206 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



in regard to the report officially made that pleuro-pneumonia existed in the herd of 



Jerseys owned by Messrs. Frisbie & Lake. The Rev. Rutherford Douglass, a promi- 

 nent Jersey breeder, was called to the chair, and Mr. Dan Runyon, of the Live Stock 

 Record, was made secretary. Messrs. Frisbie & Lake did not arrive until the meet- 

 ing had made some progress, but were represented by their attorney, Hon. Caleb 

 West. Mr. Estill stated that the object of the meeting was to determine whether 

 pleuro-pneumonia did or did not exist in this section, and that as it was a subject of 

 vital import to cattle-men, we should at once take action on the affair. The chairman 

 responded that the disease was the most destructive known, and that everything 

 known of its existence in the State should be fully told. The secretary was then 

 handed the following letter to read : 



[This was the letter addressed by the Department to Governor Knott on Septem- 

 ber 13, 1884, quoted above.] 



Several short speeches were then made by Attorney-General P. W. Hardin, Dr. 

 Keller, Leslie Combs, Ethelbert Warfield, and others. 



Mr. Henry Higgins said ho would like to hear from the other side, and Judge West 

 responded that all would be told in good time; that he would give everything that 

 his clients knew, and stated that the first intimation they had of the existence of 

 pleuro-pneumonia in their herd was a special dispatch sent to the Commercial Gazette. 

 They expected to prove that Dr. Trumbower was unworthy of credence, as he made 

 a statement in the presence of responsible parties to the contrary of the statement 

 made therein. 



Capt. Phil Kidd wanted to read a dispatch from a Na%hville paper which charged 

 pleuro-pneumonia on the cattle sold by Mr. Alexander McClintock at a recent sale. 

 Mr. McClintock made a short but satisfactory speech, and when the proposition was 

 broached offered to pay the expense of a committee going down to examine his herd, 

 and part of the expense in killing any of the suspected cattle. This statement was 

 received with much applause. Mr. McClintock, in response to a question, said that 

 one of his cows was sick at Mr. Henry Higgins', and that gentleman referred to Dr. 

 Haggard, who said he would delay his answer until later. 



After further discussion the reports were traced through various sources to Dr. 

 Trumbower, Government Inspector, who, on September 1, finished the inspection of 

 Frisbie & Lake's Jersey herd at Cynthiana. Frisbie & Lake were ready to produce 

 witnesses that Dr. Trumbower's conversation thereon during and immediately after 

 the inspection induced them to believe that their herd was free from the disease, and 

 that their card of denial was written in the presence of, read by, and corrected, in 

 one instance, by Dr. Trumbower. On September 13 they saw a Lexington dispatch 

 in the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, giving Dr. Trumbower as authority, that four 

 cases of pleuro-pneumonia existed in their herd. They telegraphed Dr. Salmon, 

 Chief of the Bureau, who answered that such was the report. They then telegraphed 

 for a copy of Trumbower's report, but never received a reply till September 15, when 

 they received a communication from Mr. Carman, Acting Commissioner of Agricult- 

 ure, mentioning a report from Dr. Salmon as explaining the introduction of the dis- 

 ease into their herd by twenty cattle bought from Clarke, of Geneva, 111. But Salmon 

 should know, and Trumbower had been told, that they only bought fifteen from 

 Clarke, who denied the existence of the disease in his herd, and they could not un- 

 derstand why Trumbower should tell two different tales, or why they had received 

 no official notification. They still refused to believe the disease was in their herds. 

 They promptly answered Salmon's letter, also one from Governor Knott requesting 

 them to make no sales from their herd. On Sunday they Avere notified that two ail- 

 ing cows had been found. On Tuesday they had several cattle-men look at them, 

 and were still without assurance of pleuro-pneumonia. Wednesday the cows grew 

 worse, and they telegraphed Dr. Haggard, who arrived Thursday morning, held a 

 post-mcrlem on one of the cows killed for the purpose, and found one lung completely 

 diseased and the other touched by undoubted pleuro-pneumonia. He declared the 

 other cow affected in the same way. They at once wrote the facts to all concerned, 

 and stated them fully to the meeting. Dr. Haggard detailed the result of his exam- 

 ination, and showed pieces of the diseased lung. Another cow from Clarke's herd 

 had the disease, and several others showed symptoms. 



The following resolution wasoffered by W. P. Hardin, attorney-general, and unani- 

 mously passed : 



"Besolved, That the statements of Messrs. Frisbie & Lake, with the accompanying 

 papers and proof, we regard as satisfactory and conclusive of their honest, just, and 

 gentlemanly conduct, both to themselves and the public, in regard to the presence ot 

 ■pleuro-pneumonia in their herds; and, appreciating their manly course, we thank 

 them for the cordial and interesting information, as well as their expressed desire to 

 fully co-operate with us." 



The following resolution was offered by Mr. Leslie Combs, and passed unani- 

 mously : 



"Besolved, That whereas a Government Inspector examined the herd of Frisbie & 



