The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1893-06-27
DEAD YET ALIVE.
Tho True and Pitiful Story Of
San Francisco Leper.

The morning was bright and braclng,
the air stimulating as glass of cham
payne was walking down the street
to business with my mind in whirl of
happy thoughts. AS / turned into San
| Francisco's leading thoroughfare and
| joined its surging tide of life, rushing
onward at full speed, scanned each
| passing face in search of one which bore
the happiness reflected upon mine.
Humanity in every guise was hurry
ing to their various occupations. Some
were sad, others gay. Many were fol-
| lowed by the grim phantom, care. Few
looked genuinely happy Though borne
| along upon the human wave, / was
| apart from tin an ideal world of my
own. With what cruel force it now
| comes back to me. have lived it over,
ahl SO many tines-and now again it
confronts me-that glad day of my sor-
row-steeped life. Again / am walking
| down the street in a happy reverie;
| again see a sweet face, lit up by
pair of great, tender, brown eyes
Again I feel the clasp of warm little
hand in mine-the hand of my little
| JC6S--Olt 0OQi 10 blCIG no A1CICl LII
such a stricken wretch? Slow, hot
tears well into my eyes, while memory
with bitter insistence holds up to my
vision the mirror of the past Of what
was thinking? | was thinking of my
| little love and the promise she made me
| take the previous night. The thought
sent the blood leaping through my
veins. My pace quickened. ITO livel
to live alwaysl'' mentally cried With
so keen sense of strength and exhil-
aration, what is there in life to equal
the gracious gifts Of love and
youth? l then fell to wondering if all
the to-morrows of my existence would
be as that day, as my happy yesterdays
tried to Danish the nervous forebod-
ing which crept in and poisoned my
reflections. Why allow anything to
trouble me? Did not have all that
young man ought to possess with which
to begin life-robust health, a lucra-
tive position in great firm with fair
prospect of advancement, the respect Of
my employers, and last and best of all,
my bonny Jess? But my arm lis there
not always this ''but'' or ''if'' lamar
the greatest pleasures ot~fife?) this
arm of mine--tbis dead member of my
anatomy is my greatest source of un-<
easiness Before father lost his fortune
he took me through Europe In search
of medical aid. / was treated by sew
eral physicians, but my malady baffled
them, and father was finally obliged to
return to America with me uncured.
How strange that l should have lost
the use of my arm from the moment
that / fell from that tree in the garden
of our home in Honolulu. was only a
child at the time. Since then years
have come and gone, yet it still hangs
helplessly by my side. Well, to humor
my little fiancee, will consult physi-
clan tomorrow.
All that day worked with vim
until the time of closing, and when
evening came I went to see my darling
Jess AS l entered she laid her dainty
head, with its short crop of sunny
bronze hair, against my breast and
little happy sigh of content broke from
her. Ever and again her soft eloquent
eyes gazed tenderly into mine, then a
caress, a whisper of endearment; and
that was all, for we had no need of
words. at parting she followed me to
the door and, raising my helpless arm
laid it compassionately about her neck.
Her luminous eyes shone into mine with
look Of appeal, which understood.
81 promise, little one, promise, l
murmured passionately. and with lin
gering caress we parted.
Was there of all Gods creatures one
as blessed as II And now what am II
Deadl and yet alive-within sight and
sound of the world, longing for its joys
and pursuits, but fettered by the most
hideous fate of which the human mind
can conceive.
kept my promise to little Jess, and
the following morning repaired to the
nearest hospital to consult its medical
advisers. The head physician made a
careful examination and, after the
usual formula, brought in two of his
fellow practitioners and was again
examined. They then retired to an adj
joining room for consultation. Soon
after they reentered. But why did they
regard me with such grave looks of |
compassion? What could it mean? /
was perplexed-vaguely uneasy.
DR.. Norris broke in upon my conjec-
lures and in serious tones said:
young man, l fear our diagnosis of
your case will be terrible shock to
you. Are you man enough to meet it |
bravely? Have you strength to face
what may be crushing blown"
81 trust have, sir" / replied, with
sudden contraction of the heart.
st is my painful duty" he said, ''to
inform you that there can be no cure
for your disease; you are afflicted with
leprosy."
''Leprosyi' I gasped in tone of in
credulous horror. ''Leprosyl leprosyI"
/ repeated.
For the moment my brain refused to
grasp the revo lting significance of that
word. / gazed blanlkly at the solemn
faces of my doomsmen. / seemed to
have lost all power of motion. My
body was like a heavy dead weight-my
eyeballs scared with the hot tears which
could not falkland in fiery letters be-
fore my Keeling vision was the awful
word 'leprosy."
81 regret exceedingly" resumed the
doctor, shat am forced to send you to
the leper ward at the pest house"
At lastl my numbed sensibilities were
reused. "Doctorl,' I cried in voice |
which shook with emotion. sAre you |
SO lost to all sense of justice or mercy |
as to consign me to q living death? |
What do you know of leprosy? Have |
you ever treated it? What right have |
you to cast me among lepers? Before |
being committed to that abhorred place, |
my case should be looked into by the |
entire medical fraternity. You may err |
in your judgment What then? Must |
/ be thrust in there to court the loath- |
some infection? The meanest of Gods |
creatures ought to be treated with more
humanity. You might as well plunge |
my body and soul into the abysses Of
hell-it could not cause me greater
agony"
1 paused, painting for breath. The
muscles Of my neck stoodout like whip |
cords; the sweat of agony oozed from
my shivering body, and the doctor in
q cold, hard voice replied: eve We're |
prepared for this; we expected it would |
be terrible blow to you, but that could !
not alter our course. The health laws |
are extremely rigorous in regard to /
leprosy, and 1t is therefore our painful
duty to send you at once to the leper
ward"
II am not a leper," I enphatically
declared; chad been leper 1t would |
have been discovered when was res
ident of Honolulu"
sOur decision is unalterable," an
swered the head physician. 'We would
spare you this pain If we could, but 1t
is impossible"
'Mercy is always possible. For the
love of God, give me a days grace,