REPORTED OUTBREAK OF SOAB IN TASMANIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume L, Issue 5459, 21 August 1878, Page 3

REPORTED OUTBREAK OF SOAB IN TASMANIA.

; The following correspondence is published - in the Gazette-. .. B ! General Crown JAndS Office, ’ Wellington, ■ August 13, 1578.— -The following letter,' with g its" enclosure, addressed to the Colonial Secretary by the” Honorable the Colonial Secretary . c of Tasmania, relative to ah unfounded report ; t of an outbreak of scab in sheep, in.-that j Colony, is published for general- information,, —Robert Stout, Minister of Lands. „

Colonial Secretary’s Office, Hobart Towqj July 24, 1878. Sir,—Publicity having beeir given in Melbourne to An unfounded report ;of an outbreak ofiOCab’ in' this Colony, I am ’induced to ...forward, for yqip. .information ‘copies of a cbrrwponflence . upmi,'the.subject, Tchich clearly proves that in. laamama. the iflocks of stud sheep are so situated that it is impossible for 'scab'to make its appearance through contact with’diseased sheep, and, .in. fact, that, with..one .solitary exception, every district is now'perfectly“cleah.’’ I shall feel obliged by your contradicting any reports tlifct may be circukljed'.ini TOur Colony-ai’ising out this late rumour, as their circulation. would tend to jeopardise the trade in stud. fhej(j& which is of mutual adyantoge to ,the flock" Owners .etMfiamami and yimr hare, Ac./Wsr. Moobe. ; ; ~

...... r (Telegram.) V : ‘ T ’■ Melbourne, Jidy 18, 1878.—1 tis -stated that aa : outbreak pf; scab has.taken placeda' Tasmania. Please favour me with full ul--formation on the subject - immediately.— Chub Secbktaet, Victoria.- , ;; •. - ; Chief Secretary, Tasmania. (Telegram.) ' July 18, 1878. —Chief Inspector of Sheep states that the report is not true.— Colonial Secretary, Tasmania. Chief Secretary, Victoria.

i Colonial Secretary’s Office, Hobart Town, July 20,1878. Sir.—The day before yesterday X hod the honour; to forward you the following telegram, in reply to one received that day from you with reference to a re-, ported outbreak of scab in Tasmania:— «Chief Inspector of Sheep states that the j-eportis not true.” I now take the earliest, bpportunity of Bending you copy of a letter from the' Chief Lnspector til thfti subject, “which fully demonstrates uthe im-' founded character of the report, affords Strong grounds for the presrimpHoh that it has raised with the intention of directly in- - juring the breeders of stud' sheep in this Colony^ —l have, Ac., Wm. Mooee. ■ The Hob. the Chief Secretory, Victoria.

Inspector of Sheep Office, July 18,1878, Sir, —I hare tuw the honour to' refer more’ fully to the subject of the telegram you re* Ceired to-day from the Chief Secretary of Victoria with reference to a reported outbreak if scab in Tasmania.' Ihave also received a telegram from Messes?-Powers, Bptherford, !nd Co., through Jlr. Jawi-Gjl»on, which tates that it was reported in the Artjut newspaper that an outbreak of scab hod taken place in the, neighbourhood of Messrs Kermode and James: Gibson. Ths report is Utterly untrue, as is fully explained? in my Report, which you only received yesterday, Sod which, of i course, cam only be printed m 1 gie ordinary way after .presentation to Parliament. No outbreak of scab has taken place in any . clean district in. Tasmania ? in : tact, what has recently Occurred in the lake country, and but, of .which the ' prosecution at Nobs arose, cannot' ho con-; ;sldered a fresh outbreak .of wab atolL The nm is not in a clean sheep district, and, moreover, it has all along been lookeid upon bv me With considerable suspicion j but still no actual' disease could be discovered by the ■ Inspector until an infected sheep from this ;rtw not into a flock of .Mr. Kermode’s imme; idktoly adjoining, at Interlaken. Tlie suspectod flpcit was then immediately examined, •a£d in it was found a sheep with one spot upon it. The flock was at Once taken possescion of by the Inspector, under my instruoitions, ana a competent person placed in charge. They werb, of bourse, hot withstandiijg the inclemency ot, the season, dipped, tirlce-by the The owner was because the run Is in that district, but because it was the most convenient place, aH* tbir. parties interested to go to, jnrlwding mySelf. The owner of the flock, Mr Thomas Savage, was flned in all £167. Mr Kermodc’s flock, in whiph the infected she,ep %»s found,'bf course had to la dipped. It.is, however, thirty miles from Mona yale, whwe. jmv Eermode’s stud flock is kept. The report t-liWf this case arose in the neighhonrhoed of; hr ft the Midland District must hard b«pa to Victoria Ijf. . some malicious person, 1 r*';A ,'JOO'n *> •'

brobably an .Stlfcrpy ofciJteWs.Hibson and Eermode. -The object is obvious enough. Hr gii-hhVe iabhff with' the view of hxg alarm, in the liiinds of, breeders and, w-stud sheep s in* ylptoria' aiid’ J South Wide* j‘ an d probably this might jresultin the exclusion of Tasmanian sheep at etopsto disabuse tho mmd of the Victorian totoMemtsfy.' bf Wh«<M4 ; Whibh^^p? - lets reppft, lias gwn Wrtß. toi ap4, ,a«(W». that w»h .flpoh in question is tlveonly one now in Tasmania that I know to be un< Clean.-and that is not in a “tldah' shtep'disjtriot.” The districts: in the, Midlands and .the North;whert Wltthb iftidSh#rii)‘gW~frhm, have been bleaui fdr 3te4'rs?j 4d' the ’daw is liowj’and-inpoint of fadt hae been for along 5 time, so stringently partied, opt, that it is imposaible for sheep-.fram the ■ southern unproclaimed districts to go north.' - For anything tbfttJL knoyr.fb .djt#* even all those districts, with the exception of theronowhera Mr. Savage’s flock is, might -bo f (reclaimed .clean to-morrow., . I, qnlyf refrain tottf doing' so untiLafter next shearing,season because it would suspend, tha oporation of the compUlsorr -dipping clause, 88 • of' Soah-Aot, 1875, anji I do not think this .advisable until next,year.—l havei n ; The Hon.' Colonial Secretary.

Colonial "Secretary’s lTßce, Hobart ;Tdim, tJuly-20,1878,- ; Sir»tr*l have the- honour to acbnowlodgo the receipt of your letter of tho ■lßtb instant, .rcferring more Mlw jto 'itho subject of the reMivod from the .Chief Secretary! of Victoria with reference' to » reported outbreak of scab in'^Tasmania; ; f A copy of ydiir communication has bieen .forwaided by tins day’s iiiaU‘ to ‘ th’e llon.’the Oliief Secretory of Victoria; apd I trust that the. satisfactory .statement made by you will dissipate any alarm that may have been caused’ by tho, unfoundedapdrfalse . report! referred; to. —Ihave, dc., Wm. Mookk. . The .Chief.luspector of Sheep. ... - -