THE PERTHSHIRE CATTLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10359, 14 May 1895, Page 7

THE PERTHSHIRE CATTLE.

:;;;;.;';::.^;:'^Ey^o-_?N-^pNiA.*7\^ .'- ---.* v' - r."'■■' .*••''■ A 77.2. ... ..,' Christchurch, May 9. ''■ ' 'Mr Gilruih, Government .veterinary surgeon,' ißrriye-jl at Lyttelton this! mbrnjng for the "purpose ,: of taking steps, in' connection with the Australian;:cattle" on the. steamer Perthshire, one .of which was suspected*to be suffering Irora pleuro-pheumohia. Ifc was resolved to slaughter' the beast, and Mr Gilruth, with Mr Charlton, M'.-*a.o.y:S.,' held, a post mortem." A bullock' which died on; Tuesday was also examined. !.No information as to the result; was permitted to leak put till instructions: were received from: Wellington, bub as the time for the steamer's departure drew near the rumour spread that the Government had refused her a customs . clearance, without which she could not proceed to. sea. Upon inquiry at the customs this was ound to'be correct. About 4 p.m. instructions were received from Wellington that the vessel was to he allowed to, proceed to sea, and it was fchehlearned that the bullock killed that morning had been found to be-suffering from contagious pi euro-pneumonia. '.-" The 'other animal .which died oh Tuesday : showed • signs of gangrenous pneumonia. Both bodies were left on the steamer^ and will- be thrown overboard when she gets to! sea. ' 7 a" ! ;*

. -•: The president oE, the' Canterbury Ag**ioultural and Pastoral Association has sent a-telegram' to the.; Government:.urging ; the!'importance of makihgifc-clearly known.in Greafc Britain that the cattle onthe Perthshire did not cpme from Itfew Zealand, and had no! communication with the shore here.! •.■.-'-.'' 7.'rkk7. ■■'■■■ ;:'-..'

:a-a:.;a aa..-aa,- , Wellington, May lOi '*' : The Government have cabled tp the Agentgeneral to take precautions to. make it clear that* the7Perthshire's, shipment !-!of! cattle has nothing to ;do with-New Zealand. Cbmmuni--cafcidns' are _ also passing with the Queensland 'Government. ■';'...-■;"'•*■' ..'.'"".''■'■'•. '..■'■■ u l, ■':'''•'■.'"!"".!■'

The .Stock : department do. not considerahy further.'actionr. the _?erthshire's cattle necessary, -as. there was no communication with the -shore. All the ■cattle are Australian.

~-. (FromOoe o),vn Correspondent.) a'•. "2.1 r:A"7: A -WELWoTON,.May 9..*. .! a The outbreak of pleuro-pheumonia oh board the Perthshire at Lyttelton does not come altogether 'as' a surprise. I happen to know that the possibility of. such a: development among the cattle shippedirpm Queensland to Britain; via New Zealand ;has.'been !fron_ thevfitsfc:the subject of ahxipUß concern to' Mr J. D. Ritchie,! /Secretaryfor;Agriculture, and that:he shdhis officers have .been constantly on the .alert to determine the causes of any apparent sickness among the stock comprised in these shipments. I had personal experience of this^ some months ago. when with Mr Ritchie I inspected here a shipment of Australian cattle oh- board the Buteshire; !'One ofthe bullocks Was suffering from the effects .of an injury to a leg caused during ;- but there were symptoms that ;might- have been indicative of incipient pleuro, and I was ■* glad to: find that Mr Ritchie was instantly alive to the possibility. "I soon learnedthat the most stringent possible precautions had-from the first been taken?against this contingency, ahd, conscious of this,! decided that no good could result from publishing the fact, as it might only create needless alarm and lead to a restriction of the trade that v wpuld be resented as an unneighbourly act by bur Australian friends. ' This has been. Mr Ritchie's feeling, and he has consequently bean for months past anxiouriy on the alert. The Buteshire shipment of cattle were bred ih the north division of Queensland, and this country is comparatively free from pie arp; but.tp reach the ports of shipment they must be driven across the eastern A watershed,! and ifc is 'on* the coast 'districts that !the disease is most rife. It is more than probable that the Queensland cattle now on the Perthshire at Lyttelton have thus contracted the disease, which may remain latent and undeveloped for a period..7 The disease is a dreadful scourge among. cattle, ' though • its; ravage's may be largely^ neutralised by inoculation; Nevertheless ifc has inflicted enormous losses upon the stpckownersibf Australia', particularly in' those parts' of ;• Queensland .where;:' the rainfall is unifprmlyheavy ahd,the,.grass of rank; luxuriance. Itisatatedhere that upon thecaptaih of the Perthshire refusing to iallow the beast that died aboard the steamer to be cut up oh board the steamer, the Stock department wired the local stock inspector to immediately take possession of one of the live cattle under the powers conferred by the Sfcock Act. This was done, and upon being killed and examined, the result proving the presence of pleuro-pneumonia, the Stock department telegraphed • that the steamer need not be detained.

Wellington, May 10. The Queensland Government; were promptly ad vised, of the outbreak of pleuro-pneumonia on the Perthshire- aud the Agent-general will be advised to give full publicity to the fact that the cattle are from Australia and not New Zealand. The question of ' prohibiting the Australian cattle ships from' touching at New Zealand ports will, I believe, have immediate consideration by the Cabinet.

INTERVIEW WITH MR GILRUTH.

The Government veterinary Surgeon, Mr Gil- ' rath, arrived from the north on Friday evening, •and was waited upon by a reporter from this paper in regard ta the cases of pleuro-pneu-monia which developed in the cattle on board the Perthshire at Lyttelton. In the course of a conversation, Mr Gib-nth stated,that the post mortem examination of the beast that had died and the one slaughtered disclosed pleuropneumonia in each instance. The Stock Act empowers the Secretary of Agriculture to order the slaughter of .the whole shipment, and Mr Gilruth immediately wired to Wellington for instructions:; * A reply was received that as the ship was all reaidy to depart on her voyage, she' was to be allowed to leave without the whole of her stack being slaughtered, and thafc the carcases of the dead animals should be thrown overboard when territorial limits were reached. Mr Gilrufch could not say definitely howmany'of the stock died on the voyage from Townsville, bnt he believed the number was 12. Five died before Sydney was reached, and were replaced at • the latter port, while seven more died before New Zealand's shores were reached. The general health of the shipment was poor, and Mr Gilruth was of opinion that others would die before the port of destination was reached. Pleuro-pneumonia was Suspected in fche shipment when the vessel reached the Bluff, and subsequontlyafc Lyttelton by Mr. J. R. Charlton, M.R.C.V.S., who made the first; examination afc the request of the Government. When'tho shipping of live cattle was first started Mr Gilruth pointed ont that there was a danger of pleuropneumonia being introduced, and all shipments Home via New Zealand were carefully inspected at the different; ports. ' The disease itself had been stamped out in the old country after a great deal of expense, and New Zealand and Iceland were the only countries in the world from which Great Britain allowed cattle to be imported and depastured without immediate slaughter, aad as Iceland was not likely to export cattle, New Zealand enjoyed the unique position of being regarded as free from all infection in this respect. Therefore ifc is important that she should run no risk of contagion from the other colonies. As an instance of the stringent regulations existing at Home, Mr Gilruth mentioned fchafc an embargo was placed on cattle from Canada because one case of pleuro-pneumonia was discovered in a number of shipments from that country to Dundee.