The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-03-03
Cattle Owners Place Blame of
Tuberculosis Scare.
Say 1t Is Done to Prejudice
Small Packers.
HURTING THE COMBINE
Farmers and Others Are Selling
Much Meat.
Supt. Biddle Makes Statement
About Asylum Herd.

Some of the cattle owners in the
country assert that the tuberculosis agi-
tation is being fostered by the friends
of the big packing houses. who want
to create a prejudice in the public mind
against the small Independent packing
houses which do not employ a govern
ment inspector.
There has recently been quite a boom
in the Independent slaughter house bus
mess in the vicinity of Topeka. Three
or four small concerns have started up
in business, and besides this a great
many farmers kill beef or a hog now
and then and bring it to town for mar
ket. All these animals killed by private
concerns have to be inspected by the
city food inspector before being Of
fered for sale, but the food inspector
very often does not see the meat until
it is ready for market. It is claimed
that unless the animal is inspected when
slaughtered.its condition as to tubercu-
losis cannot be determined.
The meat trust" on the other hand,
has government inspector on hand at
each of its packing houses, who keeps
close guard on all animals slaughtered.
If the big packing houses can convince
people that it is not safe to eat any
thing except government inspected meat,
the result will be the destruction of the
business of the independent packing
houses.
There is no doubt that the business of
the big packing houses has suffered Sc
verely during the winter because of the
large quantities of independent meat
which has been put on the market. 1t
has cut down their sales by thousands
of pounds a week, and they are anxious
| to do anything within their power to
create a prejudice against the indepen-
| dent product.
There seems to be some doubt as to
whether there is danger of tuberculosis
infection among human beings from boz
vine tuberculosis. Some of the most
sibility of infection, but at the same
| time, most people don't care to take any
risk. 1t is safer to have the meat care
fully inspected and if there is sufficient
demand, the city may have to amend it's
meat inspection laws to meet the con-
ditiOnS.
Superintendent Biddle of the State In
sane asylum, whose herd of dairy cat
| tie at the asylum has been placed on
the BLACKLIST for tuberculosis by the
Wolff Packing company, asserts en-
phatically that there is no tuberculo-
sis in the asylum herd. He said today:
About year ago, we slaughtered a
| COW at the asylum, and found that it
had tuberculosis. This alarmed me con-
siderably, and L sent for DR.. Mayo, the
state veterinarian, and asked him to
inspect our herd. DR.. Mayo injected
| the tuberculosis serum into each ami
NAL, and the theory is that if the ami
| NAL has tuberculosis, it will respond to
| this injection by a high fever. Well.
| 20 of the animals had the fever, and
we at once sold them to Wolff, with
/ the understanding that they should
/ pass the government inspection after
| slaughter. OF those 20, 10 were found
| to be free from tuberculosis, and the
| twentieth was condemned for some
other reason. This showed very clearly
to my mind that the supposed test for
tuberculosis is no good. It does not
prove anything.
'Since then we have kept close watch
on the herd, but have found no indica-
| tions whatever of tuberculosis. 1 do
not believe that any exists there, but
the Wolff Packing house people do not
seem to agree with us. 1 think it was
rather an unkind thing for them to
put the ban on our herd, because it
leads people throughout the state to
believe that we are giving our patients
impure milk. AS a matter of fact our
milk from the so cattle in our herd is
just as pure as possible"
tuberculosis is a disease which is
supposed to be contagious among cat
tie. The transmission of such conta-
4 gion to human beings is an unsettled
question. CattIemen have found that
dairy cattle, and other cattle which are
| kept carefully housed and highly fed
are more likely to have consumption,
or tuberculosis than cattle which are
allowed to run in the open fields and
| rough it,
The indirect fight which the big