The Opelousas courier., 1883-12-01
THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.
Society In tho Hawaiian Kingdona.-
Lepers and Leprosys

DR.. T. P. Tisdale, who was a we'll
known physician here twelveyears age,
is again in the city visiting old friends.
For six years the doctor has been a
su~gar-planter in the Sandwich islands,
in the northwest part of the island Of
Hawaii, the largest of the group, n
as he is an educated and intelligent
gentleman, and, in addition thereto. a
medical man, a Journal representative
held q brief talk with him, which will
not be found uninteresting. He en-
ploys, on an average, $50 hands in cul-
tivating the cane and in grinding it,
and in manufacturing sugar, the num-
Der sometimes being as large as 400
and so has ample opportunities for
studying the natives. Il have never"
said the doctor, '.seen a native that
could not read and write. There may
be some, but I have seen or
heard of one, education there being
compulsory. The native Kanakas, as
hey are called, are, like the American
Indians, but from different causes.
passing away. There are now only
$4,000 of them, where there once
were hundreds of thousands. There
are $1,000 Chinese in the islands, and
about 10000 Americans and Europeans
the majority of the white population
being Americans. The white popula-
ton there, those born in the islands,
will show a larger proportion of col
lege graduates than can be found any
where else, I believe, in the world.
The young men Of American, German,
and English parentage are nearly all
of them sent to Europe and to the
United States to receive college
education. By the way, the
telephone is there, too, and as fine
a system as can be found anywhere.
The Kanakas are h~ospitable, innocent,
jolly, and as a race are physically fine
looking. being tall and welLformed
with small hands and feet"
"What kind Of currency is in use in
the islands? ? inquired the reporter.
1--WE have no currency of Ii own
except government paper. SO all kinds
of money is currency there. The
United States mint is now getting out
some silver coin for us, which will be
the first silver currency of our own that
we have had. The gold and silver
coin of the United States and England
form the bulk of the circulating
medium. Afve-franc piece, a Mexican
dollar, and the trade dollar all pass for
one dollar"
"Ten me something about leprosy in
the islands"
although not in practice-that is,
not as aprofession and business saw
a large number of cases of what is call
ed leprosy. hold that it is not true
leprosy (elephantiasis) a do many
others, while other physicians hold
that it is, medical sentiment being di-
vided on the question. The name of
the disease in Kanaka is mai-par-kai,
meaning that it came from the Chinese.
The disease, through succeeding gener-
atoms, has become what it now is, a
change brought about by peculiarities
of race, climate, diet, and want OF
proper medical treatment. The diet /
allude to is raw fish and f~arinaceous
foods. These changes through gener-
ations have produced a disease that no
man a rightly say is elephantiasis or
leprosy. I have never seen a case of
this so called leprosy there that | have
not seen its counterpart (making al
lowances for peculiarities of race, eli
mate, etc. in this country, either in
private or hospital practice. The dis
ease has not been spread by ordinary
mixing with society Were it com
municated ia that way I would have
had it myself, as / have treated hum
dreds Of them
dis it true" inquired the reporter
cas- I have seen It published, that the
disease is everywhere over the islands.
and that the afflicted are concealed by
their relatives, and that the dread of
going to the lepers' settlement is 50
great that the sufferers had rather die
than go thereg
"There may be some such cases, but
notmany. The government physicians
in each district find them out, and they
are sent, not directly to the leper set
element, but first to the settlement in
Honolulu. Here everything is done
for them that can be done. Some are
restored to their families cured, while
others, incurable, are sent to the set
Element. True elephantiasis is incura-
bic. The leper settlement is on the
island Of Molakai, about $50 miles from
where I live. There are about six
hundred lepers there, who live in
houses built by the government. and
who, by the government, are provided
So rI- 1 $3.50