Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1899-05-18
SPREAD or LEpROSY
CAN Be PREVENTED
Noted English Doctor Discusses
Prevalence Of Dread Disease
In the Philippines,
NECESSARY SANITARY PRECAUTIONS
No Danger of an Epidemic in tho
American Army if Proper
Health Measures Are
Taken.

Chicago, May 1s.-Leprosy. which.
according to cablcgrams from Manila
has appeared among The American
troops, is not likely TO prove epidemic
ii ordinary sanitary measures arc pun.
sued, according to DIR. John krlpat-
rick, England's most noted authority
On the dread curse of the human
race, who is at present visitor in
Chicago.
For a quarter of a century DIR. Kirk
patrick has been connected With the
military and civil service of her nla.eS-
~, during which time i'm the discharge
of his duties he has visited nearly cv-
cry port on the globe that has seen
Treat Brituin's commercial Nag. .Ns
district physician and surgeon al ST.
kits. West Indies, where the largest
hospital for lepers in the world is To-
rated, he had an opportunity OF study
ing every form of the disease and Sc
curing material for series of extern
sive articles, which have been enrolled
in the archives of his government.
DIR. Kilkpatricll's attention was
called TO the presence of the affection
in the Philippines through the medium,
of a dispatch of yesterday. relating
the experiences of Private Schneider,
of the First South Dakota infantry. in
the far-away islands. Mr.. Schneider
told of the horrible revenge practcc'l
by the Filipinos on many of their pris-
oners by inocuating them with the
virus of the disease.
.'rhe story is one of the most revolt
ing i'm all the history of warfare said
the distinguished man of medicine,
"and judging from the prcvalency of
the curse i'm those equatorial islands
and the undisputed trcachery of the
natives. there is little reason to doubt
its truth. Beside those fiends incar-
nate the Zulu of Africa. with his pois-
pntd arrow. is a humanitarian of high
degree.
MANY years of my life have been
spent among those poor unfortl1natcs.
and woe to him who contracts the ter
rible poison. The hand of death is on
him from the moment the bacillus is
in his veins. There is absolutely no
hope for him. Christ would have to
come again and extend his healing
hand to those wretched mortaIs 20
make their recovery possible
But viewed apart from its attends
ing individual misery, leprosy should
not cause the same feelings of dread to
an army that the discovery OF yellow
fever, smallpox or cholera would pro-
mote. You have no doubt a number of
able surgeons and physicians with
your army of occupation. and these
men, drilled i'm the most efficient
means of promoting proper sanitation
ought to know how TO cope with the
trouble. Let the men who are afflicted
be isolated. Feelings of humanity are
all we'll and good. but the afflicted
must be removed from their fellows
and kept away yes, far away from
the pale of civilization.
The slightest scratch from one of
these patients is very likely to com
municate the disease. Soldiers are
| frequently careless i'm the handling of
| their weapons and the boy with the
slightest abrasion OF the skin may
have the deadly bacilli in his arteries
before he has the least suspicion that
death is slowly yet inevitably press
ing its hand about his throat.
| so far medicine has only been able
to amcliorate the condition of those
doomed by lcprosy. \ cure has never
been attained Two oils have been
highly effective They are known as
oils OF g'urgon and chaulmogra. The
disease has two forms. One is STYLED
the anesthetic and the other the esthe-
tic a mummified condition. utterly
devoid of feeling in The affected parts,
is brought about i'm the former i'm
stance. Pain most eNcruciating accom-
panies the esthctic, The torture of
these unfori'lnates surpasscs almost
anything known to the medical man.
Strange as it may seem life fingers
ON and on i'm the Ieper. except where
| violent hemorrhagcs accompany the
affection. as is usually the case when
the form is esthetic. | have known
poor chaps TO come into the hospital
| at st. Kits. drag ON Il weary. hcll-iilse
| existence until old age and then with
their feet and hands gone succumb TO
congestion of the lungs or some other
nalady, thus robbing the dire scourge
of a victim when the unfortunate
seemed TO be in its last clutches"
DIR. kirkpatrick is a man of history.
| lie served on the Red Cross staff of
lord Sutherland during the terrible
ltusSo-Turkish war, was twice taken
prisoner by the soldiers of the ear,
and eventually released 10 have both
louses of parliament honor him with
IN invitation to detail his experiences
md sufferings at their gathering. He
VAS awarded two war medals and mod
.stly displays to his friends two gold
lnedalions that tell in their quaint
| characters, that the bearer has received
| .he two highest degrees of the famous
imperial order of the Medjedie. They
we're pinned on his coat by the sultan,
Abdul lIamid. himself. Dir. kirllpat-
rick's brother. Walter Edward Kirk
patrick, is secretary of the Chicago
| title and Trust company.