Moose Louse

Yapping loudly at the University of Illinois for many a month have been two self-appointed watchdogs of the public purse: O. S. Hitchner of Freeport and C. O. Ellis of Grayville. Watchdogs Hitchner & Ellis sniff out academic extravagance, then send pamphlets about it to Illinois newspapers and taxpayers. Recently they pounced upon Professor Alvin Robert Cahn of the Zoology Department, told how he spent the summer of 1932 in northern Minnesota investigating a tick which infested the moose of that region. Pamphleteers Hitchner & Ellis scornfully "estimated" that "this louse hunter" spent $12,000 of Illinois money in the interests of Minnesota moose.

That the University speedily denied the charge did nothing to heal the wounded pride of Zoologist Cahn. Whatever the moose louse meant to Pamphleteers Hitchner & Ellis, it was no joke to the moose. Large numbers of the animals had lost their hair, died. Dr. Cahn spent his vacation and his own money to identify the tick. Although his own University had not contributed a penny, the National Research Council had thought the work important enough to make him a small grant. The more Dr. Cahn thought about it, the more furious he became. Last week he sued Pamphleteers Hitchner & Ellis for $25,000 damages to his reputation.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.