The Garden Island. [volume] (Lihue, Kauai, H.T.) 1902-current, 1918-02-12

! ing this disease.
One of the most terrible foes of man
| kind is the great white plague, Tuber-
| culosis. It's work is done so quietly
and so insidiously that few among us
realize the extent of the danger and
| the damage of which it is capable. For
| centuries it was considered incurable,
| and many of its manifestations were
unrecognized and as a natural conse-
quence, little was done in the way of
preventing it's spread. Since the rec
ognition of it's mode of transmission
has given us an indication of the best
ways of fighting it, the death rate
from tuberculosis has dropped Ac-
, cording to Osler, it has fallen fifty per
cent in the last forty years, and in
| spite of this tremendous reduction in
the death rate, the economic loss to
the United States is estimated at from
one hundred and fifty to two hundred
millions of dollars annually.
Among our best weapons in this fight
is the sanitarium, and one of it's best
points is the segregation of the patti
ents. A patient in a moderately ad-
vanced stage of the disease may throw
| off several billion bacilli, or germs, in
twenty-four hours. Under the condi-
tions that prevail in our camps, his op-
portunities for spreading tuberculosis
are terrifying. Then, too, the segre-
cation protects him from many of the
acute respiratory diseases that are al
ways prevalent and that are especially
dangerous to him. Besides this, he
has proper diet, life regulated to suit
his needs, exercise graduated accord
ing to his condition, and no victim of
tuberculosis is competent to judge of
this for himself. Equally important is
the educational factor. The patient
is taught the necessity of fresh air and
cleanliness; he gets some idea of the
way the disease spreads, and how he
can help prevent this spread by care
in splitting, and care of the sputum he
has not only ceased to be a menace to
the community, but has become a
torch capable of giving a variable
amount of light to his fellows still in
hygienic darkness.
One of the main arguments against
the sanitarium is its cost, and it takes
but little consideration to show how
weak an argument can be, and still
find numerous exponents. Tuberculo-
sis is disease that spreads readily
and rapidly, and leads not only to the
tions resulting in orphanage, pauper-
ism, insanity and crime that directly
and enormously increase the public ex-
pense. Suppose it costs dollar and
half a day for eight months to put a
wage Garner, suffering from incipient
tuberculosis, back into healthy condi-
ton. Is there a better way of expend-
and this three hundred and sixtydollars
than by rendering such an individual
able to carry on his lifes work and
support his family, preventing him
from being danger to the communi
ty, his family from being a burden,
and the development of those condi-
tions that lead to crime, pauperism, or
phanage and insanity?
An example may be of interest
About a year ago a Portuguese la
borer of the Makee Spgar Company
developed tuberculosis. His previous
health had been good, and his family
was healthy. | did all could for him
in his home, and, because he objected
strenuously to going to the Leahi
Home, as too far from his family, and
because | expected the Samuel Maize
Iona Memorial Hospital to be ready in
a short time, he was allowed to re-
mainiat home for nearly two months
Then he was sent to the Leahi Home,
and is now nearly ready for discharge
| as cured. Since then, however, his in
fant child has died of tubercular peri
tonitis, his eldest daughter has incip-
lent tuberculosis, and is an inmate of
this sanitarium, and the Makee Sugar
Company is still supporting his wife
and the remaining children. All of
which is unnecessary, and would have
been prevented, had this sanitarium
been in running order when his symp-
toms first developed.
So much as to what a sanitarium
means. Now few words as to what
| the Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hos
pital is doing.
Built by private charity, it is depend
ent upon the territorial and county
governments and private charity for
support, and there is grave danger of a
part of the Territorial support being
| cut off. Should it be, we will be in
| urgent need for our necessary running
expenses, and for some almost equally
needed improvements and alterations
We have four wards, each holding
eight beds, and six rooms each intend
ed for one bed, giving us room for
| thirty-eight patients. So far, this has
| bCCh oulllNlCilNr bul III al DIODdDllllF
will prove inadequate in the near fu-
ture. Between July 16, 1917, and Jan
uary l, 1918, there were admitted for
ty-four patients. OF these, there was
l Hawaiian, Portuguese, Spanish
| one German, ~ Filipinos, l Chinese
A Porto Ricans, Koreans and 19 Jap
anese. Since the 1st of January, two
more Hawaiians have been admitted
| and several more have indicated a
Willingness to come in "mahope," and
we entertain reasonable hope of being
| able to do more for this most deserv-
ing class in the future.
OF the patients admitted, 13 have
been discharged, all very much i'm
proved and able to go to work again.
although one was discharged for per-
sistant refusal to obey the rules.
| There were two deaths, both cases
IrA,N,.,,.l -. 4 \