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Show I THEORY AS TO DOCK DISEASE NOT ACCEPTED BY A HUNTER ON SHORES OF GREAT SALT LAKE! ; Etlilor Standard: Seeing in .h I! Standard of July 1G, a statement by an investigator of the bureau of biological survey. United States department of 1 agriculture, as to the cause of duck disease in this valley, and having read so many different statements by scientists, scien-tists, I, for one, don't know which is which. The last statement I remember remem-ber seeing some time ago, was that the disease was caused by sulphuric i acid fumes falling on the water. This professor now states that the cause is from alkali. As one that has hunted ducks for fifty vears In northern Europe, as far north as Spitzbergin in the north and as far south us Salt Creek, and as one who has had the opportunity of observing ob-serving the habits and haunts of ducks and, to a certain extent, their dlscasoa, I would liko to comment just a little on this falls' duck diseases. I have been in this country now twenty-eight vears and have hunted ducks on the Great Salt Lake every season. I have watched the rise and fall of the water, for other reasons than ducks, devoting much time to the collecting of Indian relics. L visit the shore many times a year looking for relics, and have, therefore, had the opportunity of observing ob-serving the ducks at close range. When I first came here the water was a good mile further inland, I refer to that part of the lake north and west of Plain city. At that time, when the main industry was gathering salt along the shore, you would have thought that Uncle Sam'3 army was camped there, as the shore was dot ted for miles with white sale piles drying and waiting to be hauled to market. The water then was far more salty than it is now, and millions of ducks were over it. There were no sick ones. Since then, the water has receded, and since the Lucin cut-off has been built the water has turned fresher at this part of the lake, as disclosed by the plants that are now growing there. Before a white man over set foot on this valley there was alkali and ducks even when the lake was as low as it is now. I have been told by my hunting hunt-ing friends that the lako falling is partly the cause of the disease, I say no to that, because the Indians hunted along the shore when the lake was as low as it is now. I know, because I have found arrowheads where the water was just as low as it is today. Those arrowheads were shot at ducks in the days gone by and I can show anv one camp fire sites that 2S years agb, were a mile In the lako. and many Ogden sportsmen will bear me out 'n this. But in the days of the Indians there were no tall smokestacks around. Now, 1 am blaming no one for the duck disease, but excuse me for again calling your attention to the sulphuric sul-phuric acid statement a statement I have no doubt a good many still remember. re-member. I don't know the cause of this disease. dis-ease. If I did, someone might find a cure. But this I do know, that impure, water will kill ducks. I will take two Instances that came under my own observation. In the north of Scotland, near the city of Aberdeen, there was a small stream of water that irrigated a meadow, and ducks came there at night In the course of time there was a chemical plant built and the refuse ran into the stream, and then thero were dead ducks to be found. The watchman at the plant had tame ducks which also died as did the small fifih-cs. fifih-cs. After an investigation, the city caused the owners of the plant to pipo the refuse to the sea about a mile away, and after that the ducks, both tame and wild, ceased dying. The other instance was a small village vil-lage forty miles further north, where the people built gas works, the refuse from which ran into a small stream that had trout in it. The stream was also frequented by ducks. The miller, about a mile down the stream, had tame ducks. But after the gas plant started, the ducks began to die. The owners of the plant were made to dig a reservoir to drain the refuse and the ducks and fish lived. I have not seen much of this great country since I came here, but I have read and have been told by those who have been, that near the great lakes there are ponds that abound with) ducks and arc surrounded with alkali.! Last Sunday I was talking ducks to an old timer who used to own salt' of any nick ducks. i ponds and during our conversation 1 ' asked him if he ever saw any sick ducks before the smokestacks loomed so high. His answer was, "No, h no." This season, so far, I have not heard (Signed) WM. MATHERS, Taxidermist, Plain City |