Bisbee daily review., 1903-01-31
QUARANTINE LINE
While Raised Few Cattle Have Been
 Imported

Imported
 Cattlemen of this section are begin | ming to feel a little anxious about the se.estab ishing Of the quarantine linc which the government maintains againsl Mexican cattle. There has Leen some lear that the line wuu c not be drawn as tight as usual a. least in this southwestern district This quarantine line is fixed by the agricul- tural department. It definies the country infected with splene,ic or southern cattle fever
 Cattle have diseases the same as human beings and the agricultural de partment is just as watchful to keep them oul ci uniniected districts as 8 board oi health is to keep contagious diseases away from the human family Practically the same methods are adopted by both in accomp ishing the same end. This quarantine line is a part of the general scheme. It took cattle men years ito have this line es- tablishei but the department seeing
 that the benefits accrue to the major fly has maintained it strictly ever since
 The object of the quarantine is to
 keep this contagious splenetic fever
 from spreading into this country and
 injecting the immense herds or the northern plains and hillsides. The fever is not alike in all districts nor is 1t caused from the same things. There is Texas fever against which this quarantine is also maintained The fever in which the men of this section
 are most interested is that which comes from the lowlands and coast districts of Mexico. This fever comes from al accumu ation of ticks On the animal. l. is found mostly in warm moist countries. The disease spreads very fast ard is difficult 10 combat. To exclude cattle infected with these ticks is the object of the line in this section.
 An exchange says there has been
 some talk of removing the line in the southwestern district or at least ex- tending it farther south. The quaran- tine line as maintained at present in the southwest strikes the interna- tional boundary line at a point about 20 miles southeast of Fl Paso and follows it to the Colorado river, below
 Yuma, where it strikes north The cattle men on this side of the line ob- ject to having the line extended fur ther south. They argue that the gov ernment would then lose control of the line entirely and that the department would be unable to enforce the quar- antine. Naturally the American cat | tie men in Sonora are anxious to have the line moved south so as to let them inside. It is true Sonora being a high and cool country is not infected with | the ticks. However the cooperation of Mexico is necessary if the line is
 moved south of the international boun-
 dary.
 l It is charged by men south of the | line that II is not in the least effective | They declare that inspectors are brib- | ed to allow infected cattle to pass and that this works injustice to a great | many. The agricultural department has sent a special representation to l investigate the whole matter thor | oughly. Dr. A. D. Melvin of Wash ! ington, D. C., has been in this section | for the past few weeks looking over | the situation. The quarantine is rais- ! ed sixty days in each year. During ! that time all cattle are entered after i inspection. Naturally the quarantine | is raised in the middle of the winter ' season so that this climate would kill
 the disease should an infected animal | by chance escape an inspector. The sixty days al owed this year are about up. Comparatively few cattle men of
 Mexico have taken advantage Of the time and the cattle imports from that country have fallen this year far un-
 der those Of last. The quarantine is
 to go into effect again on February l unless the departm ent orders other wise. The cattlemen are anxious
 about this order