The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1904-05-06
ANOTHER CHAPTER
ON DR.. ASHMEAD
DIR. GOODHUE OF HAWAII WRITES
TER REGARDING HIS WORK.

| timO, would say that l thlnk 100 muCn
attention has been paid (officially) to
DR.. Albert S. Ashmead of New York.
What he says upon the subject of
leprosy is not seriously considered by
conservative medical men, and the
main body of the medical profession is
conservative.
1t gravitates within defined limit, and
although individual pieces may fly
off into space and describe an erratic
course of fire and flame i'm the pseudo
scientific horizon, they invariably fall
out and die.
DR.. Ashmead is one of these indivi-
dual pieces. l have no doubt he is
educated, personally honorable and reg
ular in his professional work, but tenn
peramentally he amuses more than he
instructs his cOnferees.
In a private letter written to me by
one of the ablest and best known ply
sicians in the United States (and per-
haps in the worldly the writer calls DR..
! Ashmead crank" He is a man
who jumps at conclusions and therefore
fears nothing in the way of statement.
He cannot or will not do patient un-
sensational work. and without material
of his own, his deductions though often
"takn" are generally illogical,
So, in his statement of mere fact he is
not careful as may be seen from what
he says about Molokai and the selling
of fish there. When DR.. Jordan came
to Hawaii he did not come to study
lleprosy. but at DR.. Ashmead's request
he consented to ascertain what he could
in regard to the etiology of leprosy here
| &c hot ha ha 20
to do this, but accepted hearsay. and he
should not be blamed for the break"
The fancied link between fish and le-
prosy has troubled Ashmead ever since
Hutchinson took it up, and while the
latter has made some real study of
the matter DR.. Ashmead has only ad-
vertised it.
1t is DR.. Ashmeads method not to
let the word "leprOsy" go unchallenged
If he sees it, no matter where, he has
something to say and the result is that
most of his contributions appear in the
newspapers.
1 have before me a long illustrated
article by DR.. Ashmead in which he
takes UP in a half scientific way a
fancied relation between syphilis and
leprosy, using old skeletons and older
history as data.
AS nothing could be demonstrated
either way, the discussion is rather
useless. 1 do not wish to misjudge, and
positively have no sympathy with the
Hawaiian propensity to expose,
SHOW up in plain English, to black
mail any person we happen not to like
but l am afraid that DR.. Ashmead's
work in leprosy will give his enemies
a chance to say that he has done 1t
less for the love of science and human
ity than for the benefit of one human
being. From 1896 to 1903 l contributed
articles on leprosy to the New York
Medical Record. Philadelphia Medical
Journal, Journal American Medical As
ISOLATION Doctors Magazine, American
Journal OF Dermatology, St Louis Me-
dical Review and Climate. Many of
these publications issued reprints some
of which circulated largely one par
ticularly calling attention to the large
number of cases of leprosy on the main
laind, and suggesting some legislation
in regard to the matter.
1t was followed by an article setting
forth the scientific and humane method
of our own (Hawaiian) government,
stating that they might well be copied
| by other countries. These COntribu-
lions were at least conservative and
! within the bounds of laboratory demon
stration.
! Without my knowledge or consent,
parts of these contributions We're CO.
pied into lay journals like the Pitts
! burg Leader, Current Literature and
New York Times. Shortly after this,
Dr. Ashmead came out with the draft
| of a bill for the establishment Of a
| lazaretto. A priest in one of the
Western states Joined in with him, and
they formulated a grand scheme for
| National Leprosarium" to be located
somewhere in the far west, and for the
appointment of a commissioner of
Leprosy" at alrge.
1t was characteristic of Dr. Ashmead
to place the settlement as far as pos
sible from medical centers, and at the
! longest possible range of exposure and
expense.
The Commissioner was to have
rowing commission, and, as it turned
out to be DR.. Ashmead himself. The
| first intimation 1 had Of such an idea
came from the newspaper notices of
| this "Leprosarium." 1t was a political
move, and as such, resulted in nothing
being done. My recommendation that
committee of responsible medical men
| be appointed by some department of
the government like the p. H. & NJ. II.
S. was acted upon and resolutions were
passed acknowledging the need for de-
finite action. Credit too is due w. o.
Smith for his talks on leprOsy at about
this time in Washington and elsewhere.
refused many requests from news
papers to give them articles on leprosy
or on Molokai. Later 1 was asked by
st. Louis Worlds Fair Medical pub
| LEGATION for a series of three articles on
THE History of Leprosy," "Molokai
and the Leper Settlement" and "The
Aetology and Therapeutics Of Leprosy"
to be issued in special form and sent
to every physician in the United States
and it's dependencies
referred the matter to the Board of
Health at the time and this body left
the matter in my hands,
At first l thought that such series
properly prepared might counterfeit