The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-09-26
LABORATORY ANIMALS KILLED VACCINE VIRUS Death of Two Children From Vaccination Precipitates Liti-
 gatiOn in St. Louis Interesting Testimony Offered in Court Room = Major BOudren Presents a Critical Discussion

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 there is at present a case of much in- | terest in the City of St. Louis. There | the Board of Education had enacted 1 a rule requiring vaccination as a con
 d1tlon precedent to the admission of | pupils to the public schools and, as a
 result of it's enforcement, in October | last year, four children died of lock- | jaw. Following these October deaths
 the city bacteriologist conducted an | examination of the virus used and re- ported that the only germs he was able to find were few SaprOphy-tlc bacteria. From the finding the Board l of Education continued the enforce | ment of the rule, with the result that defense movement was started, which resulted in the organization of | the nti-Compulsory Vaccination Lea que of Missouri, and many prominent business and professional men at once became identified with it. Shortly
 thereafter a MT. Martin reported that he had refused to permit his two chil- dren to be vaccinated and that, there fore. they had been expelled from the public school.
 The Counsel of the League, Loomis c. Johnson, thereupon brought a suit in mandamus, on behalf of MT. Mar tin, to compel the admission of the children, and associated with MT. L. c. Johnson in the case are also MT. J. D. Johnson, senior counsel. and MT. B. l.. Frankhauser, of Chicago. This eminent array of Counsel have decided to prosecute along entirely new lines and will allege: First that the practice of vaccination is wholly notifications as a preventive of small pOX, and that; therefore, the Boards rule is invalid: Second, that if this fact cannot be proven absolutely, yet so much doubt exists as to it's effec- tiveness, as does not justify incurring the risk of life and limb which is in- volved in the practice of vaccination, and that the Boards rule is there fore void, because of being an unjus- t1hable invasion on the part of the in- dividual; Third, that the rule is in- valid, because of lack of authority in the Board of Education, under it's charter powers, to enforce a rule of that kind; and, Fourth, that the rule is not valid on certain constitutional grounds.
 From this it will be seen that for the first time in the history of juris- prudence, the provaccinists will be compelled to support their claims by legal proof and in court of law.
 The firm of Counsel are now en- gagged in collecting statistics and talk ing testimony, not only in this coun- try but in Europe, and, not content with this, they are having made a ser- ies of meteorological tests of various these tests are now being received and are very interesting. One is a report that out of thirty specimens of virus (Mulford and Parke-Davis) twenty-two pathogenic organisms Several of which were pyogenic) have been segregated, the majority of which were fatal to guinea pigs. dogs and rabbits.
 The value of glycerine has also been tested and reports received show that the pus organisms seem to thrive on the very thing the manufacturers claim eliminates such organisms in from thirty to forty days.
 To give your readers some idea of the thoroughness of the counsel for MT. Martin in this case, and evident intention to make this case, deter mining one, once and for all, l insert herewith clipping from a recent is- sue Of the "St. Louis Post-Despatch," and practically the same account was given in the Chicago Inter-Ocean" and it should prove interesting read ing:
 Doctor, Testifying in Test Case in
 St. Iouisans Fighting Compulsory
 Vaccination of School Children, Says
 Poisoning or Meningitis May Be
 Caused.'
 Germs causing blood poisoning ab- scesses, spinal, cerebral meningitis and erysipelas, have been found by Dr. J. F. Biehn, former City Bac- GIIOlOSISI Ol OnlCdSO, III the vaccine virus commonly used as a preventive for smallpox. This was his testi- mony before Notary Public Chas. c. l Hutchinson in Chicago, in a suit to compel the Board of Education of St. | Louis to reinstate Helen and Harry | Martin, children of Jas. Martin, 331S | Minnesota Ave, in the public schools |
 The suit was inaugurated by the | League of St. Louis l The League was formed after two children had died, according to Cor oner's vefdicts, following vaccination. The Martin case was taken as a test l to have the question of com .}ulsory 1 vaccination threshed out in Court. The | League was represented by Attorneys | Loomis c. Johnson and E. I. Frank hauser, and the Board of Education | by it's Counsel. E. M. Grossman.
 Dr. Biehn's opinions were reinforce l ed by those of -Dr. J. Deason, Profes- sor of Bacteriology at the American School of Osteopathy, Kirksville, Mo-, who declared that out of AS animals l laboratory, 2S died. He declared that | he had succeeded in segregating 22 | species of germs from the virus and that of these 14 proved mortal to laboratory animals.
 At hearing of the case Friday in Chicago, Dr. Biehn testified that he found the germs known as streptoc- 1 occi and staphlococci in commercial vaccine VlruS. He was asked to what diseases these ferns may give rise in the human organism. To this question he replied:
 They may produce a localized in- fla mma mation in any of the tissues. these inflammations may be septicaemia, or blood poi soning, abscesses' at the site of inocu- lation, or inflammation of any of the serous membranes. We may have an Inflammation of the spinal or cere- bral meningitis
 And what disease is commonly known as that?' he was asked | Meningitis, either spinal or cerebral l not the epidemic form but that us- ually called streptococcus meningitiss'
 'Is that fatal to human beings?" Tt is. To the best of my recollection, the mortality is about "A per cent"
 .Is the disease known as erysipelas ever produced by these organisms ?" 'It is''
 Dr. Biehn in one of his published states that he found in with the virus bacteria which might cause fatal diseases. pr. Biehn admitted that the cause of smallpox and the active principle of the vaccine virus are unknown.
 What is the active principle of the viruS?' he was asked.
 Tt is not known" he replied.
 Has it ever been discoyered?"
 Not to my knowleedge."
 What is the active principle of