Q&A

Q. I heard Dallas is having a rabies epidemic. Is there any truth to this?

A. Right now there’s no threat of an “epidemic,” although SPCA investigator Dan Carn-ley reports four confirmed cases of rabies (all in cats) have occurred this summer. That may not sound like many, but for a city that hasn’t had a confirmed case in twenty years, it is enough to concern local officials. “There’s no need to panic,” Carnley warns, “just use caution.”



Q. A few months ago there was talk that the S&S Tea Room was going to be forced to leave Highland Park Village under the new regime of the Henry S. Miller Company. What happened?

A. The S&S lives. They’ve recently signed a new long term lease. A more recent rumor was that Stanislav Slawik, founder of the Old Warsaw and one of Dallas’ original and most respected restaurateurs, was going to open a new restaurant in the S&S site. Close, but not quite. Stanislav is going to open a new restaurant in Highland Park Village, but the site is across the parking lot from the S&S. Scheduled to open early next year, the restaurant, as Stanislav describes it, will be “French with a Polish accent.”



Q. A friend told me that there are more horses in Dallas County than any other county in the United States. That sounds preposterous to me. Is it?

A. There is no way to substantiate that statistic absolutely because, as Ed Bright of the Texas A &M Dallas County Extension Office says, “There’s no census for horses.” However, in 1971, an outbreak of Venezuelan Equine Encepha-lomyelitis forced mass innocu-lations in Texas. A total of 20,270 horses were vaccinated in Dallas County, leading officials to estimate the total e-quine population of the county to be near 30,000. According to Bright, only Los Angeles County, of all places, might approach that figure. “We’ve also estimated that there are approximately 150,000 horses within a 100-mile radius of Dallas. I think it’s safe to say Dallas is the Horse Capital of the World.”



Q. I was driving west on Spur 482 near Texas Stadium and noticed a big sign that says “Future Home of the Dr Pepper Bottling Plant.” Does that mean Dr Pepper is going the way of the Cowboys (to Irving) and that Dallas will no longer be the home of Dr Pepper?

A. Have no fear. Company officials assure us that Dr Pepper is growing, not moving. Dallas, and the Mockingbird Lane plant, will remain the company’s international headquarters, with the Irving plan serving to consolidate bottling production for the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The $15 million plant is scheduled for completion April 1978.