Omaha daily bee., 1907-04-23
FIGHT AGAINST MENINGITIS
State Board Of Health Taking Stringent
Measures to Stamp Out Disease.
SEVERAL or CASES HARD TO EXPLAIN
Number of Soldiers File Claims Under
Old Law for Service Rendered at
Outbreak of the Civil
War.
From a stafr CorresnondentN

DIES MONIES, April 2.-(SpeciaL)-An
examination and test by the state bacteria
logical laboratory at Iowa City has proven
that the cases at Ankeny, Ia, in this
county, are genuine infectious cerebral men
nights. One Of the three taken sick has
since been reported dead. The three chill
dren are in a farmers family and the State
Board of Health is at a loss to understand
how the disease could have been transmit
ted to them. A careful inquiry has been
made and 1t is learned that they have not
come in contact with any of the infected
persons from the southern part of the
state, to which district the disease was
brought from Missouri.
Every precaution is being taken by the
State Board of Health to stamp out the
disease. The cases at Ankeny have been
quarantined rigidly and the one child that
died has been buried without public fu-
neral, and every precaution has been taken.
The state board has been advised that the
schools at Centerville have been closed,
both on account of the spinal meningitis,
OF which there have been twenty cases re-
ported, and on account Of the measles as
WELL which has broken out there.
More Soldiers with Claims.
Three more members of the First Iowa
cavalry have been discovered who have not
received their pay for The few days serv-
ice intervening between the time they were
mustered in by the state and the time they
were accepted by the government. The
time was a little over a month, from June
10, 1861, to July 81 1851. The other day
John M Fife, who has been out Of the
state and who recently became an inmate
at the Soldiers Home at Marshalltown dis
covered, through a comrade of the same
regiment at the home. that the state had
passed a law in 1868 appropriatlng money
70 pay for the intervening time. His claim
has been allowed and this has led 20 the
discovery that there were others. DR. p
r. Crosswait cf Tacoma, Wash. who hap
pened to be in Des Moines, heard NJ It and
filed his claim, and two other soldiers Of
the regiment at the Marshantown home,
George Redtern and Daniel Austen, have
filed claims that seem to be good.
Tax Commission Anyway.
Senator Jackson OF Woodbury. county and
Representative Grier OF Poweshiek county
and other members OF the legislature have
met and formed an organization for the
purpose OF studying the question of taxa
ton. Jackson introduced a bill providing
for a tax commission. The senate defeated
the bill and now II is prouosed by num-
Der Of the legislators 10 do the work any
way in an unofficial manner and lay the
results before the next legislature
Greene Examines the Fruit.
Wesley Greene, secretary Of the State
Horticultural society began today 10 make
an investigation on the condition Of the
fruit and finds that from an examination
Of one orchard in Des Moines that the
cherries seem TO be the fruit most hurt
The examina ton was postponed TIL the
cold weather was al an end. From the eX-
animation today II was discovered that the
plstils are dead. which means that there
will be blossoms. but no fruit. EXamina-
lions will be made IN other parts OF the
state at once. Secretary Greene believes