The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1897-02-26
GROWTH OF LEPRosY
It's First Appearances in Europe and
t...ad,,r,;or fntn i6eana6fa

when lepcr was pickeu up IN Lnel
streets Of Paris few days ago and
carried to the St Louis hospital, it
was found that six lcprous patients
did not exhibit as much concern
over the matter as the average man
might expect, says the Globe Dem
ocrat. The fact is, leprosy issnot so
rare as we have been taught to
think, and throughout the civilized
world the diseases vigorously alive,
claiming victims every day Of the
year and increasing its hold in GER
tain countries with alarming rapid
ity. Norway is said to DO the most
leprous country in Europe, and it is
estimated that over 800 arc suffer-
ing from it there, while in Sweden
the progress of the disease has been
so rapid in recent years that there
are 4G2 victims in it. In Spain and
Portugal there are numerous leper
hospitals, which are never without
patients, and in Turkey and the
1onian islands it gains ground an
nually. There are over 500 lepers
in Crete, and the latest statistics
show that there are 100, 900 lcpers
in India. China, Japan, Hayti, Trim
idad, Guiana, Venezuela. Brazil,
Paraguay, Tonquin and Iudo-China
are all infested with leprosy.
But when we come nearer home
we find that the disease has made
alarming progress in certain quar-
tiers.
The oldest lcper colony in this
part is located at Tracadie, in the
province of New Brunswick, Can
ada. Here probably occurred the
first death in North America from
leprosy 1t was nearly So years
ago that q woman died in Tracadie.
of peculiar disease, and was buried
by a missionary priest of the Roman
Catholic hurch The physician who
attended the case went to Europe
shortly afterward and visited all of
the foreign hospitals ito find par
allel case, but he was unable to find
anyone suffering from the same
malady While visiting in Norway
he saw several lepers, and upon his
return to Canada he unhesitatingly
pronounced the strange case OF the
dead woman to have been leprosy.
But the strangest part Of the
story of how leprosy started IL sSts
country was revealed later. Ontof
the four fishermen who carried the
body of the dead woman to her
grave was in his shirt sleeves at the
time and the sharp edge Of the coffin
cut through the sleeve into the skin.
The coffin had been rudely made
and the corpse put in carelessly. A
Shiny discharge from the body
oozed through the wooden box and
entered the punctured flesh of the
fisherman. This caused blood pois-
ouing, and the man died q short
time afterward from the same NAL
ady. 1t was about this time that
the physician returned and an
nounced to the board of health that
the woman's disease was leprosy.
Inside of 16 years there were 20
lepers in Tracadie, and the pro-
vincial government had to take
steps to isolate them from the rest
of the population. The lazaretto
was a miserable building, where the
lepers were forced to live and die in
great misery, often suffering more
from hunger aud cold than from
the pangs of the disease. The in
mates of this building constantly
increased, and little was done to inn
prove their condition until 1866. In
that year the good sisters of the
Hotel Dicu, in Montreal, through
certain representations of DR.. Bay
ard. of Tracadic, undertook to miti-
gate their sufferings and to build
proper lazaretto for them. The sis
tiers arrived in Tracadie in 1868 to
create the change they had been
planning, and while they imme-
diately improved the condition of
the patients, they were handicapped
for many years by the interference
of the local board of health and gov
eminent.
A pair OF Crocodile shears" was re-
Gently set up in Pittsburgh tina: can
cut plates of any size ~ inches thick,
or bar four inches square.
A great German company has been
formed with capital of ss.ooo,ooo. to
establish iron works and railway en-
CINE factory in Southern Russia.
1t has been found impossible to build
lighthouse on Diamond Shoal. of
Hatteras. but the government will put
in lightship Mt once. and she will be
the strongest ever made.
Jeremiah Head, wise English au-
.hority. admits the ability of Alabama
10 produce iron cheaper than England,
but thinks freight charges will pre-
vent serious competition.