The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-09-01

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found o colony where all the lepers
might be gathered and treated with the
herb, and that she was the one TO found
such a colony.
The Empress Frederick. to whose at
tention Miss Marsden's plan was
brought, was greatly interested and
wrote letters to mother Victoria, the
queen of England, and brother Albert
Edward, prince OF Wales. The Mars
den record was looked up, and Ii was
found that she had served o. q Red
Cross nurse i'm the Russo Turkish war;
that she had, after that contest, resided
for some years in New Zealand, whore
she had won fame and good will by her
work as q nurse, and that she had also
tended the sick most faithfully I'm South
Africa.
The royal minds were greatly prepos-
sessed in Miss Marsden's favor by this,
and the result was that In 1890, with
letters in her pocket that introduced her
TO the czarina, she went 10 81. Peters
burg, where she was furnished with ev-
cry facility TO do her work. The help
extended included o letter from the
highest imperial authorities and an ee-
cort Of soldiers during the time she
should journey in Siberia. OF her Jour.
neyings she gave most interesting &C.
counts upon her return. She rode horse
back much Of the time, booted. trcusered
and astride, like . man. She suffered
cold, hunger and fatigue. Her course
often led through morass and painless
forests, and her road had sometimes to
be cleared In advance of her progress by
sturdy axnen.
She found about 800 lepers, all told,
and they were In frightful condition.
They lived in huts separate from their
fellows, they were insufficiently fed and
clad, and their lot was inexpressibly de-
plorable. She did mot find the healing
plant, bat she heard of it and believed
thoroughly in it's existence. Neither did
she found the colony. Tt was necessary
for her to rest before entering upon that
part of the work. Besides the needful
money must be raised.
So she returned to London, whence q
little later she came to America Here
she declared that she proposed shortly
to investigate the lepers of Kamchatka,
who, she understood, were in v
worse condition than those OF Siberia
She made many friends In this country
and then went back TO London. This
was In 1892, and q short time after her
book, descriptive OF her work among the
Siberian lepers, was issued.
Now comes the other side of the story.
Her book displeased I'm Russia, where it
was averred that there were no leperg
I'm Siberia-at least only q few-and
they. Ii was said, were not suffering for
want OF attention. because they were
cared for by the imperial government.
Gross exaggeration Of Siberian matters
generally, It was declared, were % be
found on every page of the volume. An
investigation committee took the mat
ter mp then, and It's report he's lately
been made public. IL declares Kate
Marsden 10 be . fraud. There are hints
Of IN intrigue between her and 8 Rms
sian noble. and IL ID alleged that she
did mot do half the great things she says
she did.
She denies Ii al. says the present re-
port contradicts directly an earlier one,
and that she shall bring suit Tor ibel
against Rev. III. Francis. pastor of the
British-American church at ST. Petexa-
burg. chairman Of the COMMITTEES, and
M. Pobedonostzea. procurator 81 the
holy synod. who indorses the report.
That II the gist OF the dark side of
the story. but IL should be- added that
queer rumors concerning Miss Efarsden
have also lately arrived Ii London from
New zealand. Ths reader 10 at liberty
20 form his WI opinion.