The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-07-18
Continued from Third bdge.)

rom the Maramichi district alone
Beaubair, the Governor, was among
hem The bodies were buried at
Beaubair's Point, but their graves were
orn open through the wearing away OF
he banks of the Maramich River.
The vessel which conveyed Wolfe's
body to England ran ashore there, and
a boats crew, who landed to obtain
water, we're massacred. The Captain
retaliated by killing a number of natives
and burning the Catholic chapel at
Nequac, He reported that there was
a pestilence prevailing at that time.
Whether these diseases had any coli.
neCtlon, near or remote, with leprosy, |
no one knows. The coast is bleak and
sterile and full of swamps, which can
not be healthful. For generations the |
people have lived on fish, oats and
potatoes. Their houses are sitting
in winter, every crack being closed to
exclude the frost and biting east wind:
while in summer 1t is apparent to the
least sensitive nose that they are igno
rant of the virtues of drainage The
first case Of leprosy seems to have
been detected in 1917 but, no doubt,
the disease had existed for some time
before. For years it was left to run
its course. The lepers worked as long
as they were able, married and had
children, and when the end was near
went to bed and died their terrible
death without seeing a doctor. 1t was
not until 1874 that the Government OF
New Brunswick took the matter in
hand and opened a close hospital on
Sheldrake Island A local Health
Board, with the powers of vigilance
committee, had charge The fisherman
who was unluCky enough to be driven
upon Sheldrake was entombed for the
rest of his days, for it was an inhexible
rule that a person who once touched
the island should not leave it alive.
One or two women were employed to
do chores. When they washed the
clothes they used hooks and sticks;
when they had cooked the food they
handed 1t out with tongs No attempt
was made to alleviate the suferings of
the inmates. A doctor called occasion
ally, but there was no organized system
of treatment. The lepers waited on
themselves and dressed their own sores
as best they could. Many of them
became insane. Apart from the
amount of suffering, "every species OF
vice hourished along with every form OF
inhumanity." That is how Father
Gauvreau summed up the history OF
Sheldrake. Members of the Health
Board plundered the institution. Two
persons not infected at all were shut
up by relatives who prohted by their
incarceration. Narrowing scenes took
place when the Constables went to
arrest a leper His friends usually
offered violent resistance, and on being
overpowered followed him and his cap
tors to the boat and filled the air with
lamentations and curses. The hos
pital was such a hell that the lepers
preferred to hide in the swamps and
die alone. Some escaped to GaspG.
Others committed suicide. More than
one got off to the United States.
The building at Tracadle was erected
nearly forty years ago. and at first was
not managed any better than SheIdrake.
The Provincial Government imagined
that the disease could be got rid Of by
simply imprisoning the sufferers, where
as it exists in the blood of a number of
families and is liable to break out per
haps for generations to come. Through
the efforts OF the Hon +. w. Anglin,
formerly member for the county, the
Dominion Government was induced to
take charge Of the place in 1879.
Prior to that a band of nuns from the
Hotel Deu in Montreal came down at
the request of Bishop Rogers and
offered their services as nurses. When
the nuns took possession they pulled
down a high board fence briStling with
spikes that surrounded the building,
dragged out the old wooden bedsteads
and set fire to them, and to the bed
clothes as well, and effected sweeping
reforms in the entire internal economy.
The Health Board was virtually
abolished and the nuns made supreme.
They nurse, wash and care for the
lepers with their own hands, subject to
the advice of the surgeon. Instead OF
being treated as criminals, the patients
have a comfortable home, and are
allowed to stroll about the grounds, to
fish, shoot and go boating. The result
is that those afflicted have no longer
to be hunted down like wild beasts, but
are brought to the Sisters or come of
their own accord as soon as the disease
manifeSts itself The number Of
patients is diminishing, AT Sheldrake
there were often as many as fifty at
one time in the hospital and as many
more hiding outside. Now fifteen or
twenty is the average, and the utmost
care is taken in watching the leprous
families, SO that new cases may be
promptly dealt with. The first symp-
tom of the disease is the appearance of
white patches on the body. This is
accompanied by a high fever, which
dstends the eyes. The white spots
change to a chocolate color and the
limbs begin to swell By and bye,
fever continuing all the while, ulcers
appear, and the skin and flesh are loose
and marked with ridges. The fingers