Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-05-28

| MHTW LNMNN,A very much more COM
| kWEX yAS1A RW mon in the United
WI" wa "-r''' ""' States than is generally
imagined because local
| offic ials customarily ignore and even conceal
cases unless compelled by public clamor to take
action. This they do for the reason that they
| know not how to dispose of them. discov-
cred leper is always terror and burden in a
community. No state has an institution for
| lepers. and those afflicted with the complaint
are usually hidden away under conditions Of
extreme wretchedness to themselves. 1t is as
serted on competent authority that lepers exist
| today In every good-siZed city in the country.
| There has been much dispute as to whether
or not leprosy is contagious, but there is no
| doubt whatever of the fact that it spreads
wherever sufferers are not carefully isolated. II
IS making very rapid progress in Havana, where
handle the same filthy paper currency that
forms the circulating medium among their
| healthy fellow citizens. Serious concern is
felt by this government respecting the preva-
| lence and spread Of leprosy in neignboring
| countries, as reported recently by United
States consuls in response to q request for i'm
| formation issued by Secretary Blaine. These
reports are as yet withheld from publication for
| reasons of international policy.
THE FINGER OF WARNING.
The finger of warning is pointed toward the
United States Of Colombia. Leprosy was un-
known among the aboriginal inhabitants. the
first case recorded being that of a Spanish
priest in 1916. Since then the disease has
spread slowly over the country. During the
last twenty years, however, its advance in all
directions has been rapidly accelerated and to-
day hardly populated locality remains unin-
fected. The people are rapidly becoming q
population of fepers. 1t is said that one out of
every ten inhabitants of the departments of
Santander and Boyaca has the disease This
estimate would place the total number of lepers
In that section OF Colombia alone at 100. OOO
The most conservative estimate sets it at 80 600
The immigration law framed by the last Con-
gress, in directing the marine hospital bureau
to make sanitary examinations OF all immigrants
to the United States, named leprosy in partic-
uiar az disease to be carefully excluded. Most
victims Of it who come here are from South
American and Cuban ports
Another source of dread, imminent this year,
is the famine fever" as typhus is called in
Russia, where the disease is Familiarity known as
the offspring OF starvation. Immigrants, as
will be closely watched. At the suggestion of
the surgeon general i'll charge of the marine
hospital service the Secretary of State has adj
dressed circular letter to ali the United States
cOnsuls at ports in the cars dominiOns asking
for special reports respecting typhus. The re-
though the complaint has reached several Of the
ports from the stricken districts, not one of
these points il in direct communication by
| steam or sail with America. OF course the fever
may arrive from any OF them at any time indi-
rectly, was the case the other day with the
Massilia, which brought infected Hebrew pas
sengers to New York from Odessa by way Of
Marseilles, starting a small epidemic in the
metropolis. Fortunately, while no known dis
ease Is more fearfully contagious, typhus is
easily stamped out by proper sanitary measures.
The consuls have been Instructed to keep this
government advised by cable as to the progress
of the disease in Russia.
AsANITARY FENCE
To keep out the dangerous diseases which are
constantly threatening to invade the country
from all quarters Uncle Sam is compelled to
| surround his wide domain with sanitary fence
that is made as impregnable as possible He is
Obliged always to keep a watchful eye upon the
orient, where is the breeding place Of plague
never completely extinguished, which needs
only aspark to kindle ii into destructive and
widespread epidemic. The Persian gulf and
Red sea are two wide gateways by which the
cholera may at any time invade Europe from
| Asia through the ottoman empire. 1t would
| be easy for the great powers to shut these gates
by strict quarantine and do away with this dam
ger to the health of the civilized world; but,
notwithstanding many discussions Of the sub
| ject, they have never been able to come to an
agreement among themselves on the point
England finds that quarantine rules obstruct her
commerce for the sake Of which she is always will
| ing to sacrifice everything, even to decency and
| good morals. So the regulations in this regard
| are left to be administered by corrupt Turkish
officials who never hesitate to convert threat
ened epidemic into a source Of revenue for
themselves by exacting 'backsheesh" from peo-
| pie who will pay for being relieved from inspec-
| ton and detention.
Cholera In the east is largely a matter Of re-
| ligion. 1t is spread by pilgrims who Journey
! from India and elsewhere in southern Asia. as
well as from northern Africa, to Mecca. Every
| good Mohammedan is obliged once in his life
time to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. The
| rich among the faithful go yearly to the holy
| city. Those who die en- route are assured of
eternal salvation, which accounts for their in
| difference to sickness and death. Last year
43, 900 followers of the prophet disembarked at
Jedda, the nearest Red sea port to Mecca Only
$4,000 Of them returned. Fifteen thousand
died, the deaths, mostly from cholera, averag-
| ing 600 a day. Year after year these devout
| people. who come by caravan and by ship to
| worship at the sacred spot, perish in swarms
like flies. So long as they are satisfied it would
not matter SO much if only they did not. in dis
persing, convey the infection afar toward every
point OF the compass.
| VESSELS CROWDED WITH pILaRIMs
| The vessels which carry these pilgrims are Of
| all civilized and enlightened nations, and the
way in which the pious passeng ers are over
| crowded is said to be simply disgracefuL OF
| the great majority OF them the condition is said
to be filthy and pitiful in the extreme. From
| their point Of view cleanliness and godliness
have no association. They always carry their
| own provisions, the ships furnishing none and
| they are packed between decks and on the mp
per deck also like SO many behring's. Cholera
| usually breaks ut on board these craft and the
'.odor Of san city" clings to them long after.
Unfortunately there is nothing to prove mt such
vessel from going direct to n healthy port
after discharging load Of pilgrims, securing a
cargo with a clean bill of health and sailing for
/ the United States
Epidemics OF cholera last year caused $4,000
deaths in Mesopotamia, 10000 in Syria and
| 10 600 in Persia. The disease, which is caused
by bacteria, is always present in the part Of
Asiatic Turkey where Mecca is situated. It is
never entirely stamped out in India. Many
shrines In that country ore sought annually for
purposes OF piety by myriads of human beings,
| their numbers regularly decimated by the
| fatal sickness, which from these points is dis
| trlbnted In every direction. Thousands of dead,
whose souls arc supposed to be satisfactorily
cared for, pollute the air, which the living must
breathe, with their bodies often half buried.
At Ter, near Egypt, last year African pilgrims
returning from Mecca and detained by quaran-
| tine before passing through the Suez canal