was in joke. (Signed)
 MRS. G. H. SIMMONS. The above statement is true.
 (Signed)
 KATHERINE SIMMONS, (patient)
 MISS I. CHAFFEE, (nurse) Before making this inquiry of Mrs. Simmons, your committee inquired of Dr. Leighton where the oysters came from, but he did not inform us. Jokes which take the bread out of the mouths of hundreds of working people, and im- pair great industry, cease to be amusing.
 With reference to the cases of those cured the typhoid fever by partaking ,4l of H. M. Kochersperger, Esq, your committee learn that there is no proof that the oysters caused the fever. Out of the twenty-one persons pres ent at the banquet, we are informed that nineteen partook of the raw oysters, but only six have had the ty- phoid fever. Many other persons ate some of the same lot of oysters without any. unfavorable effects. But we learn that the oysters which were used at this banquet were not Fair Haven or New Haven oysters at all, but came from New York, and we herewith sub init sworn statements proving this to be the case.
 New Haven, Dec. 12, 1894. This is to certify that I, D. B. Brown, Ou OCIOUeI IIiu u, loJf, DOuSICL oysters in New York, which were represented to me to be genuine Blue Point oysters, and to my best knowledge and belief they were.
 On October 22, J. w. Stewart, the caterer, did order from me no Blue Point oysters on the half shell, and directed William H. Bassett, an employe to get some of these oysters for the saidJ. w. Stewart, and I, D. B. Brown, and the said William H. Bassett did open the 11O oysters on the half shell, and while doing so ate plentifully of the said oysters and experienced no ill results thereafter. (Signed)
 r D. B. BROWN. New Haven, Dec. IA, 1894. D. c. Strong & Co.,, Boat No. 2, Fulton Market, N. Y.: Please telegraph immediately if those oysters represented to be Blue Points, sold October and-17. were genuine Blue Points. Answer at my expense.
 D. B. BROWN.
 New York, Dec. IA, 1894. D. B. Brown, New Haven:
 Oysters were as represented strictly Rl1e Points .s.