Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-02-13
coNsTANrINoPLE.s LEpERs.
The Care of the Afflicted Disgrace to
 Any Civilized Nation.

The Care of the Afflicted 8 Disgrace to Any Civilized Nation.
 Miss Kate Marsden, the English woman who is studying the manifesto tions of leprosy with the intention of devoting her life to the care of those afflicted with the disease, has reached Constantinople. In writing home, says the Chicago Post, she says she had an idea that in this city of unused palaces one or the other of them might have been turned into a bright hospital for the lepers, where, tended by kind, we'll trained nurses, they might find such mitigation of their sufferings as skill and gentleness could bestow; but one after the other of these palaces were left be- hind and she knew that idea must be given up. Away through the crowded streets they drove and made no halt un- til they reached large open space out side the city; but if she expected to find the lepers slowed away here she, was mistaken. The guide took a boat, and after long row they landed on a cold, dreary-loolzing spot; here again they took carriage and drove toward a place which in the distance looked like forest of cypress trees, and yet no. The white stones just d1stinguishable made her think it must be inhabited; but, as the carriage drew nearer, she saw that they were not houses, as she imagined, but hundreds and thousands of graves, packed as closely as it was possible to be, even in Turkey, with the tall, dark, gloomy cypress trees planted every few yards apart. She asked the guide why the cypress trees were planted there so thickly; his answer was, Because, madam, it helps to kill the stench from the graves
 She drove long way into the forest of the dead and the cypress until all view of the sea was gone and she found herself shut in. Yet she was not alone, for here in the very midst dwell the poor, outcast lepers, driven here by the Government. The guide was simply mortified when he discovered Miss Kate Marsden's intention of going in among them all; he absolutely refused to go a step nearer.
 As she stood within the leper house she was dumb with astonishment that any nation, however barbarous, could in the face of civilization subject any portion of it's people to such a misera- | ble condition. No sun sheds it's health full rays there, and the chill which struck her as she remained within the house gave her an idea of what the 1 lepers must suffer. She said she did so long to tell them how she sympathized with them and how gladly she would take their burden from them; how she hoped and prayed in her heart that no- where in the world were the poor lepers treated as here in the paradise among cities, Constantinople.
 There is ray of light here, however, and that is the good doctor, who is doing every thing in his power to induce the Sultan to provide properly for them, and he is devoted to their cause; but in such country and with such people he is almost powerless. His name is Pascha Zambaco; he is a very kind man, and the misery of the lepers weighs heavily upon him.
 The wind came bowling through the | gloomy trees, and blew in sharp blasts through the door, and some of the poor lepers standing outside leaning upon the graves shuddered and drew closer round their miserable bodies the rags which helped to cover them, but which were quite unfit to keep out the cold even from people in health, much less from those suffering from such disease | as leprOSy. MISS MarSOen says that what she saw is really too awful to de- scribe, but it has taught her the neces- sity of seeing for herself the condition of the lepers, if she is to be of the slightest use to them in the future As she left them they sang 'The Lepers Song'' - such a dismal vail! but which was truly in keeping with their condi- ton. It made her shiver; indeed, her whole being quivered with agony at the sight of such awful depths of misery.