The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-06
TELLS HOW FLANDERS IS
 BEING FOUGHT

For the first time since the recent charges were brought aganSti his of flee in connection with the suppression of glanders in the state by Dr. F. C.. Atwood of New Haven, on which he was exonerated by the governor, Gen. eral Heman O. Averill, state commits sioner of domestic animals, recently discussed the question of glanderS publicly. The discussion was in an address before the state sanitary conference held in the Capital city. The subject assigned to Commissioner AveriH was "Co-operation in the Sup preSsion of Glanders and Rabies" His address was a defense of his action and an outline of the work of his of flee.
 In his address Commissioner Averill said in part:
 only a few suspicious cases of glan- ders are reported by the owners them selves. It is, therefore, very apparent that the efficiency and success of the commission in the work of suppressing and exterminating glanders in the state depends very largely on the in- fOrma tiOn received from the health of ficers, veterinarians, liverymen and others who have Knowledge of Or req son to suspect the existence of the disease in their own immediate local ity. It is their moral as well as le- gal duty to immediately notify the commissioner and their failure to do so renders them liable to penalty under the law, and every person who so reports in good faith may do so with a full assurance that the source of information will not be divulged by the commissioner. If such persons do not know of the suspected exist ence of the disease in their neigh borhood, it is too much to expect that the commissioner can have such knowledge in every community in the whole state.
 1T recognize that it lis optional with the health officer whether he quaran- that it will be done so that the ami mai may be surely and readily found by the inspector.
 Every suspicious case Of the dis ease that comes to the knowledge of the commissioner that is not known to be under the care of a veterinarian by the voluntary act of the owner, is immediately placed in the hands of skilled graduate veterinarian to ex- anime, and all animals found by him to exhibit physical symptoms of glan- ders or farcy are condemned and de- stroyed with the owners consent, and written and printed directions left with the owner or keeper When the owner does, not accept the diagnosis of the inspector and refuses to give his consent to have the animal kill ed. such animal is immediately quar- antined.
 Our law does not recognize any sci entifc methods for diagnosing glan- ders, but since the Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture about year ago pro- nOunced the complement hXatiOn text as very reliable and trustworthy, my inspectors have drawn many samples of blood of suspected cases and sub- mitted them to authorized authorities for examination by this test.
 Public hitching posts, watering troughs, blacksmith shops, feed box es, where drivers for small sum may ably the most frequent recipients of the germs of glanders.
 ''It appears to me that the work of stamping out the disease would be greatly expedited if the authorities in the several states were given suffi- cient authority and money so that they. could say to the owners of anil mals that the most approved test had shown to be diseased: Let us kill those horses immediately and we will pay you a certain percentage, say one half to two- thirds of their apparent value to assist you in replacing them at once If you do not accept this offer we will mark or brand them and order them to be kept, at your eX- pense, under certain restrictions laid down by us till such time as We are aetssfiea that the disease exists or uoes not exist.'