Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-02-01

traces accurately the Relationship between the
afflicted.
The same strain of blood appears to fow In
the veins of all. A majority of the lepers were
born In Tracadie. They all come from within
a circle OF seventy miles. Under Sister St.
Johns supervision an accurate record of the
inmates has been kept. Since 1858 the Sisters
record shows that ffty-eight out of ninety
have died. There are now tWenty-six in 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-
retto on Shelldrake Island forty years ago. 4
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
tell-tale spots again appeared, and she was
remanded to the laZarettO. She is still living,
handless and almost sightiess. A daughter,
tWenty-four years old, whose fingers are drawn
up like the claws of dead bird, has inherited
the sccsrge from the mother, and is now in the
institution. Singular as it may seem, the lepers
are subject to attacks from ordinary diseaseN.
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 feverish, and complain of
rheum ttic pains. They have fits of drOWsiness,
and sleep for hours daily. In winter and sum
mer they invariably improve. They are pecu-
Harly sensitive. We were warned againstusjng
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
the lazaretto the girls went to Shadiac, and
were employed as HOUSEHOLD servants. Hearing
of their flight, FIR. Babneau wrote to Shadiac.
He had observed indications ofleprOsy on them
before their disappearance. The girls were
alarmed and fed to Providence, R. l. 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 After 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.
DISTRESSING CASES.
The good father relates the particulars ofA
case OF leprOsy in a man two years married.
There We're the usual forerunners of the dis
ease. The father visited the mans residence
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. Babineau overlook him and demonstrated
with him. The man was obstinate He was
threat 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 of a fisherman who for twenty
years had lived alone in a hut on the Bay of
Traeadie. When the priest asked him to enter
the lazaretto his only objection was fear
that he might become lonesome. He 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,
mammap' The family is isolated, the chill
dren have no playmates and the neighbors
shun the place as though it was the nest Of
pestilence.
IS THE DISEASE CONTAGIOUS?
The disease is said to be contagious, but we
could learn of no well authenticated 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
| againstit. There is only one case on record OF
husband and wife who were confined in the
institution at the same time. They were cous-
| ms. Wives who have had children by leprous
| 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 ii
broke out on the body of a 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 bV
| 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 a willing
ness to work, but many of them are unable TO
! do so. The 5 sters are allowed only pittanOe
| to feed them. They have meat on Monday,
| Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and fish on
| Friday. Seldom, If ever, do they see fresh
| beef. They abhor mutton and veal. Fresh
| pork is the meat mostly eaten. Three of the
| lepers play the violin, and each appears to be
ambitious to excel the others.
HORRIBLE PECULIARITIES OF TIE DISEASE.
The lungs become affected. The hair falls
| from the eyebrows. The voice is husky. In
| some cases there is loss of feeling in the
hands and arms. A girl rested her wrist on
! Ted-hotstoVe and was seriously burned, with
out the least sensation. Cuts with the knife
| bleed, but give no pain. At times the skin
! seems to be filled with steel filings. Then it
cracks open to the bone and gradually shrivels
away. When the liver and the lungs become
|
with all the symptoms of consumption. He
| dies by suffocation. AS we entered the male
ward ten of the unfortunates were arising
| from dinner. 1t was plain board table, des-
| titute Of cloth and napkins, and furnished
with tin plates, cups and spoons. On an iron
cot within ten feet of the table sat pitifuI
object. His flesh looked like flakes OF sulphur
nodded into the shape of man. He had been
in bed over year. Although but fifteen years
| old he looked like man of seventy. Nothing
| in the wards on Blackwell's Island equals this
scene; yet the Sisters said that the patient was
much better than he had been. AS we entered
| the apartment heavy black-bearded man,
clad in blue wooden shirt, turned his face
| from US, picked up a black clay pipe and
moved in the sunlight, through the open
door. Poor fellow, his misfortunes were his
own, and he sought no sympathy from the
outer world. He was Michael Duaron, the
| lone fisherman, who had expressed the fear of
being lonesome before entering the lazaretto.
! The windows were open and q cool breeze
from the sea was felt. There were ten other
males in the ward. All but the miserable being
on the bed ranged themselves in line With
bowed heads and detected countenances.
THE FEMALE WARD.
The Sisters then conducted US upstairs to
| the female ward. Fourteen women and girls,
In all stages OF emaciation, stood in line with
ciasped hands and eyes cast down. Sisters
and cousins were among them. All were in
II L.