The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-07-26

can TO kill the time that separates hini
from death.
At the back OF the row of cabins is
the garden In which the lepers take
their chief pride. 1t has been made and
Is cared for by them and now furnishes
an abundant supply of vegetables all
the year. The lepers could in fact grow
much more than they do, but as they
could have no way Of disposing or
surplus, they are satisfied TO provide
sufiiciency only. Small fruits, too, are
flourishing, and young orchard gives
promise of plenty of apples and pears
and apricots for those who come TO the
lazaretto after its present Inhabitants
have satisfied the debt of nature.
That the unfortunates have plenty to
eat and to wear is evidenced by the fact
that the storehouse contains many as
yet unopened bags and boxes; that lux
uries as we'll as necessaries are provi-
ded is shown by a heap of emptied tins
over in one corner--preserved fruits,
condensed cream, jam and even honey,
for the authorities believein making
the lot of their unhappy charges as
comfortable as possible under the cir
cumstances. H.. g
"They're better off than half the white
people these hard times" is the philo-
sophical observation of Inspector Con-
lin, who takes considerable pride in his
treatment Of the lepers; that Is, in
way of course. They have all they
want to eat and drink, little or moth
ing to do, and nothing to worry them.
oh, yes, they are fairly contented-or
would be if we'd keep them supplied
with opium. I'm going to give them
that, too--they might as we'll have
whatever happiness there is in it, poor
DEVILS"
With which somewhat paradoxical
statement of the case Mr., Conlin re-
turnes to the unloading of his Quarters
supplies.
The faces of the lepers do not indi-
cate contentment. They do not indi-
cate much of anything. All emotion
seems killed, and as the ravages of the
disease progress the poor victim seems
little by little to become less human
being. When first taken to the laza-
retto he realizes the horror Of his po-
sitton, and for a time is frenzied mad
man. The comes the hysterical stage;
and afterwards the dull, deadened,
hopeless waiting for death. Mechani-
cally the victims of the plague perform
accustomed tasks, daily returning lit
| tie nearer to primitive existence. Snar-
| ing the wild pheasant, trapping the
mink, or searching the fields for roots
and herbs of medicinal value constitute
their chief diversions The advanced
cases are but breathing enbodiments
of disease-suffering animals, dead al
ready to all the impulses and feelings
that raise men above the brutes. I'm
clean they are in, very truth--the one
word that describes as no other can
| the characteristic feature of the Ioath-
some disease.
| AS a general rule, it is the hands and
| feet that have first withered, rotted and
| dropped away. In one or two cases,
however, the face has first been attack
| ed and the use of the Hrnbs has remain
ed to compensate for che loss of nose
and lips and ears. The seven patients
represent the three distinct forms Of
| leprosy, but to the nonprofessional eye
there is little difference between them.
All have the same dry, horrible, scaly
skin-the same dead hands and feet,
into which a pin may be pushed clear
to Its head without any pain being
caused. All have, too, the same pc
culiar muscular twitching Of the eyes,
and all display the same eagerness to
deny that it is leprosy that has cursed
| them, and is inch by inch claiming their
| bodies.
Nip Sing is sure that his feet rotted
away because he worked for long time
in watery, swampy land; Fong Sin I4oi
says it was handling the pick and
shovel that made his hands sore-that
| is ALL Chin Wah Yuen blames poison
GUS ivy for his misfortunes, and Lang
Nung says it was frostbite in the Mani
toba winter. None will admit that it
is leprosy, or, at all events, that the
curse has been. Inherited. Each is will
| ling to allow that all his fellows are
plague-stricken, but not himself. With
himself it is always something else,
although so like.
| But as the days go on they waste
| away, growing constantly weaker and
| weaker, until some intercurrent disease
releases them from their suffering and
another rude grave is made in the
| woods and there is one less In the cab
| ms. Leprosy seldom, If ever, is the
direct cause of a lepers death
| On would naturally think that, being
so close to civilization, the lepers would
! find little difficulty in escaping from
their island prison. They seldom try
the experiment however Intelligent
energy is gone, and the lepers know
that no help can be had from their fell
| low countrymen, to whom leper is
| to-day what he was 1000 years ago
one to be driven forth into the desert
Only one escape has been made or at
| tempted since Darcy Island station
| was established, and that about six
months ago. There was a doubt among
| the Chinese as to the genuineness of
the case, and the leper's friends carried
| him away Srom tn island in a sloop,
secreted him in Chinatown for weeks,
and ultimately disappeared with him.
The death rate among the lepers dur
ing the three years the lazaretto has
been in existence has been about six
| ty per cent, and the most rapid prog.
ress Of the disease noted was observed
| in the case of the only white man who
had yet been condemned to the island
He contracted the plague from Chinese
woman only about one year before it
| terminated his life. Strange to say,
there have been no suicides among the
lepers and no attempts.
| DR.. George H. Duncan, in whose