The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1912-01-11
INSPECTORS KILL 225 FOWLS.
Only Means of Support of Family.
Fowls Said to Be Infected.


duced below, being taken from a
Boise Udaho) newspaper. The ar
ticle is as follows:
With woman and her three chill
dren in the house crying as if their
hearts would break as every crack
of the rife told them that the State
health department was taking away
from them one of their best means
of scanty livelihood, James B. Wal
lis, deputy sanitary inspector, and
DR.. J. H. Weber, State veterinarian,
yesterday killed a flock of 225 chick
ems, guinea hens and turkeys at the
home of T. j. McCorkle, near Me-
ridian, every one of the fowls being
declared by officers as thoroughly in
fected with tuberculosis in it's most
advanced form.
Into a home already making des-
perate struggles to provide the ne
cessities of life, the State inspectors
brought new difficulty when they
took away the entire flock within a
few minutes of time yesterday after
roon. Living three miles southwest
of Meridian, the farmer was able to
supply the markets there and in
Boise with butter, eggs and chickens,
and he was building up good busl-
ness when the visit of the State Off
cials put an end to the prospects in
that direction.
So affected were the inspectors by
the misery that they had created in
order to protect the lives of the peo-
pie of these cities that they intend to
start a subscription list to tide the
family over until next spring when
they will be able to take care OF
themselves on their 40-acre ranch.
Heretofore they have depended solely
upon their livestock, which has now
been killed and so tied up by the
State department that they are for
the next few months with little means
of revenue to make both ends meet.
Law Should Cover Point.
There certainly ought.to be law
in this State to provide for just such
emergencies said NJ. S. Parker and
J. B. Willis yesterday. "The State
should in measure reimburse the
people when the health officers have
to kill off the stock that way. 1t
means ruin to some of them and ter
rible hardship on others. The de-
partment should be provided with
fund that it could spend in that way
and the department would know bet
ter than anybody else whether case
deserved such help from the State or
not. That is one of the worst fea-
tures of our work. Had we not taken
that step, it is probable that within
a short time innumerable cases OF
tuberculosis would have broken out
here and in Meridian. At the same
time we have brought hardship to
the family. ~.
Samples of the vital organs of the
fowls showed them honey-combed
with the disease. Capsules with the
tubercular germs penetrated every
one of them until they were sWelled
to several times their natural size,
Worn away until they could be crush
ed in the hands, the disease had
such a firm hold on the fowls that
they might have caused one of the
worst plaques of tuberculosis in
Boise in a short time in the world.
The flock could have infected hun
dreds of homes within short time.
This is the first time that such a con-
dition has ever been found in Idaho.
1t is not new thing for other
States, California and Colorado haV-
ing had frequent examples of it.
Cremated Bodies.
The inspectors shot every one OF
the farmers fowls and put their
bodies on the top of a pile of sage
brush, pine boards, boxes and other
material that would make a quick
hot fame and burned them to- ashes.
Not trace was left. The fire, which
covered space of 20 square feet
was as hot as the inspectors could
make it with selected material, and
they believe that they did good job
of it. The roosts and all loose ma
terials around the chicken coop were
torn out and destroyed. All straws,
boxes, nests, and nest eggs, every
thing that could be taken out, was
burned in general-clean-up bon
fire. Chickens that had made their
nests in the hay stack or had escaped
under the house were hauled out and
shot and their bodies added to others
in the flames.
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