The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-11-01

In some instances II seems to have been
hereditary, but not always. The youngest lepcr
now at the settlement Is about six yeais Of age,
and there IL one old man supposed to DO I'm Ills
eighticth ycnr. The settlement Was established
| In january, 1866. Since that time three hum
dred and seventy lcpers have been cared for
by the government; of these, cighty-four have
That some among them had boon lcpcrs ten or
| twelve years. Lads between the ages OF
| twelve ans fifteen, girls from sixteen 10
eighteen, seem 10 bc The worst cases. After
wards, the symptoms arc In measure, mpd-
fled, and the patient gradually passes away.
So far, no relief has been found in this part OF
the world; mineral and vegetable pharmacy
have been exhausted In the vain hone of dis
covering some check to the progress of the
| disease. It's first symptoms are almost lmpcr-
ccptlblci It Is therefore difficult to pronounce
upon some of them. TO avoid errors q tempo
| rary retreat Is established ut Honolulu called
TlIE KAIIfII ASYLUM.
Here all doubtful cases are attended TO, and
the patient has nothing to do but wait for fur
thcr developments, s,lch rs q thickcning of the
lobe OF the car, swelling OF the hands and feet,
paralysis OF the arms and fingers, liberation,
&c. There Is y deadly look In the eye which
can hardly bc mistaken. With all these dreadful
signals Of doom there is no pain. The senses are
bcnumbrd, and most fortunately SO. AS soon
as IL becomes certain that the patient Is really
u lepcr lie is sent nj once Gnd forever to the
asylum nj MolOlial, where he IL housed and
served with fair allowance OF cntablcs per day,
while all his little grievances attended to In
gentle though firm Way. The order was almost
perfect during my stay, and give the entire
cTedit 10 the persuasive Christian discipline of
Mr.. and Mrs. Walsh. / nm moreover sat isncd
that no community Of whites, under the same
circumstances. would behave themselves rs
well as these poor natives. The worst features
OF the disease are an unhealthy appetite and u
complete decentralization, the passions bGcom-
Ing almost ungorcrnnble. Every Sunday there
Is some service held In one Of the hospital
wards Prayer, exhortation and psalm sing
people. A little church is talked of. They
Will doubtless have one before long, part Of
the funds being already In hand. The Sunday
evening spent thcrcwe were all cdfed for
four hours ut n stretch by choir of native
buys singing rc:.,iily b! noto out of one copy
of the Plymouth Collection Let lis turn back
and look into the hospital rs It is.
THE CHAMBER OF moRIoRs
We enter the room; mats spread OIL all sides
arc covered by nbOut dozen or flflcen re-
cumbent figures. among the worst of the bad
eases. a frtid odor, faint but perccptiblc, per-
vadcs the apartment. We hear hard, hoarse
breathing, harsh whispers and deep sIghs frola
those who can never again speak with their
OLD voices. The decay OF the vocal organs Ia
almost the last stage of tile plague, and seems
the most terrible Of all. Tho patient Is usually
by this time one mass of corruption. What
faces nrc turned to us us we grOpc among the
half conscious sufferers, faces that look as
though they had been hacked twenty times
q,
had left horrtd seam. Ears swollen to twice
ihalr natural size, raw looking and bloody,
while the enormous lobes hanging nearly to
tic shoulder, oozc with q sickcning pus.
There are those with nostrs slowly withcr-
ing away, some with no nasal mt all, only an
ulcrrous cavity remains, too abom!nablc to DO
Thought Of for moment Fingers grown
sharp ut the ends, sloughing the skin. she'd
ding the joints one by one. This mnn can lay
hoid OF and remove IL toe without any sens.i-
tl.on; What Is 1t thai so parayzcs the scnsl-
hilitics? Nothing but death Itself, grasping
ihc viials. They are but half alive, these lcp-
ers, and carry their own infectious corpSrs
about with them. One old man, sitting In n
Iiato, narrow strip Of cloth bound about the
Ioins, Is covered FROM head 10 loot with large,
hard swellings. There is nci valley cnoligli
between his lhousand-antl-Ol,' ncshy hillocks
to lay the tip of your finger. Yet he is iincoil-
selo,iS Of any puia whatever. He turns Il
gilastly giin-supposcd 10 he smilc-upon lis,
as lie exhibits new mound just making its
appearance OH one side of him, which Ia like
!! to crowd cut ~ Fcw or mo Older ones. Tile
poor wretch looks more like horned toad,
polished down littlc than q man and bro
Ihcr.
TIL. DANCE OF DEATH
1t is proof enough Of their Indifference of
inc future, rs we'll rs their contentmcnt with
inc present, to find that once upon n time
thcsc dacaylnS remnants of humanity dclibe-
| ratcly gave grand hall al the h0xpi,nF. There
was u general cleaning out oil disabled pa
tlcnts and brushing up OF ilncry, while the
" u.
Two or three young fellows who had ftw
i!ngcrs lcn began 10 pick up n tune or two on
| native il'tcs ma;e of bamboo. Though rather
melancholy In toho they were certainly not In
appropriate To the occasion. The old, young
and middle aged took n fcw quic! turns IN n
dark corner, getting their stiiiencd Joints lin
bcr again, and go iamiliarzing their ungracc-
flll fnrEls with the hollow mockcry Of the
waltz. Night came nj last, the lamps famed
In the death chamber of the I;,Zar house; the
wheeling voices no longer musical, the shuf-
fling of half parayzcd limbs over tho baro
nour, Tho Will soa moaning In tho night, all
tended 40 make the scene most uncarihly.
Tile flutes began their shrili, dOlorous pin
Ing; there was rushing to and fro of wild
figures. = bleeding half blind lepcr seized on
another OF tho accursrd leiRgs. glptohipg her,
o. j. were, from her grave, In all her loatl,.
some clay, he dragged her into the lnt0Xlcat-
ins whirl of the dance. Naturally cyctablr,
heated with cXertion, Intoxicated with tho
very o1ora Of death that pervaded ti,o hall of
the jewellers, tho mad crowd swayed and
rccled through tho unlloIy hours. Finally,
satiatcd with the very bitterness OF their uil-
natural Joy, they called for The grand national
Hutdhuta as q fitting close. In tho thick at
mosphcrc of smoking and half eYtlng,,lshou
lamps, They fed bil the yoluptunus abandon
mcnt or tile maldcned dance, till passion It.
sell tainted with exhaustion.
Was 1t not Il dance Of death?