The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-02-03


gracious reception. With extreme courtesy
i nc accompanied Us to the laZaretto, leaving
ms assistant, FIR. Nugetit, jolly-face9 irish
man TO chant mass. AS we crossed rustic
Iooe bridge near, the lazaretto We heard the
plalntlve notes of violin The melody was
sad and sweet, blend ng of the Canadian
boat Song" and "Anne Laurie" The must
can was leper Willing away the weary
hours. Sister st. John, matron of the laza-
retto, is pleasant-faced woman, about thirty
SIX years old Four cen years among the
lepers have familarized her with their man
| ners, customs and feelings. She has been
tne reclplentof many story. She hascharge
| OF the cabinet Of drugs and has fair knowl
edge OF medical Jurisprudence. She knows
| the families tainted with the disease and
traces accurately the relationship between the
afflicted. 1858 ~
The same strain of blood appears to flow In
| the veins of all. A majority of the lepers were
| born in Tracadie. They ali come from within
circle of seventy miles. Under Sister st.
Johns supervision an accurate record OF the
inmates has been kept. Since 1S6Stbe Sisters
record shows that fifty-eight out of ninety
have died. There are now twenty-six i'll the
| institu ion. This number is larger than at
| any time within fourteen years. The average
of life after the appearance Of the disease is
from ten to fifteen years. Some die within
| three or four years, and there is new a woman
in the institution who has been suffering over
fifty years. She was an inmate of the laza-
| rettoi on Shelldrake Island forty years ago.
While there the disease disappeared, and it
was supposed that she had been curel !. She
returned to her home in Tracadie, married and
had children. Twenty years afterward the
tel-tale spots again appeared, and she was
remanded to the lazaretto. She is still living,
handless and almost sightless. A dau glitter,
twenty-tiur years old, whose fingers are drawn
up like the claws OF dead bird, has inherited
the scourge from the mother, and is now In the
institution Sngular as it may seem, the lepers
are subject to attacks from ordinary diseases.
There have been deaths from jaundice and
typhus fever. In some cases the skin is dry
and clean, and in Others it is covered with
ulcers. Those afflicted with ulcers live the
longest. Damp weather has damaging effect.
The patients are feyerish, and complain of
rheum tic palms. They have fits of drowsiness,
and sleep for hours daily. In winter and sum-,
mer they Invariably improve. They are pecu-
liarly sensitive. we were warned against using
the word leprosy within their hearing. They.
speak of it as the ''disease." Each patient
apparently has an impression that there may
be some mistake in his case, and that he is
suffering from some other complaint. At times
medicine Is given to relieve them from pain.
Any unusual decoction seems to affect them.
Cases have occurred where those afflicted with
leprosy left the country before they were sent
to the asylum. Two or three years ago the
spots appeared upon two girls belonging to
| well-known families, Determined to avoid
bll6 ldLditbJO bllC GlIlo aW0ut W DuduldC} anu
were employed as houshold servants. Hearing
Of their flight, FIR. Babineau wrote to Shadiac.
Hehad observed indications ofleprosy on them
before their disappearance. The girls were
alarmed and fled to Providence, r. 1. One
died in that city in private family where she
had been engaged as chamher-maid. FIR.
Babiueau learned the whereabouts of the sur
vivor, and went to Providence. Aftera long
| talk he convinced her that it was her duty to
| return to Tracadie and enter the lazaretto.
She did SO, and died within year. I... Ia b,
DISTRESSING CASES.
| The good father relates the particulars of
| case oil leprosy In man two years married.
There were the usual forerunners Of the dis
ease. The father visited the mans residence
| and talked with his wife about it. The hus-
| band insisted that it was not leprosy. His
| wife conceded with him. but expressed a
different opinion to the priest in private
| Satisfied, however, that the husband was
| tainted, the wife left him. He remained in
| the house alone. Not long afterward, seeing
| the priest approaching he took to the woods
| FIR. Bsbineau overlook him and demonstrated
with him. The man was obstinate He vas
threa' ened with the rigor of the law. The
| conversation lasted two or three hours and
the husband was finally induced to enter the
| lazaretto. Not long ago the disease broke
| out on the body If fisherman who for twenty
| years had lived alone in a hut on the Bay of
| Tracadie. When the priest asked him to enter
Ulle laZarebuO MS only ODJecblOu was lear
| that he might become lonesome. lie is now
| in the hospital, pining for the companionship
| of nature. A more distressing case occurred
two months ago. The death spots appeared
on the mother of four little children. The
| priest repeatedly talked with her and she
was finally induced to part with her husband
and enter the living tomb Her parting with
the children was very affecting, and to this
| day the fathers ears hear cries of mamma,
mamman The family is isolated, the chill
dren have no playmates and the neighbors
shun the place as though it was the nest of a
pestience. 1919
is THE DISEASE CONTAGIOUS ?
| The disease is said to be contagious, but we
| could learn of no well authen lea ed instance
| of contagion. None Of the Sisters have shown
| the least symptoms of leprosy, although two
| have waited upon the patients for fourteen
years. They take the greatest precaution
against it. There is only one case on record of
husband aud wife who were confined in The
| institution a. the same time. They were cNus-
| ms. Wives who have had children by leprous
| husbands have married on the death of their
| husbands. Some of the children by the first
husband were infected, and those by the second
escaped. In a recent case the disease did not
appear until the third generation. Then it
| broke out on the body OF man of herculean
| strength. The native families of French de.
scent seem to be satisfied that it is contagious
| The victims OF the disease are first visited by
their near relatives, but as the seasons roll on,
| the visits are less frequent, and at last cease
| altogether Husbands forget their wives,
mothers forget their children, and vice versa.
| Not long ago poor boy of nineteen broke out
of the laZaretto at night, and walked twenty
| five miles to see his mother He remained
| home a few hours, and returned with less
aching heart. The lepers all express willing
ness to work, but many Of them are unable TO
| do so. The Sisters are allowed only pittance
| to feed them. They have meat on Monday,