The Washington times., 1906-03-25

lows out from under your
head, and most of the
bed clothes from your erstwhile
comfortable form, and leaves you
shivering under an inadequate sheet, or
thrusts cold wet sponge in your face,
hurting the while hard hunks Of Ian
guage at your devoted head, as soon as
you have reused yourself sufficiently
wrap yourself in dignity as in a gar
ment-you1l be feeling the need Of
several garments by that tfme-and
answer that you are not a lazybones.
nor yet a sleepy-head, nor any of the
other unworthy things you have been
called; that you are a maEgned and mis-
understood creature. not lazy but Ill,
the victim of the African sleeping sick
ness. And then thank heaven kneeling
that you are not!
For the African sleeping sickness Is
no joke. 1t is on the contrary a very
terrible reality. IT has been until
the last few years a good deal of a
mystery. No cause for il was known.
no cure for g. had been discovered IL
is for one thing a disease that exists
only in Africa. For another thing Il
practically exists only among native
Africans. Europeans are not immune.
il has claimed victims among the white
residents of districts wnere IL was prev
alent. but they have been few. so few
that the whites have never been in any
fear OF tho disease. And II has pre-
vailed moss in the districts where there
were fewest white settlers. To the
blacks II has been an ever present ter
ror, since the beginning OF time-partic-
ulariy I'm west Africa and the Congo
basin
No disease is stronger or more ap-
pallins in its quiet inexorable deadli-
ness than this sleeping sickness which
has apparently existed from time i'm
memorial on the West African coast.
The first record Of it occurs in 1903.
when winterbottom, writing from
Sierra Leone, says: THE Africans are
very subject to species of lethargy
which they are very much afraid Of.
as II proves fatal in every instance"
Until recently it confined it's ravages TO
the West African coast, but with the
white invasion of Africa, the opening
up of trade routes across the continent.
the disease has spread until 1t made its
appearance IN the British protectorate
Of Uganda, and having appeared on
the north shore of Victoria Nyauza.
the Germans are afraid that IT viii
invade German Africa.
So long as it stayed on the west
coast of Africa the sleeping sickness
came little in contact with the white
man, with his perniciOus spirit of in
vestigation, with his unconquerable
sntipathy 20 sitting still and letting
anything kill him. with his uncon-
querable desire TO know the cause and
find the cure for the ills that flesh Is
heir TO- And so It had a long and tri-
urnphant career and reaped unmolested
a terrible harvest among the blacks.
It really made a serious mistake in
spreading until it found itself up
against the white man. for undoubt-
edly the white man viii eventually
put IT to route
The disease. although noted, had
never been investigated until about
five years ago It was found to be deci-
mating the native population of
Uganda. 1t was most virulent in the
western part of the protectorate. but
was by no means confined to il. as
there were thousands of cases in the
East II was first noticed in 1901. In
June. 1902, II was estimated by the
royal commissioner OK Ugunda, writ
ing officially to the Marquis OF Lans-
downe. that 5000 natives had fallen
victims TO II n the western part Of the
protectorate. and several thousand
more IN the eastern part BY June.
1904. II was stated on competent au-
thority that 10000 had died of it No
curative treatment was known. no
authentic instance of recovery had
been recorded.
The British government became Sc
riously alarmed. and decided il must
investigate. But the British govern
ment had no laboratories for such an
investigation. 1t had no funds on which
IL could draw To pay a commission Of
experienced experts 10 give up their
work and their practice in England and
leave their comfortable homes TO in
vestisate a mysterious ailment that
was killing off a lot of savaSes in the
wilds of Africa So il had TO avail
itself OF the services of such enthusIas-
tic young medical mon as would volun-
teer for the service. or these it ap-