The Irish standard., 1890-08-02
A JAPANE ESQ DAM len.
WORK or FATHER TESTEvuiDE
u ~ AMONG LEPERS.

Esvv0nE\ OfI n - Ttt.Ia a$t - I-S 49, -
ISL d ~ AMONG LEPERS.
Struggling Against Great Difhcu,ties He
Is at Last /. uccessful In Erecting : Hos
pit.l for Those stricken with that Ter
rjble Disease.
Some three years ago Japanese
woman about thirty years of age. hay-
ing reached an advanced stage OF lep-
rosy, was abandoned by her husband
and placed BY those who still felt any
care for her wrstchedness in species
of hut above the wheel of a race mill
says writer. For bed she was given
some pianks with strip of mating;
for clothes, some dirty rags; for food,
a cup of rice daily. In this retreat her
nalady developed quickly. She soon
became loathsome spectacle, and the
misery of her condition received it's
final aggravation in the loss Of her
sight. There. passing days and nights
in despair and darkness, she was found
by enc Of those men who devote their
lives to deeds of charity. A French
priest, Father Testevuide, visited her
constantly, tended her with his own
hands, and spoke to her Of his faith
in hereafter, where pain and sickness
are unknown But twas impossible to
offer much relief under such circnm-
stances. The woman must be placed in
a hospital, and very few Japanese hos
pitfalls, whether public or private, are
willing to admit lepers. 1t was then
that the jealous Father Testevuide ap-
preciated and undertook his mission in
life; he determined to devote himself
to the founding, maintenance and SUI
pervision of leper hospital.
In Japan there are several varieties
of leprosy, but two are particularly
common. One is not necessarily satal.
It produces no suppuration. and some
times disappears after having destroye cd
she fingers and tees only. The second
assumes the form of terrible ulcers.
Tho disease is at once hereditary and
contagious. There are thousands of
lepers in the empire. They may be
frequently seen begging on the high
ways, or vending their way as pilgrims
towards the tomb of Nicheren at Min
obu. Not few remain concealed in the
Dosoms of their families, to the last
refusing to admit that their decease is
aeprosy, and being supported by thei.
friends in the self-deception.
Father Testevuide could command
small sum Of money placed at his dis
posal by French charity. He hired q
house in the envirous of the little
village of Gotemba, which lies at the
base Of Fujiyama, and, converting it
into q hospital, soon had six lepers
under his care. A method of treatment
much thought of in Tongking,. and
described in a pamphlet by NJ. Lesser
teur, professor Of Dogmatic Theology
in the Seminary of Foreign Missions in
Paris, was adopted with good results
but the dictator of the large hospital at
Molokai, in the Sandwich Islands,
strongly recommended recourse to g
,vstem elaborated by Japanese physi-
ian, Dr. Gottu,; now in charge of the
franciscan sisters school for the 1eper
children at Molokai. The trouble about
this System, however, is it's cost. An
expenditure Of three yen, equal to three
dollars per month, is required for each
patient. Father Testevuide's capital
did not permit such extravagance.
Fortunately he received some little
assistance from private individuals,
and Dr. Gotto's medicines were also
furnished to him on easy terms. But
at any moment his means might he
exceeded by the demand upon them,
and the idea of building. a hospital and
forming . regular leper settlement WAS
always in his mind.
In a few months this project was
strengthened by the advent of unfore-
seen difficulties. The village folks
In their neighborhood, and cast about
for way to rid themselves of the
danger. They found it in the impecu-
mostly of the proprietor of the house
rented by Father Testevuide. This
man WAS required to choose between
paying his debts or turning out the
lepers. Father Testevuide might have
insisted upon the terms of his lease and
continued to occupy the house; but I'M
willing to push matters to extremities,
he determined to send the lepers to
their homes, and to redouble his
efforts fer the founding of permanent
hospital. The first difficulty was to
obtain q site. It seemed that in tho
plans at the base of Fujiyama the
lspers should be able to find some rest
ing place. Even in such wide stretches
Of waste land, however, space was diff
suit to procure. Here the benevolent
projectors found themselves confronted
by some imms,n orial right of the
people to cut grass; there another OBJ
lection e1is ted or was devised. Effort
after effort failed, and they had almost
despaired of success when chance came
to their aid. A man, accidentally made
acquainted with their difficulties, pro-
posed to sell them seven thousand
tsubo (about six scres) of land for the
SUM Of three hundred and fifty yen,
provided that his name was enrolled
among those Of the founders of
the hospital The land, admira-
bly, situated amid the mountains !
of Hakone and Fujiyama, overlooked
the beautiful slope that stretches down
to the placid waters Of the sea at
Suruga, and Its climate offered neither |