The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-03-09
4 Case Of Leprosy.

James Atwald left this place recently,
Ifter having been ordered away by the
own officers. He came ashore here sew
.ral days ago from a foreign vessel which
lad during the night dropped anchor
within the breakwater. He was well
dressed, and his manner courteous. Save
slight limp in his gait and an unnatural
inge to his eountenance there was moth
ing outwardly to indicate the presence
Of peculiar malady, and the casual OBJ
sever would have unhesitatingly passed
him by as perfectly healthy man. Upon
reaching the shore he sought out pri-
vate and rather secluded boarding-pla
and there he remained, keeping aloof
entirely from the people around him.
From significant hints dropped by sever
al of the crew who brought him ashore it
became whispered about that the stran-
ger was leper, who, for the safety of
bis comrades on shipboard, had been put
ashore to shift for himself. The stranger
made no attempt at denial, but. on the
contrary, seemed as anxious to avoid the
approach OF his neighbors as they were
to avoid him. A meeting of the Town
Council was decided upon to consider
ways and means to rid the community of
the dangerous patient. The stranger,
conscious of the excitement in the village
began making preparations for his de-
parture. He was found and questioned
by Tribune reporter. He admitted
that the suspicious of the people were
well founded. He was, he frankly but
sorrowly admitted, leper, but his case.
he claimed, was not dangerous to those
with whom he came in contact, as his
symptoms were but primary. Under
close inspection the skin, which to the
casual observer appeared sallow, now
seemed discolored and in several places
blotched. The Jumps that were plainly
apparent were painless, and caused him
no inconvenience. So far as his general
health was concerned it was all that
could be desired. His appetite was
good, in fact ravenous, and in no.
wise effected by the mental depression
which many enormously suppose to be
necessary symptom of the disease.
Atwald is an Englishman, but up to
last summer had been for ten years a
resident of Havana, Cuba, where the
disease, the germs of which were latent
in his system, developed themselves.
His impression was that he contracted
the intirmity while at Madagascar,
where he and others of the crew with
whom he was associated were forced to
work side by side with a gang of ma
tives. a number of whom were known to
be diseased. The chief premonitory
symptoms which accompanied his first
attack were an unaccountable lassitude
and mental depression, pains in the
limbs and joints, high fever, loss of APP
petite and nausea. The only symptoms
that appeared to him as being peculiar
was the discoloration of his skin, which
first assumed yellow tinge, then red
and finally brown. Sometimes the
three colors would blend, until his flesh
actually appeared to him almost as varie-
gated as a garden in June. While the
changes were not SO rapid as those of
kaleidoscope, they were to him as I'M
accountable as they were astonishing.
When the attack was over he became
Frustrated. The horror of his position
became at the time almost unbearable,
and he contemplated suicide as a means
to escape his awful fate. With return
ing strength came resignation. He
studied his case, and, having learned
that exposure to cold weather was the
only means by which its ravages could
be mitigated, he determined to 90 to
Canada and enter hospital in Toronto.
1t was with this object in view that he
obtained berth on the English ship
Formosa. The Captain, however, had
surmised the nature of his ailment and
told him he must leave the ship at
Wilmington, N. G. At his request,
however, the Captain permitted him to
land at Lewes instead, from which point
he intended to go straight to Canada.
Mr.. Atwald, during the interval. dis
played to the reporter the peculiarities
of the disease as developed in his case.
The rubbing of his hand created fine,
bran-like dust. Across his palm the
lines were streaked brightly, so that in
the rays of the sun they shone like a
webwork of silver. This popularity in |
his flesh had communicated to the crow
feet lines of his temples, and they, like
the palm of the hands, perceptibly glim-
(Del.) special to Chicago |
Tribune.