Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-06
Latest Addition to Bag Gives Roose.
welt District Record.
MAY AID FIGHT ON DISEASE
Head Of Hospital for Combating Of
Sleeping VIII Try to
Interest E~x-PresIdent in
the work. b.

MOMBAsA. British East Africa, satur-
day, April 3.-Tne sleeping sickness com
mission IL hoping that Theodore Roosevelt
will pay a visit to the expeditions camp at
Sesse. Uganda. where Sir David and Lady
Bruce are In charge of the segregation
hospitals. The governments Of Germany,
France. Belgium. as well as the govern
ment OF the United Kingdom, are Loyalty
working together endeavoring to find a
cure or preventive for the sleeping sick
ness, altogether. seven European doctors
have succumbed TO the fatal disease since
the attempts to cope with the evil were
commenced.
Governor Sir Hesketh Bell. in appealing
to the m~illionaires Of the world and others
benevolently disposed for money gifts to
enable him to purchase slaughter stock to
crafty the one and only craving of those
sufferings IL so intense, which is
summed up in the word meat" describes
his latest visit to the camp in part as
follows:
Babes in First stage.
The patients were lodged in large
matched bandas and were divided accord
ing to sex and the various stages Of the
disease. In one enclosure we saw a num-
Der of infants. in whom the first utwar
signs Of the scourge were just appearing.
Unaware Of their impeding doom, the little
black mites played and romped to 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
was sealed. 1t was sad indeed to think
that in a short time those merry peals OF
laughter would gradually become more
and more rare, and that all those little
creatures in whom the JOY Of life was so
strong, would, after a year or two Of
misery. be laid In the crowded cemetery
that l could Just see between the trees.
I'm a row Of sheds, surrounded by the
banana groves which supply the food for
the patients, we saw numbers of those who
had reached the second stage of the disease,
Most Of them appeared to be suffering
They seemed to shun the cool
shade OF the broad matched roofs and pre-
ferred to sit or lie in the full blaze of the
MONDAY sun. Even there many Of them
shivered almost constantly. and drew about
their emanciated limbs the brown rags OF
bark cloth which partly covered them.
The drawn features and haggard eyes testi-
fled to the gnawing pains that almost
afflicted them and the unhappy
appeared to have special dread
of being touched. Many Of them were In
the peculiar state OF lethargv which has.
doubtless been responsible for the mislead-
ing name by which the disease has become
commonly known. Unfortunately sound
sleep rarely comes to the relief Of the
doomed ones, and the torpor In which they
lie comes from the constant strain Of never
eeastng pain. Many of them, I'm an UNI
guarded moment, put an end to their miser-
able lives, and it is a wonder that more OF
them do not do likewise
Agony of Third Stage.
Further in. we came to those who we're
In the last stages of the disease. Lying
reached a degree Of emacistion that was
horrible to see. The unhappy creatures
looked like skeletons. and only their dole
full moaning indicated the presence OF life
In the wretched remains. A few, In whom
nature was struggling hard, had gone
raving mad, and In spite of the fact that
the poor creatures had p~erforce TO be
chained to heavy logs to prevent their
doing harm, one almost envied them their
insensibility to the torture that afflicted
their fellow victims. The frenzied laughter
OF these unfortunates seemed particularly
ul6duIQl III lldl dDOue OF suffering anu
death.
1T is generally accepted that a variety
of the Tsetse fly. the ~glossina falpalls is
the principal, II not the only agent for
the transmission of the disease. This fly
exists in enormous numbers on the shores
OF the Victoria Nyazana and also on the
borders Of some other lakes and rivers of
Uganda. It's habitation, however, is re-
stricted to a narrow growth adjoining
water, and a width of two miles is believed
to be the limit OF the infested zones. Out
Of some 10000 souls inhabIting the shores
OF Victoria Nyanza and the islands in the
great lake. over 200, 900 have already been
swept out of existence, and 1t remains to
be seen whether the remainder can still be
saved.
Twenty Thousand Have Disease.
THE determination Of the Tsetse appears
to be a hopeless task. and 1t has therefore
been decided to remove all the surviving
population out Of the reach OF the fatal fly.
1T is estimated that more than 10000
sick now remain to be dealt with, and
they are being located In large camps
capable OF accommodating about 1000 at a
time.
Cattle. sheep and goats are cheap in
Uganda, and a comparatively moderate
sum would enable us to provide now and
thu n meals OF meat for the unhappy in
Notes OF the sleeping sickness camps.
Unless a cure be soon discovered, they
will not long remain a charge to us, and
II my readers could rave seen the intense
delight that TRANSPORTED the faces OF the
inmates OF the refugee at Kissubi at the
prospect OF meat they would think a few
.kgug,as nell anapt In that aFra,+g-.