Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1913-10-24

known every leper in the Philip
pines, numbering some 5000, i:
now comfortably settled on thi.
island, with the prospect thai
leprosy will be extinct in the
archipelago within a few gener
ations. The law under which
the collection and segregation oil
the lepers was carried out throws
every safeguard around the sus.
pected leper. 1t provides for his
temporary detention until it car
be asc ertained beyond peradven.
ture by medical inspection that
he is leper, and in the event he
has minor children or any estate
provision is made for the care of
the children, and the proper adj
ministration Of his estate. The
leper colony is in charge of an
American doctor and several as
sistantants. There is a Catholic
church in the settlement, and
several sisters of mercy have
gone there to live, and devote
their lives to these poor unfor
tunates. The lepers have a reg
ularly organized municipality,
electing from among themselves
their own officials ; and while the
government provides them with
clothing and the necessaries OF
life, those who are physically
capab BILE of work are encouraged
to cultivate the very and produc-
tive fields in and around the
town. Everything is done by the
government to relieve the monot-
ony Of their unhappy lives. They
are furnished musical instru-
ments, and have organized among
themselves very good band,
At one time there was a wide
spread disease among the natives
known as Leriberi. The Bureau
of Science has discovered that
it was caused in larg
by the rice import, d
from Saigon. which with fish is
the principal diet of the natives
The government has now forbid
den the further importation OF
Saigon rice, and it is believed
that with a rice free from the OBJ
jections to that from Saigon, and
other proper diet, this disease
will in time entirely disappear.
The prevailing idea in America
is that the Philippines are very
unhealthy, and that pestilence
walketh there in darkness, and
destruction wasteth at MONDAY.
it is true the islands
would hardly be selected for a
health resort, nevertheless it is
not nearly so bad as it has been
perSiStently represented. 1t is
true the conditions demand the
of greater care than in
the temperate zone. For exam
pie, all water out there is infect
ed with amoebic germs, and at
times with the cholera germs,
and, therefore, it should never be
drunk without first boiling or
sterilizing it, and one must be
careful in his diet. But aside
from temperamental disqualified
tons one can, with ordinary care,
enjoy as good health and long
life in the tropics as almost any
where.
Dysentery in varied forms is
the worse thing to be contended
with, and cholera next. Tuber-
culosis is very prevalent among
the natives, but is due in a large
measure to their constant expos
ure to the wea ther, lack Of proper
nourishment. and utter disregard
of domestic sanitation and venti-
1ation.
Sunstroke, typoid-fever, and
pneumonia, which carry off thous-
ands annually in America, are
practically unknown in the Phil
ippines, as also hydrophobia.
The greatest difficulty encoun-
tered in carrying forward health
measures has been the opposition
of the natives, and lack of CO.
operation on their part and.
very much to the discredit of the
authorities, there has been in
times past an almost criminal
catering to the whims, caprices,
and superstitions of the natives
in respect to these matters. Ian
attitude that marks a painful
contrast between sanitation un-
der the civil and military author
tiles, with little credit to the
former.
In spite, however, of the diff
ficulties, and shortcomings in