The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-11-18

vices OF the state and federal ofic-
fials In stamping out the plague are
invaluable to him, and he would suf-
fer an intellectually greater loss II
left TO cope with 1t alone.
Some OF the great packing houses
have been compelled to leave their
killing floors idle for a week because
OF the sudden arrangement OF ship
ping and the closing az the stock
yards at several points, but they have
not suffered any serious loss, and are
bringing In dressed beef to take the
place OF that which they usually XIII
in their own establishments. More-
over, the work usually done by the
Chicago stockyards and packing
houses In distributing the nations
supply of beef is being competently
shouldered by the Adjustments fur
Their west. At Kansas City, Omaha,
and st. Paul the receipts Of cattle,
sheep and hogs doubled within few
days after the closing OF the Union
stockyards at Chicago. Thus the
epidemic means an increase Of pros
perity for these cities as long as they
are not touched by the infection, and
If the epidemic continues long, they
will doubtless gain permanent adj
vantage from It e
Besides meat, two other commodi-
ties are affected by the epidemic
milk and hides. The shipment of milk
from all infected areas is prohibited,
and milk shipped from areas where
infection might exist undiscovered iE
required to be pasteurized before it
is used. No serious scarcity Of milk
has yet occurred as result Of the
epidemic, because OF the relatively
small size OF the infected areas, but
should the epidemic spread much fur
Their, serious local shortages in the
milk supply might result. The regu-
lations with regard to hides are that
they may be shipped from infected
areas provided they have been disin-
fected under federal supervision.
Thus, the hide business will not be
materially affected as long as more
drastic regulations are not found
necessary.
From the above, 1t will be seen
that the epidemic will probably
cause no serious industrial disturb
ance, provided 1t is successfully con-
trolled. The possibilities of loss from
a protracted epidemic of the disease
are best illustrated by the experience
of European countries, where it is
much more common than in the Uni
ted States. The loss from this dis
ease in England in 1883 was estima.
ted at $5,000.000. 1t has been found
in England and other European coun-
tries that when the disease has be-
come widespread it is impracticable
to follow the. method of slaughtering
all infected cattle as this would re-
duce the country's meat supply to the
famine stage. When It is sought to
cure the disease it has been estimated
that the loss upon each animal ar
fected which ultimately RECEIVERS, is
about $40. Thus, the economy OF
Strengthening the animals while the
area Of infection is small is readily
appreciated. In Germany an epidem-
jc appeared in small proportions in
1856. 1t was sought to cure the af-.
fected cattle. and by 1890 1t was
found that 1925 head of cattle,
23O.S6s sheep and goats, and 15S.soS
swine had the disease. 1t cost the
German government nearly $4,000 600
to stamp out this epidemic. and it
spread to France. Italy. Belgium,
Austria-Huneary. Switzerland, Rou-
mania and Bulgaria.
In addition to the loss OF millions
of dollars upon the animals affected,
widespread epidemic OF foot-and-
mouth disease would mean the loss
Of our entire export trade in live
animals, and interruption of domes-
tic commerce. which would surpass
the loss caused by the actual rayages
OF the disease.
Nothing is known about the origin
of the present epidemic except that
it first appeared in southern Michi-
gan; cattle shipped from that state
carried the infection to the Chicago
stockyards, and from this point 1t
was distributed to many other states.
The origin Of the epidemic in 1908,
however, was accurately traced, and
is interesting as showing how the in
lection may be carried long distances.
1t was found that q Pennsylvania
iirm had imported vaccine virus from
Japan in 1902, and the germ OF foot
and-mouth disease were in this SER
UNI and remained active until 1908.
In that year a Detroit farmer Oh
tanned some OF the virus, and with It
inocuiated calves which were rented
from FARMERS near Detroit, for the
purpose Of propagating the vaccine
virus for human use. These calves
were, OF course, thus infected with
the foot-and-mouth disease. They
lNyaRA nf. kNy,S1 \ q
the vaccine firm had completed its
work with them, and were sent to the
Detroit stockyards, from which they
We're distributed, carrying the dis
ease into several states. Realizing
the possibility Of thus spreading the
contagion by means OF a virus in
tended for the cure of another dis
ease, the authorities at Chicago have
destroyed $4,000 worth OF hog
cholera serum found within the in
fected area.
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% Lbs. of granulated Sugar.