The Portland daily press., 1899-02-04


they should be confined ut once. One OF
the pledges that the board makes Is ths'
the real names of the lepers shall never .e
made known, nor shall any inquiry oe
conducted into thar family connections
A pledge of this kind is absolutely neces.
sary. The fact that leper Is conneoteu
with a Louisiana family Is certain to anect
that family. This Is owing to the beiiei
that the disease may skip generation or
so, and break out at any time In the de-
scendants Of a family afflicted with the
malady.
While the home has cared for the lepors
we'll ana has made them more comfortapie
and prolonged their lives. IL cannot be
said that 1t has accomplished nytninR IN
the way of treating or curing the disease,
although every remedy has been tried.
II has been shown that the disense is no.
infectious, but contagious hence carried
to the blood by personal contact Win
leprous sores. Not case nor q suspicion
of case can he traced to the Indian
Camp home. The institution was eseau,
lished, however. more for the protection
Of the community against the maIsay
than with any belief that cure cou III DC
found for it
Investigation, conducted mainly by Dr.
lsadore Dyer, first President of the LOUIS
lana Leper Board, shows that the disesse
was brought into Louisiana In 100 py
well known that leprosy has prevailed Tor
q couple of centuries In Acadie Nova
Scotia), but IL had been generally Thought
that the Louisiana leprosy came from the
East. 1t is now beyond question that u
was brought In by the Acadians In 100,
and reinforced by the larger Acsdinn I'M
migration of l77u 1he.e were large
number of lepers among the new arrivals
who exposed their sores and begged on
the streets, so arousing popular sentim ent
that leper hospital was erected In 1879
by Don Andres Almonaster, who built the
ST Louis Cathedral, the Charity Hospital
and other public buildings. and was the
richest man in the colony. This Hospital
was on Metairie Ridge, In the immediate
rear of Reed avenue, the neighboring
country being known as "lepers" lana. .
This hospital greatly reduced the amount
of leprosy, and If the vigorous polcy then
pursued Of combining lepers within IL had
been continued the disease would nave
been rooted out of Louisiana.
From 1887 to 1879 little was heard OF
lerfosy In Louisiana, although II existed.
1t was generally confined to few famil-
les and to remote localities, especially the
swamp along the lower Lsfoucrhe.
bout 1879 the disease attracted attention
again when seven cases were reported;
The doctors began an examination ana
reported eighty three cases in all, mum :
the old leper hospital, closed seventy two
years before. Most of the patients were
Of foreign birth or pareptage. Of these
lepers only ten were connted In the pest
house. The agitation aroused the l1egisia
ture, and the result was the legislation OF
1892.
Altogether, DR.. Dyer found evidenc
of 277 cases of leprosy in Louisiana, OF
which 1871 are presumably living. None
of the cases was imported, the patients
having been born in Louisiana or having
acquired leprosy after removal here: Nor
could any cases of heredity be found, con-
trsry to the popular belief. When SO.
called family leprosy occurs it is manifest
ed after tho age of or 9. and oftener IN
adults There were twenty lone Instances
Of oonsanguinity, many with history OF
contact; forts live instances of parents
and ohildren afflicted, but no instance In
which either parent WAS affected before
the birth Of "a child. and sixty one IN
stances of constant exposure to contact.
In six cases both husband and wife were
lepers; In twenty-seven brothers and Sis
tiers; in twenty six, parents and children.
One of the cases was that of priest, an
italisn, infected while ministering to the
lepers of the lower Lafoutche, and another
that of IA nurse VINO had waited on the
leper sick.
The Board of Control in Its report to
Gov. Foster makes an earnest demand for
energetic and vigorous action, the pur-
chase of grounds for the lepers and the
confinement of all lepers In home II
this be done it Is the opinion of all ex-
merits that the disease can be got rid of in
Louisiana In very short time; but
action should be taken at once. as the
lease of the,present home expires this year