PLEURO-PNEUMONIA.

Waikato Times, Volume XIV, Issue 1201, 9 March 1880, Page 2

PLEURO-PNEUMONIA.

MEETING OF THE CAMBRIDGE FARMERS' CLUB. A special meeting of the members of this club, convened for the purpose of meeting Mr B. Maclean, acting on behalf of the Government, was held at the Clubhouse, Cambridge, on Friday evening last. There were present Messrs E. Maclean (President, m the chair), Hicks, H. Buttle, Kalender, Jas. Runciman, Snowden, Jno. Fisher, Jno. Runciman, Fantham, J. P. Campbell and Major Hay. Mr B. Maclean was also m attendance. The Secretary explained that the meeting had been called on receipt of the following telegram : — Hamilton, March 2. Secretary Fanners' Club. I am directed by the Government to confer with the Cambridge Farmers' Club re appointing cattle board, cattle districts, and inspectors. I will be at Cambridge on Friday. B. Macleav. The Chairman said it would be better to commence from the time when Mr Fantham read his essay on pleuropneumonia. He would therefore call upon the Secretary to read all the correspondence on the subject between that and the present time. The Secretary then read the minutes of \ the former meetings and the correspondence. In answer to the letter sent, enclosing the resolution passed after the reading of Mr Fantham 's essay the following had been received : — Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 28th February, 1880. Sir, — The Attorney General has forwarded to the Colonial Secrctaiy your letter of 27th ultimo, ; transmitting copy of a resolution passed at a j meeting of the Cambridge Farmers' Club, requesting the Government to appoint a veterinary I surgeon to inspect all stock before they are I landed m New Zealand. I am directed to inform you that Mr Lewis, Chief Inspector of Sheep for Auckland District has been appointed Inspector of Cattle and the Inspectors of Sheep will assist him as occasion may arise. Inspector Lewis is directed to emyloy I a duly qualified veterinary surgeon to inspect any stock which may, on arrival m New Zealand, be suspected of being infected with disease. I am further to state that circulars have been issued to shippers, drawing attention to sections 6 and 7 of " The Diseased Cattle Act, 1873." The Government are considering what further measures may be necessary to adopt should the reputed outbreak of pleuro-pneumonia m Auckland District prove to be a fact. — I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant, G. S. Cooper. The Secretary, Cambridge Farmers' Club, Cambridge. A letter had been received from the Auckland Agricultural Society, dated 28th February, acknowledging receipt of the resolutions passed by the club at its meeting on the 23rd ult., and enclosed copy of the resolutions passed by the committee of the association. A letter had also been received from the private ' secretary to the Attorney-General. [This has been printed m these columns.] The Chairman said he had telegraphed to Mr Storey, who had been requested by the Club to inspect Mr Burkes cattle, to be present. He had also telegraphed to Mr Burke, desiring him also to attend the meeting. Mr Storey had promised to be at the meeting. He had also telegraphed to Mr Dilworth, a member of the Auckland Cattle Board, asking him to forward all the information on the subject m his possession. To this he had received a reply to the effect that everything necessary was being done ; but that at present little danger was to be apprehended. The disease if it did exist was m a very mild form. Perhaps Mr B. Maclean, who was present, would give some explanation regarding the course the Government were pursuing. Mr B. Maclean said there had been a meeting of the Cattle Board on Monday, m Mr Whitaker's rooms, at which it was stated that the Government intended to form several cattle districts m the Provincial District. The Waikato district would comprise the counties of Waikato, Waipa, Piako, Raglan, and Kawhia. The Government also purposed appointing a Cattle Board, and left it with the Farmers' Club to recommend two gentlemen to act on the Board with Mr E. Maclean, who was to be transferred from the Auckland Board to the Waikato Board. The inspectors of sheep were to act as cattle inspectors ; their duty was to report to the Board, and to engage veterinary surgeons, when necessary, to inspect cattle. Mr Whitaker considered this the wisest course to adopt; as to proclaim the Waikato an infected district could not but have a prejudicial effect, and would tend greatly to deter people from settling here. All the cattle imported by Mr Payne had been inspected, except those belonging to Mr Burke, and had been pronounced free from disease. There was some doubt as to whether the disease existed at all ; if it did it was certainly m a very mild form. He then gave an account of the examination made on the carcase of a cow, m Messrs Morrins' yards m Auckland, the result of which was that three out of five of the professional gentlemen present had pronounced that the disease was not pleuropneumonia. So far as he was able to form an opinion, he certainly thought it was not. It now remained for that Club to nominate a Cattle Board, the members of which would be gazetted without delay. He repeated that he did not think the Government would have been justified m proclaiming the district infected. The Chairman said it would be necessary to recommend somebody from the other districts to act 011 the Board. If it was found advisable to have only one Cambridge man on the Board he would gladly retire m favor of Mr Fantham, who of all others deserved the appointment. On the motion of Mr John Runciman, the Club went into committee for the purpose of discussing the question. Mr Fantham considered it was necessary they should have a Cattle Board, because they could look to such a body to take prompt action. He thought, however, that it would not be out of place to give those gentlemen who were to be nominated some little insight into the matter. Up to the present time Mr Whitaker had taken very little interest m the subject. According to the . letter from that gentlemen's private secretary of the 25th ultimo, Mr Nailen had said that the disease did not exist. They had, however, seen Mr Naden's certificate m the papers asserting the contrary opinion. In this certificate it was said that pleuro existed m a vcrv violent form. They saw, however, that a bait had been laid to catch Mr Naden, I the only duly qualified Veterinary Surgeon m the province. They got him to go with several other professional men to see a cow that had died of some other form of lung disease, which one or two of those present'pronounced to be pleuro. Mr Naden, however, knew better, and declared it was not that disease; a fact which, so far from proving that the disease did not exist, showed conclusively that Mr Naden knew his profession, and was to be trusted when he declared that pleuro had broken out m tho district of Auckland. Mr Naden had studied if England dnring the serious out break there, and was thoroughly well up m the subject. The* the Government discharged the 'Cattle Inspector, Mr Rust, and placed the inspectorship m the hands of Mr Lewis, a man who had made a great mistake m connection with his office of Sheep Inspector, and might do the same m the other. They must have a duly qualified man as inspector. When the disease was reported to have broken out it was the duty of the Government to have impounded the suspected cattle, and appoint a thoroughly qualified man to inspect thc;u. If it was found that the I

disease did not exist so much the better, but let them know the worst. Ma Whitaker considered that it would be a bad thing for the district were it proclamed infected. The fact was, Mr Whitaker did not wish to see the district shut up, because he had land to sell. He (Mr Fantham) had cattle to sell, and if the minds of the settlers could be set at rest regarding 1 the subject of pleuro, he would be able to sell them, and perhaps buy some of Mr Whitaker' s land. In any case he would not have to wait long. He objected to the appointing Sheep Inspect rs as inspectors of cattle, because, a Veterinary Surgeon would not care to be at the beck and call of such. Besides, these Veterinary Surgeons would take advantage of their position, and charge the highest possible fees, which the inspectors were not authorised to pay, and which therefore would have to come out of the pockets of the unfortunate owners of the cattle. He begged of them to i give the Board such instructions as would lead to the appointment of a duly qualified man as inspector. The Chairman wished to inform Mr j Fantham with regard to Mr Lewis, that some years ago when the pleuro was m the province, that gentleman held the office of inspector of slaughter-houses, and had considerable experience of the disease. No doubt a veterinary surgeon with experience, was better than another man, but he well remembered that out of five veterinary surgeons called m to see some cattle during the outbreak of 1864, three were of opinion that the disease was not present. What was most needed was expei'ience. He would be the last to deny that Mr Naden was a good man. The Cattle Board would be empowered to pay veterinaries. Mr Hicks quite agreed with what had fallen from Mr Fantham, and complained m strong terms of the inaction of the Government, which was the cause of keeping alive the apprehensions of the settlers, who m the present circumstances neither cared to buy or sell cattle. He thought the Government should have lost no time m getting the Te Awamutu cattle inspected, and professed to be thoroughly mystified by the letters which the Government had sent them. At this stage of the meeting Messrs Storey and Burke entered the room. At the request of the chairman — Mr Storey explained the action taken by him. He said he had been asked by the clerk to see Mr Burkes cattle. He did so, and reported to the other gentlemen appointed to act with him, that the disease existed. On receipt of a telegram from the chairman he again saw the cattle, and they had greatly improved m appearance. He did not think they had been attacked with pleuro. In answer to Mr Buttle — Mr Storey said the only one of Mr Burkes cattle which died, was dead before there were any rumours of the outbreak of Pleuro. The other one which had been ailing, had not thriven as she ought to have done, but there did not appear to be auy symptoms of Pleuro. She presented the appearance of a beast that had had a touch of lung disease and was getting better. Mr Burke said he had bought eight animals from Mr Payne — six cows and two calves. When he brought them home, the cow which afterwards died did not seem well, but not knowing about the disease he did not put it clown to anything. She had been bad from the first, having apparently been knocked about a> good deal on the passage from Australia. She went about by herself and shortly afterwards died. If he had thought it was pleuro, he would have had her properly examined. The other beast which was affected also went about by herself, lying down m the swamp, an act very unlike that of a beast afflicted with pleuro. This continued for seven or eight days, since which time she had gone back to the others, and appeared to be getting all right. No authority had seen the cattle, but he did not think pleuro had broken out amongst them. While down country a day or two previously he had seen Smith's and Ireland's cattle j the former appeared to be all right, but Ireland's cattle had been bled so copiously, as absolutely to prevent their looking anything but bad. It appeared to be the general impression m Auckland that the disease did exist, but not m a serious form. In answer to Mr Fautham, Mr Burko said he would not necessarily have supposed the second beast to have been suffering from pleuro, even had he known that the disease existed. If he was paid her fair value he was willing to have this cow slaughtered and examined by a competent veterinary surgeon. After some further remarks, Mr John Fisher moved a cordial vote of thanks to Messrs Storey and Burke for attending the meeting, which was carried unanimously. On the motion of Mr James Runcim.in, seconded by Mr Hicks, it was agreed to recommend the Government to appoint Messrs Fantham, E. Maclean, and Storey to be the members of the Waikato Cattle Board. The Chairman remarked that he himself was not much frightened about the matter : the first shower of rain would cause the disease to die out altogether. Notwithstanding what Mr Fantham had said, he thought Mr Whitaker had done, all that was possible with- a view to repressing the disease. Mr Hicks thought that however good the intentions of the Attorney-General may have been, he certainly went the wrong way about the matter. He thought the new Board should at once call m Mr Naden to examine Mr Burkes cattle, and, if necessary, they should take steps to have one of them slaughtered. This would be the best means of allaying the feeling of anxiety now existing m the minds of the settlers. The Secretary read a letter from Mr F. A. Whitaker, M.H.R., regretting that ho was unable to attend, but assuring the Club that they had his sympathy. Mr John Runcimau said he had been asked by their member, Mr Whyte, toapologise for his absence, he being detained elsewhere on business. Mr Burke asked permission to say a few words. It seemed to him that his were the only cattle referred to as being suspected ; but the Cambridge people should look nearer home. He had been given to understand that Whitaker and Co.'s cattle were dying every day, and were being buried on the side of the roads. He referred to some of the recent importations of the Piako Swamp Company, which had not yet arrived m the Waikato. Mr B. Maclean said the cattle by the Mary Mildred were to be quarantined for five or six weeks. >lr John Fisher having stated that he had hoard of some cases resembling pleuro m the Mangere district, A vote of thanks was passed to Mr B. Maclean who, m responding, said if any thanks were due they should be given to Mr Whitaker, who had certainly gone to great trouble m the matter. Mr Fantham then moved — Th;it Messrs. Whyte and Whitaker be asked to recommend the Governmwrt to at once appoint a duly qualified VeterinWY Surgeon as Chief Inspector tor the. distw-j oV Auckland, the Club not being satisfied with any other than a duly qualified m;n> s J Mr Hktks seconded. Siovcral members spoke against the motion, and urged its w'thch-awl on tho ground that the Club, had already requested tho Government to appoint a duly qualified \\\at\, and they were not more likely fc> B'elj w.Uat was desired any mo«y

than the Club. He thought the matter had better be left m the hands of the new Cattle Board. Mr Fantham said a sense of duty prevented his withdrawing the motion and urged them to accept it. Mr Fisher then moved as an ammendment— That it be a recommendation from this Club to the nominated Cattle Hoard, to ask the Government to appoint a duly qualified protessional Chief Inspector for Auckland. This was seconded by Mr James Eunciman. On being put to the meeting, the amendment was declared carried, and the motion was then put and lost. The Chairman expressed his regret at seeing such a small attendance. Several members explained that this was no doubt owing to the shortness of the notice given, which, however, was unavoidable. The meeting then terminated.