Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1903-11-17
AS TO RABIES.


spherical in shape was vigorously COM
batted. At the time of organizing this
republic it was asserted that republics
could not live. In our own late day an
Appleton physician has contended that
eontagion of small pox is fallacy and
others have stubbornly maintained that
hydrophobia and rabies are the silliest
kind of ''bosh' and symbolical of idiocy
Scientific research, however, has proven
that there is hydrophobia, and that
those who contest the claim and say
that there is not, are as badly mistaken
as the old fossils who thought the earth
was a flat plane. A visit, by anyone, to
the Pasteur institute in Chicago, we
think, would be convincing proof of
this.
During the past summer there has
been more or less mad dog scare in
nearly every community in the state,
amounting in some places almost To a
stste OF terror, and in the latter the dog
family has been nearly exterminated
Wausau and communities of Marathon
county also had their share The death
of Anna Haeffner, near Mosinee, made
deep impression on the people Tho
death OF this young girl, while it is sadly
and deeply implored, was of some good
and she did not die in vain. Sceptical
people-people who had hitherto
laughed ut the methods adopted To pre-
Vent dogs from running at large-were
forced to believe that there was some
thing more than talk about the dangers
of dog bites. The city council-thanks
to it-saw the danger, and passed the
most stringent and effective dog ord-
nance ever made law by our local
legislative body Some ridiculed the
n s.,
it. Others of the narrow minded stripe
held their bitterness TO the end. They
cursed the council and not satisfied with
that, vented their spite by calling the
dog catcher all the names to be found
in The lexicon of the profane and OBJ
scene and heaping upon him all the in
yeciive at their command. The Office
of dog catcher was created by the coun-
ell and had to be filled. The one ac-
cepting it was sworn to do his duty and
if he had not, would have been retired
and another more capable been Sc
| lected What would these same kick
| ers'' say of policeman standing idly
by and watching the robbery or muir
| der of one of our citizens upon the
streets and not raise his hand to pre-
vent it, or of the fire department shirk-
ing its duty and not attending fire
when the destruction of the city was
threatened
Logic is word that covers many
points, but placed in the hands of some,
loses its meaning
That the effective working of this dog
ordinance resulted in keeping the pub
lie mind at ease SO far as stopping dogs
from running at large through the
heated months-when danger from
rabies is greatest--cannot be denied.
Neither can il be denied that by the
'arousal of people TO the fact that such
danger would exist under other condi-
tons resulted in people observing the
actions of their CANNES, and if there is
one case on record there is fifty where
policemen or the dog officer have been
called in by citizens to shoot dogs that
were acting strangely, and when these
dogs were killed il was found ii at their
tongues were black and the symptoms
had every element OF rabies. There
have been many cases of rabies through
out the county-much more than is gen
orally known. The results of poison
injected from the bite OF rabid dog
the average person has little conception
of. AS an illustration we will relate q
case not far from the city:
In the early part OF last June a
strange dog, in passing farmer S
house, stopped and bit one of his pigs
The farmer shot the dog, and upon
advice of another person, also killed
the pig, and placing it upon pile oil
logs, which he sci on fire, burned H.
Next day he went down to where he
had cremated the hog to ascertain il
incarceration had been complete. He
was the possessar of two dogs and one
of these accompanied him. The dog
ran ahead and reached the pile of ashes
first, and when the man got there he
found the dog eating piece OF liver OF
lung that it had dug out of the ashes-a
portion that was left of the pig. About
Sept. Goth the dog began to act strangely
and ran away from home. 1t came in
to town and because OF lis strange
actions was killed by a policeman. The
other dog, though not showing signs Of
rabies, was killed by its owner next day
just previous TO leaving home the dog
had been playing with litter of kittens
tossing them up and throwing them tC
one side. An examination showed thai
the kittens were covered with a salivary
secretion or froth from the dog's
mouth On October 9Th one of the kit
tens developed symptoms of rabies ant
died on the 9th. The mother and othel
kittens were then killed. A well known
physician of this city secured the kitter
that had died and shipped it to DR. II
L. Russell, director of the Wisconsin
HYGIENE Laboratory at Madison, who
extracting some of the medulla from
the kitten, injected it into rabbit
The period of innoculation was eighteen
days, at which time the rabbit died witt
highly developed symptoms of rabies.
Another instance is given in the fol
/ lou inn al lnO
Grand Rapids Reporter:
Joe Rdepke, farmer who lives
near the Catholic church in the town
Of Sigel, died from the effects Of hydro
phobia yesterday morning at 5 O'Clock
Roepke became sick Thursday but
nothing was thought of the matter
until Sunday when his condition was
such that Dr. Frank Pomainville was
called. For owes week Roepke hac
felt tickling sensation in his hand
Then a blister appeared on one of his
fingers Sunday the whole hand and
arm became partially paralyzed
Roepke called for water from time tc
time Sunday. When this was given
him he began to rage and jump about
IN his bed He was able to swallow
bread however. He had spasms of res
piration and had froth about his mouth
and nose He died in much agony
The history leading up to the death OF
Roepke is very peculiar Three months
ago seven or eight of Roepkes cattle
were attacked by a mad dog. Some oi
the cattle died and Others were
butchered and the meat used by the
family. Raw meat was fed to the
chickens and pigs with the result thaI
they all died As Roepke had number
of sores on his hands it is believed thai
his system was poisoned by handling
raw meat"
Formerly it was common supposi
ton that dogs would only go mad dur
ing dog days, or rather the hot months
and that with the passing of the heated
period the danger of rabies was elimin-
ated This theory, however, it now ap