Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-05-13
A CAMP OF THE DOOMED
Hospital for Victims of the Sleep
ing Sickness.
Scenes in the Commi ssion's Camp at
Sesse, CEanda-suHe rers Endure
Tortures and Re ally sIcep Little
Meat Their Only Crsv-
Ing.

A correspondent writing from Nom
hasa British East Africa. saws: The
sleeping Sickness commission is hoping
that Theodore Roosevelt will pay visit
to the expeditions camp at Sesse, tgan-
da. where Sir David and Lady Bruce
are In charge Of the segregation hospi-
tails. The governments of Germany.
Trance. and Belgium. az well as the
government Of the United Kingdom. are
working together endeavoring to md a.
cure or preventive for the sleeping sick
ness Altogether seven European doc
tors have .uccunbed to the fatal disease
since the determined attempts to cope
with IL were begun. Gov Sir Hesketh
Sell, in appealing 10 wealthy mon md
others henevolenty disposed for money
gifts to enable him to purchase live
stock to slaughter, to crafty the one
| craving Of the sufferers. which is sum
| mod UP in the word meat" describes
| hi. latest visit to the amp in part as
| follows:
Tho patients were lodged in large
matched bandas and were divided ac-
cording to sex and the various stages Of
| the disease. In one enclosure We saw a
number Of infants. in whom the first
appearing. Unaware OF their impending
doom. the little black mites played and
romred 10 their hearts content in IN"
shade Of the banana grove. and only
the swelled glands at the base OF their
| necks showed that their fate was led
| It was sad indeed TO think that In a very
| short time those merry peals of laughter
| would gradually become more and mora
. rare. and that all those poor little Great
| ures. in whom the Joy Of life was 80
| strong, would after wear or two ~
misery. be laid in the crowded cemetery
that could just see between the trees.
THE SECOND STAGE OF THE Dis
EASE
I'm row Of sheds. surrounded by the
banana groves which supply food for
the patents we saw numbers Of those
who had reached the second stage OF the
disease Most OF them appeared to ne
suffering acutely. They seemed TO shun
the cool shade Of the broad matched roofs
and pre- ferred to sit or lie in the full
hlaze of the monday sun. Even there
many of them shivered almost constant
~. and drew about their emaciated limbs
the brown rags os bark cloth which part
~ covered them. The drawn features
and haggard ewes testified 10 the gnaw-
Ing pains that almost constantly aMiot
. them and the unhappy creatures appear
I 81 to have special dread of being touch
, ed. Many of them were in the peculiar
state OF lethargv which has. doubtless
been responsible for the '~'s'eadin9
name ny which the disease ras become
commonly known. unfortunately souna
sleep rarely comes "a The ehef Of tho
doomed ones and tho torpor in which
1 tha az n
, ot never-cea.ng pain. MANY e. them.
in an unGuarded moment. put en- end
TO their miserable lives. and " Is a Won
dor that more Of them do not do liks-
Wise.
"Further on we come To ,hose WHO
were in the last Stages ~ the disease.
Lying about on beds OF wihered leaves.
they had reached 4 degree Of emaciaEon
= that was horrible to SEQ. The unn nv
creatures looked like skeletons. and only
j., their doleful moaning Indicated the pres
cnce OF life in the wretched remains A
few in whom nature was struggling
hard had gone raving mad, ana. IN spiie
Of the fact that the poor creatures HSd
perforce to be chained To heavy logs -
prevent their doing harm one almost
" enyied them their insensibility to tho
n tortures that aff,icted their fellow vic
-
Il for,unaies seemed particularly dreadful
y in that abode Of sufrerins and death.
the FLY WHICH CAUSES THE DIS
EASE
~ "lt is generally accept ed that n variety
, Of the tsetse ny. the glossina palpalis, is
! the principal. II not the only, agent for
! the transmission Of the disease. This
' Nv exists in enormous numbers on the
ebo cf Nirtora Wanna and al so
Q on the borders Of some other lakes and
. rivers OF Uganda. Its habitat. however,
y is restricted to a narrow belt Of forest
y growth adjoining water. and width OF
- two miles - believed to I've the limit OF
the infested zones ont Of some 800 m"
souls inhsbiting the shores OF Victoria
Nvan&a and the islands in the great
+ lake. over 10000 have already been
swept out " existence, and it remains
to he seen whether the remainder can
sull be saved. The extermination of the
/, taetse appears to be a hopeless task,
and II has therefore, been decided IA
., remove all the surviving population out
Of the reach OF the fatal fY.
at IL estimated that over 9oho SEX
now remain to be dealt with. and thew
are being located in large camps capa bio
J. Of accommodating about 600 AT a time.
n Cattle. sheep and goats are cheap in
:. Uganda and comparatively moderate
II sum would enable us to provide now
a and then meals OF meat for the unhappy
d inmates Of the sleeping sickness camps
: Unless cure he soon discovered they
e will not long remain a charge to us, and
j. II my readers could have seen the intense
e delight that TRANSPORTED the faces OF
d the inmates of the refuge at Kissibt OF
'e the prospect Of meat they would think