The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1904-03-25

And then she laughed Perhaps she
did not realize that she could not cross
the water again. 1t seems almost but
a stones throw to the feet of the Bla-
auwberg mountains And yet the little
distance is as WIDE as eternity. There
is no crossing the channel any more.
The lunatic may be cured and return to
the bosom Of his family, but the leper
remains on Robben Island companioned
by his scourge. one of the most pitiful
sights, perhaps the most painful, was
the tubercular leper patients. This
peculiar phase Of the disease affects the
muscles and tissues of the face, so that
little children have the look of very old
men and women In one of the wards
there was the saddest spectacle of ALL
A woman, the mother of six children,
had been brought to Robben Island.
She was accompanied by two of her
children. Mother and children were
lepers. The other four children, we
were informed, We're normally healthy.
In all there are $40 male and 200 female
lepers. Great praise must be given to
the nurses, who in themselves, are
heroines, for the clean and tidy manner
i'm which the rooms are kept
Afterwards the party inspected the
new buildings set apart for the Euro
can lepers This building contain dor
mitories with As cubicles, and a large
and airy dining hall, Other buildings
are in progress of erection for the COM
fort and recreation of these poor in
valids.
An excellent lunch was provided for
the party in the European Lunatics'
Dining Hall NJ. Piers presided, and
about 40 guests partook Of the Govern
ments hospitality. After the toast Of
the King had been drunk, the chairman
said that on behalf of the Colonial Sec
rotary and the Government, he welcom-
ed the party to Robben Island. They
were always gratified to see visitors,
and especially to see so many medical
men. He hoped they had all spent a
pleasant day, and that they would have
a happy recollection of Robben Island,
although he begged to assure them
they were not quite so happy as they
seemed.
The Chairman then called upon Dr.
Thomson to supplement his remarks.
DR.. Thomson, resident medical officer
in RObben Island, said that he was
glad to meet his brothers in the pro-
fession and to show them something
that would be of interest and use to
them. Leprosy was one of the diseases
which he might safely say they did not
know anything about. 1t was said that
it was due to fish, perhaps decayed fish,
but there were a great many lepers on
the island who had never seen fish be-
fore they came there, much less eaten
it, and he did not think they could at
tribute it to that. What they were most
anxious to know was the cause of ii,
and so that anything they could do to
relieve suffering humanity might be
done. One point known was the resem-
blance between leprosy and consump-
ton. In fact, the resemblance between
tubercular leprosy and ordinary tuber-
culosis was so close that it was diff
cult to make out which was one and
which the other. A great many of the
patients died of tuberculosis, and he
(Dr. ThOmson) had no hesitation in
saying that there was some sort of con-
nection between the two diseases. DR..
Thomson concluded by reiterating his
pleasure at meeting the visitors.
DR., Mckenzie Durham, replying for
the visitors, said he had been asked to
convey the thanks of those present to
the Civil Commissioner, Mr.. Piers, for
the very pleasant outing which they
had had on RObben Island. Since their
arrival in Cape Town they had fulfilled
but a succession OF pleasant engage
ments made not only for their happi-
ness but also for their information and
improvement. Personally, he was very
much interested in the provision which
the Government had made for isolating
leper and lunatic patients. Robben ISL
and was well adapted for the purpose
to which it had been put. They had
witnessed leprosy in it's various forms,
and that was an educational and inter-
esting experience to them all as med
ical men. The medical staff on RObben
Island had a unique opportunity of
working out the yet unsolved problems
which were associated with the disease
of leprosy, and he trusted that their
study might lead them towards some
solution of these problems.