National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1873-08-06


Ban FRANcfsco, June ga thing Of
biotches and tumors and swollen joints and
thickencd skin and dcad-white splotchcs and
rottenness and ulcers; thing const antly with
an Itch, and forever without q hopc--with its
fingers and toes rotting of joint by joint
with blghted brain and loathsomc stcnch
a foul, weak, stumbling, distorted, hideous
thing-a death In life. This thingis
THE LEPER. %.
Or such beings there are said to be Of least
two hundred In San Francisco to-day. 1 saw
dozen or more Of them yesterday, during
an hours walk OF exploration in the Chinese
quarter. Consequently, although there are
those here who pooh-pdoh the entire subject,
l am forced to recognize rs q fact, a dread
full fact, the presence Of lcprosy In this most
beautiful portion OF our land, and under cir.
cumstanccs which threaten the most terrible
consequences II the present apathy concern.
ing Il he allowed TO maintain. m
The physician who has been most active In
cndeayoring to call public attention to the
presence In the community Of this awful
curse Is DR.. Charles O'Donnell, q regular
practitioner, who has seen this disease before
In the Sandwich islands, aud there learned
to view II with dread and horror. For some
time past he has written about lcprosy, made
speeches on II, talked Of Il, and taken re-
porters to sec II, until II has como to be re-
yarded as his peculiar hobby. Yet, so far as
practical results In restricting or extermi-
mating the evil are concerned, he has been
able to effect little or nothing. The majority
of Californians consider that they have quite
enough TO do In attending TO their own BUSH
ness without mcddling with the Cinnamon,
| and would be likely TO look with bland indif-
| ference upon any malady which was confined,
as this appears TO be, to tho Mengolans,
however fatal Its character. eve do not sec
any OF II among white people, Is their reply
to every attempt to interest them In II. Be-
fore close this letter shall have occasion
to see how far they are correct, and II they
| have not In reality something to fear from Ii.
Under O'Donnelrs guidance, I visited tho
Chinese quarters. We went through but q
small portion Of 1.-THE block above Dupont
street. on Jackson, In which the Chinese thea
| tire IL located; but We saw enough to, at least
temporarily, satisfy my curiosity. We were
after lepcrs. Can you show mo nice rotten
one 7" asked. ~ will show you any stage
or form Of the disease you desire TO soe," was
the doctors reply; "thero are two hundred
Of them within gunshot here" A little above
Dupont street, he, leading the way, plunged
into an alley, or rather a crcvico, between
two buildings. Tho Chinese love to econo-
mizo space. They delight In being crowded.
| Through the thick smoke which Allied den
| about seven foot long, i've wide, and slx In
height, could dimly discern the figure ad-
| dressed as John. He was cooking rice. In
| few moments he cane shambling to the
| door. lie would have been nice chairman
| for committee on personal attractions.
Tho natural conditions OF all the outlying
territory Of his physiognomy, beyond his
| little piggish eyes, were reversed. Tumors,
like hiilocks, supplied the place Of dimplcs,
and there were rayines in spots where pro-
tuberances might have been expected. His
skin looked thick, dark red, scaly, with
hidcous suggestions Of testers and putrldlty
beneath. "show US your arms, John" said
the doctor, pantomlming He might as well
have talked to wooden man; but the Wig
orous pantomimo was effective. Johns
arms were worse than his face. "Now
your legs, John"-with more pantomime.
Johns face was positively pretty by contrast
with his legs, II his calves were ever half as
big as his ankles now are, John must once
have been powerful fellow. Ho ia more
than the average size Of his race, so there Is
more field for the operations Of the leprosy,
which seems thoroughly Chinese In Its power
Of utilizing all available space. lie has such
i big tumors that he seems rather proud OF
them, and makes signs that he has others,
still more magnificent, on hidden portions OF
his surface. They Itch, and he scratches,
| shedding u little shower Of white scales ia he
docs so. We lose interest In the contcmpla-
ton Of his charms, and retire; but before do
ing so, lay some money on his door-steps. A
little further up the street we enter another
building, and pass through to what has once
been courtyard In the rear. II Is q stranger
place than the first. Here, at night, The
odoriferous Mongolians pack themselves to-
gether like sardines. In daytime, II not Of
work, they lie here and smoke opium. Sc
three Of them arc engaged In one den at
which the doctor stop to inquire for the OBJ
l tact ,f .,tr ar,h mi M t,,f,
duce delicious sensations, but It certainly
makes villainous smell. ayes, there Is an
other case Just beginning" exclaims the doc
tor, In tone Of triumph, fumbling away al
/ Chinese woman's hair, and exhibiting /
great, swollen, scalc-formlng splotch cover
Ing her right temple. Both she and her CON
panion seem rather uneasy, possibly mistak'
ing US for policemen In plain clothcs-a race
Of beings much dreaded by them-and yer,
readily direct us to another lcpor, some door,
farther along the gallery.
This leper Is an old and very miserable one
He appears TO be, as nearly as we eau guess
at his age, sixty years old. lie has passed
from the bloatod, puffy stage, to one Of hor,
ribe emaciation. His lean, old face has Q
painfully monkeyish look. HIsarms and leg,
have no more flesh on them than the shank,
of q healthy canary. With difficulty he tot
tiers out from his dingy kennel to be inspected
At every weak little scratch he makes oil
l sOult uUglt 1Tut1O nc hntuf
scales. With pitoous, implorlng gestures ant
tones he begs for medicine from the doctor
whom ho recognizes. Alas! no medicine car
, avail him. Ere long he will cease to want II
. Leaving this swarming, filthy house W,
cross the street to Chinese grocery, whor,
the doctor expects to find another specimen
This grocery Is queer place. Its stock il
trade Is Of character which would puzzl,
anybody but q Chinaman. Strange vegeta
blcs, grown only In a Chinese garden, ar,
, piled up here and there. Baskets stand abou
: filled with dried fishes, very small ones, lik,
our minnows. There arc piles Of dried cutie
fish, hideous things with Hat white bodies q,
big as a mans hand, and lot Of dry, twisted
tangled tales struggling out from one end
Thee are strange nuts and queer preserves
Every article In the store seems to have some
peculiar abominable smell Of Its own. The
grand total Is a compound, complicated, over.
powering, permeating and stupendous stink
the champion stink Of the world. But we dc
not come here to see groceries or smell them
The white mans stomach soon begins to pro
test against this atmosphere and we move on
"Now for your good rotten leper," says the
doctor, cheerily. "A fellow whose finger,
and toes are dropping off joint by joint. HI
has already lost this, and this, and these,
and the doctor taps his finger-joints here and
there by way Of illustration. But We are
doomed this time to disappointment. We
penetrate the Stygian depths Of another Chi,
nese hive, but the rotten mans lair Is empty
He should be groyellng on some rags In 4
little closet under low flight of stairs but
he Is not, and all the information we can ell.
cit from the score or more Of Cinnamon about
Is, "Hc gone out" "When will he return ~
"Mebbe no come back, one responds, apa-
thetically. The doctor surmlscs that he has
been sent out to some place In the suburbs,
near Chinese garden, where several OF the
worst cases have been carried since tho ex-
element about leprosy began. There are,
however, no means Of finding out here, and /
have 10 postpone my inspection Of the last
| stages Of this horrible disease until another
day, when my obliging medical friend shall
have found out the exact location of this
Leper's Home. This ends my experiences
among the leprosy for one day. The doctor
offered to show me "fifty more cases right
around here" II wished to see them; but il
seemed to me as II didn't really yearn for
any mors leprosy. A few lepers are interest
ing but In time they grow monotonous,
| IS LEPRosY CoNTAGIoUs?
The experience Of all peoples among whom
| 1t has existed In Egypt, China, the Sandwich
Islands and elsewhere, has resulted In the un.
qualified affirmation that 1t Is. A few physl-
clans and still more unprofessional persons
In this country, protest that 1t Is not, except
under peculiar circumstances. The argument
Is q common one. ave have had the leprosy
here In California ever since we have had the
chinese why, II II Is contagious, has IL not
spread among the white people ?" There is a
/ bnr in ho n,tn L.. 4.