The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1904-04-29
NO HYDROPHIA.
A Man. In Dog Business for Forty
Years, Willing to Let Mad
Dog Bite Him.

Sun, describes himself thus:
The oldest spaniel breeder in
America and never bred a crooked leg
or light eye. He adds. "i"u can't
teach your granny to suck eggSF'
He has been in the dog business for
more than forty years.
These things are here noted to
show that if Mr.. Fellows--or rather,
Uncle Dick, 70 call him by the name
bv which he is best known-dcclareS
that there is no such thing as ny
drophobia, he has had AZ least an op-
portunity OF studying the question.
And he does make the assertion.
Uncle Dick believes the dog is
much abused and misunderstood. He
will not be convinced that there Is
such a disease as hydrophobia and
challenges the medical fraternity to
produce such case He goes fur
ther and expresses his willingness to
allow any dog that is supposed to
have hydrophobia to bite him: and all
he asks in return is that his expenses
shall be paid until the wound heals.
He declares that hydrophobla is
all imagination and the invention OF
physicians and specialists to secure
practice. As he put it. 1T is graft.
Il have handled twenty thousand
dogs a year, have been bitten hun
dreds of times, and care no more for
a dog bite than scratch OF pin,' he
said to the Sun correspondent. Foot
ish and unreasonable periodical
scares have prevailed ever since pub
lie attention was drawn to Pasteur
and his crank followers twenty years
ago.
This has had a bad effect on the
public mind. magnifying the danger
of very rare disease, which is so
Slight that it does not deserve public
notice. Many other diseases, such as
1eanus, epilepsy. mania. cerebro-
spinal .eningitiS, have been mistaken
ior hydrophobia. Similar symptoms
have been induced i'll some cases by
intestinal worms. morbid growths and
other disturbing causes.
Il know. OF course. that dog with
colic or earache or toothache, or
worms. or epileptic fits is always
called mad dog, A callow reporter
sees CT hears of the case and under a
scare heading he manages to do lot
of harm, but you may rest assured
that there never was genuine case
OF rabies in America.
Some years ago the American Ken
mel club had a committee appointed
to investigate hydrophobla, and they
reported just as | say. Whenever |
hear of any city with :, lot OF mad
dogs I offer to let the worst speci-
men they can procure bite me, just
to prove that the dog : not mad.
None has as yet accepted my offer.
The health department iii some
cities keeps lot OF guinea pigs. as
the say, for the purpose OF finding Out
whether dog dies OF rabies or not.
If dog bites person the dog IS
killed and portion OF the brain IS
extracted. This is injected into the
body OF a guinea pig.
"Of course. the pig dies suffering IN
tense agony. and the person who was
BIT ;s sert to the PaSteur Institution
for treatment. Would not the bis
ter and force pump treatment be bet
ter and cheaper? 1t is my invention
and | give any city or persons pei
mission to use it.
Il think the so, .ety for the Preven-
ton OF Cruelty to Animals should
prosecute every health department
that practices such acts Of cruelty on
guinea pigs.
LET me tell you OF case that
shows how people who have been
bitten by dog act and how easily
they are cured. We will call him Mr..
H., for that is his correct initial.
He is a man who weighs 22o
pounds and is 6 feet ? inchess tall, a