Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-08-26
KANSAS CITY WALKED
BEFORE, SAYS NATIVE
"Old-Timer" Recalls Attack of
the Epi-zoo-tic; Everybody
"Hoofted It."

KANSAS CITY-IVe been trying 70
think of what this street car rumpus
reminds me Of" said the old timer.
"and it's Just come to me-its kind
o. like the days of the old Epi-Zoo-tic.
"Ah. er-sort OF a circus parade.
eh?"
Lord, no, boy-just the contrary
nothing like a parade-there was
nothing to parade with. except wheel
barrows and old Shank's mare. When
the Epi-zoo-tic struck this town.
everything stopped, buggies. carriages
delivery wagons, mule cars-the only
things that went around on wheels
were one -manpower wheelbarrows
and an occasional velocipede. and you
couldn't carry nothing on one OF them
velocipedes-you had to have step
ladder to git up on one ana you had
to be an acrobat to stick on one when
you got up. So all the delivering had
to be done by wheelbarrows. Even
Bullene's store had to git out line
of wheelbarrows. Let me see-that
must have been along in the '7Os. some
time-I don't recollect whether 1t was
before or after the grasshoppers.
Seems to me like the Beecher trial
was still going on, but l amt certain
whether silver had been demonetized
yit or not-that was in '73 when they
committed that Infamous crime. Eut
it was along about that time that the
Epi-zoo-tc struck Kansas City
shucks, don't see why | can't re-
member that date-I ought to remem-
Der 1t, | had to push my groceries
home every day from Third and Main
streets clear out to Twelfth and
Laurel.
Did they finally capture it? Was
Of lifnc hid thny
settle 1t by arbitration? How long
did the storm last? What finally be-
came of this-er-Epi-ZoO-t ?"
We'll, don't just recollect what
they did do for it. SENS like it kind
of died out. somehow or another-it
wasn't exactly fatal. you know-it just
lasted about a couple of weeks, as
recoliect, but there wasn't horse OF
mule in town that wasn't just
sneezing his head off-thats the way
this Epi-zoo-tic first struck 'em-and
the first thing you knew they'd lay
down in their harness right in the
middle of the street and quit
"Oh, it was a sort of a horse strike,
eh? Who organized the Epi-zoo-ttc
Didn't you have any horse finks in
those days."
'It was a disease--a horse disease
an epidemic. Epi, horse; zoo, to indi-
cate sneezing, and tic-well, l don't
recollect what that tic did stand for
less it was, wheelbarrow-one of our
high school teachers wrote piece Tor
the papers about it at the time-he
looked up the word in the Greek die
tionary, seems like, and ] think that's
about the way he lined it out. But
anyway, | don't believe there was a
horse in town that didn't git the Epi-
zoo-tic. 1t was powerfully catching
All a horse had to do was to see an
other one sneezing and then he'd be-
gin. 1t was kind of horse hay
fever. l reckon, as near as | can tell 1t
And for pretty near two weeks there
wasn't a vehicle on four wheels in the
town. Everybody walked and every
body had to carry or wheel their stuff
home and sometimes l recollect, some
of the boys would take on little extra
load on the way home and the way
some Of those wheelbarrows wobbled
oh. we had our fun out of it and
everybody was good natured in those
old Epi-zoo-tic days. Shucks 1t looks
like I ought to recollect what year
that was-let's see, what year was II
we had that Seymour and Blair torch
light procession" z"