OUTBREAK OF SOUTHERN CATTLE FEVER IN KANSAS. 



BE PORT OF M. R. TRVMBOWER, V. S. 



Hon. (Jeorge B. Loring, 



Commissioner of Agriculture : 

 Sir : In obedience to your telegram, dated at Washington, October 

 9, 1883, requesting me to proceed at once to Harper, Kans., there to in- 

 vestigate an outbreak of disease among cattle, I toithwith made the 

 necessary preparations and left on the 4 o'clock train the same day, 

 arriving at Harper on the morning of the 12th. My instructio'ns not 

 having yet arrived, I remained iu town and made inquiries of different 

 individuals in relation to the cattle disease. I soon became overwhelmed 

 with reports of the magnitude of the outbreak and extent of losses 

 throughout Harper and Barbour Counties. I received many reports 

 from different individuals, stating that such and such persons had cat- 

 tle dying daily at that date. After deliberating over the matter, I came 

 to the conclusion that I could do no better than to remain iu town over 

 Saturday and have some person who was well acquainted with the 

 I)eople to point out to me the men who were then losing cattle, as many 

 of them would probably be in town on a Saturday. Here I met with 

 disappointment. I met a number of men of whom it was said that they 

 were losing cattle daily, but on making a direct inquiry they almost in- 

 variably said: "ISTo; they were not losing any now," but named some 

 other person who was. I soon found out that the better i)lan would be 

 to go directly into those sections where tlie greatest mortality had pre- 

 vailed, and there endeavor to find suitable subjects for examination. 

 Therefore, on Sunday morning, the 11th, I made arrangements with 

 Martin Cochran, of Harper, who is well acquainted with that country, 

 to take nje out into Barbour County. We left Harper about 8 a. 

 m. The first ])lace we stopped was at Dr. Joseph Brock way's, on 

 the Nine Cottonwoods Creek, IS miles southwest of Harper, in Har- 

 per County. He made the following statement: That he moved his 

 cattle, numbering 75 head, from his i)lace of residence, taking them 

 northwest 2 miles, on or about the 1st day of May ; that on or about 

 the 10th day of July his cattle began to die, and 10 head died 

 within eighteen day's time, nearly all of them being two and three year 

 steers. The disease then abated, rainy, cloudy, and cool weather super- 

 vening. On the 1st of August -4 or o were still sick, but making a slow 

 recovery. On the 12th of September the disease broke out again, and 



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