Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1897-12-23
GROWTH OF LEPROSY.
Its FRS. appearance in Eurcpe and
tntroduc ion Into Canada.

Its FRS. appearance in Eureps and
introduc ion Into Canada.
When leper was picked up in the
streets of Paris a few DAYS ago and
carried to the St Louis hospital. it
was found that six leprous patients
did not exhibit as much concern
over tie matter as the average man
might expect, says the Globe Dem
ocrat. The fact is, leprosy is not so
rare as we have been taught to
think, and throughout the civilized
world the disease is 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 be the most
leprous country in Europe, and it is
estimated that over 800 are suffer-
ing from it there, while in Sweden
the progress of the disease has been
80 rapid in recent years that there
are 1852 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 lepers
in India. China, Japan, Hayti, Trim
idad, Guiana, Venezuela, Brazil,
Paraguay, Tonquin and Indo-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 leper 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
ieprosy. 1t was nearly 65 years
ago that q woman died in Tracadie
of a peculiar disease, and was buried
by missionary priest of the Roman
Catholic hurch. The physician who
attended the case went to Europe
shortly afterward and visited all of
the foreign hos pitfalls to find q 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 in that
country was revealed later. One of
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-
oning, and the man died a short
time afterward from the same mall
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 l6 years there were 20
epers in Tracadie, and the pro-
vincial government had to take
steps to isolate them from the rest
Of the population. The lazaretto
was Q miserable building, where the
iepcrs were forcel to live and die in
great misery, often suffering more
from hunger and 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 Dieu, in Mont real, through
certain repres entations of DR.. Bay
ard, OF Tracadie, undertook to raiti-
gate their sufferings and to build
proper lazaretto for them. The sis
ters arrived in Tracadie in 1863 to
create the change they had been
planning, and while they inme-
liately improved the condition o.
the patients they were handicapped
for many years by the Interference
Of the local board OF health and gov
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