The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1909-12-07
AMERICAN SOLDIER
BECOMES LEPER
MAMMA Cablenews-AmerIcanl

Is 1t right to Danish a white man
to Ieper colony inhabited solely
by an Asiatic people, an alien race
there to live in lifelong exile when
de has both the desire and the money
to leave the country for China, where
ne can live in peace?
Thomas Davenport, a young Ameri-
can citizen who has served a large
part Of his life fighting under the Anne
.rican flag, has been asking himself
these quesuons for the past ten
months in his lonely tent in the heart
Of Manila and all the answers seem to
be against him.
Thomas Davenport is the man who
as a private in Company F, 26th Unit
led States Infantry, was sent to the
Isolation ward of the Division Hos
Ipital last Jandary when he was found
to be afflicted with leprosy. A preli-
minary examination about January 10
J at Quartet Espana in the Walled City
where he was stationed caused his
transfer to the Division Hospital, and
a thorough examination by high me-
dical officers in the army later in the
month determined conclusively that he
was a victim OF leprosy. Since that
time he has been the sole occupant
Of tent in the isolation ward.
/ Since Davenports isolation a great
deal of correspondence has been going
on between the local military author
lilies and the War Department at
Washington as to what should be done
with him. The fiat came back that
Davenport should be discharged for
disability and turned over to the in
sular authorities. Davenport protest
ed and wrote for permission to leave
the country, knowing that he could
find a haven in other countries, China,
for instance So long as conditions
there are as they are why should he
not go?
His answer last month was an order
from the Secretary of War ordering
his discharge from the service for dis
ability This, of course, cut off all
pay and allowance, and he had not yet
been able to get pension.
And now a cable has been received
at Fort Santiago which orders the
hospital officers to turn him over to
the insular government.
big Six as Davenport is known
throughout the Army, is believed to
hoUa cODtraofed tho coOrroa an TIoilO
in 1898 when serving with Company
G, 18th Infantry, in which outfit he
enlisted July 16, 1898 to come to the
Philippines. His station in Ioilo I'M
doubleday brought him in contact with
one or more native lepers, inasmuch as
a number of afflicted ones escaped in
the precipitate evacuation of Iloilo by
the Spaniards. An unusual number
or 1eprous cases have been brought
to light in Iloilo during the intervening
eleven years, but Davenport's was the
first and only instance of an American
who lived there having become al
tlicted.
Davenport's was the first case of le-
prosy among American troops in the
Philippines, and that of the second
American to become a victim of the
scourge in the history of American oc-
cupation. The first case was that of
George Pheifer, an examiner in the
bureau of customs, who was declared a
leper in Manila over three years ago.
He died in San Lazaro Hospital less
than month after the discovery. He !
caught it from the Moros of Minda-
mao in the early days of pacification. |
Davenport is 81 years old, with over |
II years service in the army, counting
double time, At the time of his trans
fer to the Division Hospital he was
worth about $4,000 which was on de-
post with the paymaster and put out |
il investments. He was of a quiet |
disposition and temperate habits. For
fourteen months before the leprosy de-
veloped he had been on special duty
in the quartermasters department. He
has brother in Knoxville, Tennessee.