The San Francisco call., 1897-10-14
'LEPROSY
MENACES
AMERICA
An Eminent Practitioner
on the Dangers Of
Annexation.
DR.. .WOOLSEYS SOUND
A NEW ALARM.
Under the Touch of the Plague
American Civilization
VIII Wither.
EXPENSE OF MAINTAINING
MOLOKAI.
Under the Touch of the Plague
American Civilization
VIII Wither.
EXPENSE OF MAINTAININ @
MOLOKAI.
Has Impoverished the Island Gov.
y ernment, and the Plague Has
Not Been Checked.


ordinary activity of the annexationists
upon the question of the annex
alton of the Sandwich Islands. a
question which, it seems TO me,
has not been seriously considered by the
American people. The scheme of annex
alton Is clearly a scheme Tor private gain
ard one that is liable to bring upon rs
untold misery. Mr.. Hatch, :he Hawaiian
Minister, is as busy as possible Matching
the annexation plot Mr.. Sewall, the
American Minister, is obviously doing
nothing else. Senator Morgan bas been
to Honolulu to close the annexation con-
tract. An extra session of Congress for
the purpose of taking action on the ques-
ton is threatened and the Hawaiian Par
lament mas everything already cut and
dried.
A late steamer from Honolulu brought
the news that the Premier of New South
Wales, visiting there, had expressed him
self pronouncedlv in favor of the annexa-
ton of the Sandwich Islands by the
United States, and added that this
should be done Immediately, as the
islands were being overrun by hordes
from China and Japan, and that this
Government knew how to stop such i'm
migration.
The eminent parsonage had undoubt-
edly familiarized himself with the provi-
sions of the Tom and Gedrq exclusion act,
and perhaps with the discussion thereon
in our Congress, but it is evident that be
had not watched the practical operation
of our laws for the exclusion OF the Chi
nese.
This startling utterance by the repre-
l. sentative of the British crown quite
shocked the English residents Of Homo
lulu, Tor it appeared 10 them that he was
not alone considering the welfare of the
islands, but had 1t In his heart to wish US
all the good luck that could come in that
way.
1t was very nice of the Premier to be so
unselfsh, so un- English, and it is very kind
of the Govern ment of Hawaii to honor Us
above all other nations by graciousiy So
Letting us to accept the islands-and
leprosy.
The fact is, the Hawaiian Government
Is the biggest white elephant under the
canopy of the skies that stretch from
pole 70 pole, and that the diplomats OF
other countries expect this Government
10 continue to play the fool. Leprosy con-
talns the real reason the native Gov
ernment of Hawaii lost its grip, and it is
because Of IeprOsy that the present Gov
ernment OF the islands is so hopelessly in
debt and so extremely anxious to transfer
its responsibilities to US.
Leprosy is an insidious disease. Those
who have it rarely know how, when or
where they contracted it. 1t usually man
lfests itself by loss OF sensation in the fin
gers or elsewher and commonly the first
knowledge of such a condition comes as a
surprise from the discovery that the skin
has been uncon sciousIy burned, cut or
otherwise injured. Loss of sensation i.
followed by a series of destructive struc-
tural changes, which lead slowly but surely
on TO death. The most dreadful thing a about
the disease is that the leper sees himself
. literally dying by inches, and yet has to
tarry OH the earth as an outcast all too
long before he is finished.
Take, for example, the supposable case
of yourself after annexation, the Hotel
del Monte, accidental exchange of
hats with leper. Ten years later you
Tare IN Los Angeles with but one lung, and
yet, under the influence of climate, you
1--we on to have one toe after another rot
away, to have your hands distorted into
veritable claws and your fingers to take
their separate leave, and still on till you
lose an ear, and then your nose may fol-
low suit and fall in or off.
Leprosy, like consumption and some
other constitutional diseases, may lie DOR
mant In the system for years, or may
manifest itself at any time. systemic
Changes at certain periods in life, and de-
blllty or perversion of the general health
arising from any cause-from dissipation
or prolonged residence in a tropical eli
mate and especially the eating of stale and
raw tish-faVor the development of the
disease.
Leprosy has prevailed in almost eyerv
latitude, north and south, wherever il has
been introduced In the colder climates
In Norway, Russia and New Brunswick-
1t IS practically self-limited in isolated In.
calities, but in India, Asia and Africa IL is
widely disseminated. and at Cape Colony
has spread from the natives to the Dutch
settlers. 1t was introduced into Australia
by the Chinese and is there spreading
among the Europeans, In the salubrious
climate of New Zealand it once got a foot
hold In small inland town from an in
fected sailor who went there to live, and
twenty years after all the inhabitants OF
the place, some two hundred in number
had become lepers. But nowhere has il
spread so rapidly as at the Sand wich Isl.
ands- During the last twenty years the
number or lepers increased there from $50
10 over 5000.
Though leprosy was introd uced into the
Islands by the Chinese, it has there found
its true home. The climate and the fish
agree with it, and though it prefers the
native poi-eater, ii las spread among the
whites of all nationalities and al classes.
Among those who walk the streets of
Honolulu to-day in apparent perfect
/health there are undoubtedly many in
whom the poison of the dread disease is
6urking but to destroy.
The authorities there are always search
ing Tor persons who are infected with the
disease, and every week or two send a
patch OF unfortunates to the leper island
of MoIokaI, where there are at the present
ime some 1900 Victims 10 say nothing of
the numbers at the receiving hospital at
honolulu awaiting development and BAN
ishment.
mat such espionage and vigilance
ALWAYS he fonnd nr,,a l.. - - = -