The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-06-23
IS
CURED IN THE
SOUTR5 HOME
Louisiana Institution Sue
cessfully Copes With the
Dreaded Disease.
CHEEKY QUARTERS
MAKES FOR CONTENT
Six Patients Are Discharged
as Cured We Look For
ward to Their Recovery as
an Event That is Ordinary
in Their Lives. ,
Nv AssatIatas Press.

New Orleans, June ga remarka-
BILE medical report touching on the
curing of leprosy vii be presented to
the Louisiana Assembly probably this
| week by the leper home OF the state
of Louisiana.
In this report are the words: dis
charged cured, six.
Practically well and kept under OBJ
servation, five"
Briefly explained, the meaning of
these figures is that out of sixty-one
lepers at the Louisiana institution in
the past two years, six have been
practically cured. The figures are /
from the biennial report of the leper i
home, where for over thirteen years
this state has provided a place for
lepers to receive the comforts and
the skilled medical care which are
not as rule within the reach OF the
sufferers from this malady.
A fact of significance is that this !
report is not submitted to the assem- /
Lbly as indicating that any specific /
cure for leproSy has been discovered. !
The report is simply a statement of |;
the results which have beef-obtained J
from giving lepers the same sanitary |
surroundings that the average person /
e-.sey-r- ands-eal cor
receive nrst-olass 2}est treatment
The renedia-ssed atsTge home are I
those which for many years have /
been used in medical practice as ben
eflcial to leprosy. That Louisiana has /
made a long stride toward stripping
leprosy of the miseries additionally |
associated with the disease was DEM
onstrated by an inspection of the |
home in connection with the report
TO the assembly. Visitors not OILY
~ An1T fn1 - I
but their presence there is by no
means infrequent.
Cheerful Quarters.
The inspection party was agreeably II
surprised to find that as compared =
with the average hospital, the home
was cheerful place to visit. In
stead of being isolated. the institu-
ton races the public highway along
the Mississippi liver levee in iberyille
parish. 1t occupies the Indian camp
plantation, All estate of about 400
acres, with moss-hung oaks, and re-
ta1ninf still much of its ante-beIlum
ggranleur.
A IoW OF seven modern cottages,
containing all of the most up-to-date d
convA:enees, constitute the lepers -
quarers A surgical building and a
small but handsome Catholic church s.
compete this group of leper build II
1ngs. About two hundred wards away n
STAINS the now dilapidated plants- u
ton house, bare even of the most 81
necessary conveniences, which for o
THIRTEEN years has been the home of 1
the our 10 SIX Sisters of Charity who
almSl completely alone have cared VI
for all of the wants of the Iepers. m
iroi nursing to cooking and sweep W
ing al
one of these Sisters has ever e
casht the disease and apparently az
nee OF them fear it. The same is Ell
tle OF the Catholic priest who lives -
l cottage midway between the :
pe!s quarters and whose religious
Fi'ices nearly all the lepers attend. =
Children to the Aged.
Inc first leper seen by the inspec-
on party was particularly remarked.
ie was handsome Creole. and a
hyslclahs diagnosis that he had lep-
'sS would nave been a surprise to
Ae average observer. His appearance
do 10 a notable degree typical OF slC
lrSe number of the other inmates. &c
ue 10 good care, wholesome food, tic
ia pleasant surroundings many of Sc
le patients were as agreeable as Tt
us Creole From children 10 old en-
1oPI0 ana the ages ranged from 4 pls
Ears TO so, most of them appeared tn,
'htented and some undoubtedly hap Z
: From pleasures to politics, they nj.
ere taking a very normal interest DR.
the everyday affairs Of life m
Ohe or the most curious proofs OF lat
e humane work accomplished by ESQ
e nome was TO talk with lepers who -
'oke OF their expected recovery as :
IL were an event ordinary in Iheir r
sease, and who, moreover. exhibited u
last some physical proof te7ding
justify their hopes.
Enjoy Wide Freedom.
me degree OF freedom enjoyed by
csc lepers IS startling. Ther9 are
stockades, no high fences olarm-
guards or even night watc4men
prevent them from escaping from
nome at will. The one Strong ia
nd which holds them to the f4stitu- de-
IN Is the self-sacrtficipg card AMI an
t6rfSI of The Sisters - nhar1y in