Evening star., 1909-05-05
OF UGANDA
Over 100000 Swept Away by
the ''SIeeping Sickness"
VICTIMS OF TSETSE FLY
determination of the Insect Ap-
parently Hopeless.
SURVIVING PEOPLE TO MOVE
Over 10000 Sick Being Located in
Large Camps-Gov. Bells Graphic
Description of the Patients.
SURVIVING PEOPLE TO MOVE

| Correspondence Of the Associated Press.
MOMBASA, British East Africa, Satur-
| day, April 3.-The sleeping sickness COM
mission is hoping that Theodore Roosevelt
will pay visit to the expeditions camp
at Sesse, Uganda, where Sir David and
Lady Bruce are in charge of the segrega-
| tion hospitals. The governments OF Ger
many, France and Belgium, as well as the
government of the United Kingdom, are
loyalty working together endeavoring to
! find a cure of preventive for the sleeping
| sickness Altogether seven European doc
tors have succumbed to the fatal disease
| since the attempts to cope with the evil
| were commenced. Gov. Sir Hesketh Bell,
| in appealing to the millionaireS of the
| world and others benevolently disposed
for money gifts to enable him to purchase
| slaughter stock to crafty the one ana
| only craving of those whose sunerlng IS
so intense, which is summed up In the
word meat describes his latest visit TO
| the camp in part as follows:
Infants in the First Stage.
1.-The patients were lodged in large
! thatched bandas and were divided accord
| ing to sex and the various stages of the
disease. In one inclosure we saw num-
| ber of infants, in whom the first outward
| signs of the scourge were just appearing.
Unaware of their impending DOOM the
| little black mites played and romped 10
| their hearts content in the shade of the
banana grove, and only the sWelled glands
at the base of their necks showed that
| their fate is sealed. 1t was sad lndeed 10
think that in very snort tlme those
merry peals Of laughter would gradually
become more and more rare and these
poor little creatures, in whom the JOY OF
life was SO strong, would. after year or
two of misery be laid In the cro"oeu
| <,r,i1 tJCf
the trees.
Stunned the Cool Shade.
"In row Of sheds, surrounded by
banana groves, which supply the food Tor
the patients we saw numbers of those
who had reached the second stage or the
disease. Most of them appeared to be
suffering acutely. They seemed to shun
the cool shade of the broad thatched roofs
and preferred to sit or lie IN the lull
blaze of the MONDAY sun. Even there
MANY of them shivered almost constantly,
and drew about their emaciated limbs the
brown rags of bark cloth. which partly
covered them. The drawn features anu
haggard eyes testified to the snaWlng
pains that almost constantly anlcted
them. and the unhappy creatures appear
ed to have special dread OF being touch-
ed. Many of them were In the pecu1ar
state of lethargy which has doubtless
been responsible for the misleading name
by which the disease has become com
| monty known Unfortunately SOUND steep
rarely comes to the relief OF the doom
| ed ones. and the torpor in which they lie
comes from the constant strain OF never
ceasing pain Many of them. In an un-
guarded moment. put an end to their mis-
cradle lives, and it is wonder that more
| of them do not do likewise
| Farther in we came to those whoWere
| in the last stages of the disease. Lying
about, on beds or withered leaves, they
| had reached degree OF emaclat1on that
was horrible to see. The unhappy crea-
lures looked like skeletons. and only their
doleful moaning indicated the presence OF
| life in the wretched remains. A lew, IN
whom nature was struggling hard. nad
| gone raving mad, and In spite OF the fact
| that the poor creatures had perforce to
| be chained to heavy logs to prevent their
| doing harm. one almost envied them thelI
| insensibility to the tortures that anlcteo
| their felow-victims. The frenZied laugh
tor Of these unfortunates seemed particu-
! larly dreadful in that abode OF suffering
| and death
Disease Transmitted by Flies.
"It is generally accepted that variety
Of the tsetse fly. the Glossina Falpalis
is the principal. if not the only. agent for
the transmission of the disease. This fly
exists In enormous numbers on the shores
of the Victoria Nyanza and also on the
borders of some other lakes and rivers OF
| Uganda It's habitat however, is restrict
| ed to a narrow belt of forest growth ad-
| Joining the water. and a width of two
| miles is believed to be the limit OF the
| infested zones. Out of some 100000 sous
| inha biting the shores of the Victoria Ny
| anZa and the islands in the great lake
| over oOOO 900 have already been swept our
! of existence and it remains to be seen
/ whether the remainder can still be saved.
/ 1.-The determination of the tsetse ap-
| pears to be a hopeless task. and 1t mas
| therefore been decided to remove all the
| surviving population out of the reach OF
i the fatal fly.
| "It is estimated that over 2o.VO SICK
! now remain to be dealt with. and they
| are being located in large camps capabie
| of accommodating about 600 at a time
| Cattle sheep and goats are cheap IN
| Uganda and comparatively moderate
/ sum would enable us to provide now ana
| then meals of meat for the unhappy IN
/ mates of the sleeping sickness camps.
Unless a cure be soon discovered they Will
/ not long remain charge to us, and II
nv readers could have seen the intense
i delight that transfigured the faces of the
| inmates of the refuge at kissubl at the
. | prospect of meat they would think few
| shillings we'll spent in that direction
Il