NEWS AND ITEMS. 
767 
feeding on ordinary food and playing with its adopted mother 
and laying down between her paws, thoughtless of the danger 
he exposes himself to.—(A. L.) 
Washington Dog Owners’ Dilemma. —In the early part 
of December, the Secretary of Agriculture issued a notice to 
the effect that cases of hydrophobia had appeared in the Dis¬ 
trict of Columbia and the adjoining counties of Maryland and 
Virginia in such number as to make the region a plague-smit¬ 
ten district, and he has forbidden any resident of the district to 
remove his dogs to any other territory, and prohibited all others 
from bringing dogs into the plague region. The District Com¬ 
missioners had no official knowledge of the u plague ” before 
this order was issued, and they wrote Secretary Wilson asking 
light on the subject. His reply instanced more than enough 
cases to sustain his decision, and, under District law, made 
necessary the issuance of a proclamation requiring all dogs 
running in the streets to be muzzled. But the local dealers in 
sporting goods were not prepared for the demand, and so nine- 
tenths of the dogs must either be kept in doors or run at large 
without muzzles, under penalty of confiscation. W hatever 
else happens, they cannot be taken out of the city while the 
Agricultural Department order continues in force. 
A Veterinary Surgeon in Pennsylvania Dies of 
Anthrax. — Chambersburg, Pa ., Sept. y. —Dr. John J. Smith, 
one of the most prominent veterinary surgeons in the Cumber¬ 
land Valley, died at his home here this evening of anthrax. 
On August 28 Dr. Smith conducted a post-mortem exam¬ 
ination on a herd of cattle belonging to Preston Berlin that 
had died of the disease, sending parts of the animals to the 
Dive Stock Sanitary Board, which immediately diagnosed 
the disease as the deadly anthrax. A week later erup¬ 
tions appeared on Dr. Smith’s body, and he was convinced 
at once that he was a victim of the dreaded cattle plague. 
He told friends that he would die. The eruptions were 
cut out, and the wounds cauterized, but to no avail. Dr. 
Smith was 53 years of age and a graduate of the veterinary de¬ 
partment of the University of Pennsylvania. He was a mem¬ 
ber of the council of the First Lutheran Church, a member of 
the Goodwill Fire Company and a former member of the Town 
Council. He leaves a widow .—{Baltimore Morning Heraldi) 
Veterinary Examinations at Horse Shows. —Repeated 
reference has been made to public u vetting ” at horse shows. 
An inside illustration, made from a snap-shot in the arena of 
