The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-03
Leper Woman Is Cured and
 Talks Of Her Treatment
Associated Press Correspondent Secures What Is Prob ably First Extended Interveiw Ever Given by Leper as to Events of Her Life and Con-
 traction of Plague

of the Hawaiian societies in the islands. She speaks English fluently, also Ha- waiian and her information on world a1- fairs is far above the average. [ My grandmother told me to observe our old 'tabus (rules of conduct, or would be stricken. with leprosy, said thls daughter of race that believed In a Divine Trinity 3,O0O years ago and taught the power of mind over matter centuries before the Christian era. q did not heed her warning and in 1895 red, burnlnS spot on my right cheek announced that my punishment had come. It reappeared off and on in an aggravated form until 1908.
 From then on I became worse. Erup- tions,' as we call them, appeared every three months. My face and other parts of my body and limbs became swollen and inflamed during these periods. Tn March, 1917, I was sent to the ka- lihi hospital From that time until l was released the other day I took different kinds of treatment, each marking step of progress in the manner Of refining and administering the curative essence of chaulmoogra oil.
 During the earlier stages of the work at Kallhi Chaulmoogra oil was hard to take" Mrs. Blaidsell continued, describ- ing the remedy. At present an injection is administered once week, while the remedy is taken internally three times a week.
 Sometimes in about ten per cent of the cases the oil brought on a leprosy fever, accompanied by eruptions and the doctors instructed us not to take the cap sules until these had passed. This was hard to do, for we felt we were losing time and some of us disobeyed. I did so, and continued taking the capsules during an eruption. Before was on the road to recovery again my recklessness had cost me the joint of, one toe"
 Hope of recovery, even in leper col ony, was to be expected, but it was d revelation to learn from this woman that cheerfulness. laughter and joy of living were the rule. rather than the exception among the 100 odd patients at Kalihi.
 We had our. afternoon teas, our anna teur theatrical, and. of course. in a com munity whose great majority was Ha- waiians our musicales. If new awnings were needed for the buildings the board of health furnished the material and we did~ the sewing. Cooperation was the Keystone of the stations activities for we knew that the territory's funds were heavily taxed to meet the expense of our treatment
 Our only dread was that we would be sent to the other side,' the designation We gave the old eper colony at kalau-
 
 adays, patients never, or very infre- quently, are sent to Molokai l do not think any of those at Kalihi will go there; the chaulmoogra treatment has achieved such wonderful results
 Thirty of the Kalihi patients were re- leased on parole some time before came out, also on parole, and not one has been returned to the station on account of re- currence of the disease. Seventy-eight patients in all hqyat 1ooS ad parole within the year.
 Leprosys came to Hawaii about 1S40, said Mrs. Blaidsell; it's first appearance here being on Chinese. Ignorant of the disease, the Hawaiians of that day failed to take precaUtion against it until it was 100 late and today the majority of cases IS among the members of that fine old race that once ruled supreme in the islands
 Chaulmoogra oil is extracted from inc nuts of the chaulmoogra tree. a native or Burmah and other Asiatic countries. m the station grounds at Kalihi is q young chaulmoogra tree, planted and cared for by the patients, the emblem of their home.
 Before her release, .'snips' were taken rom Mrs. Blaidsell's skin for bacter- ioiogical investigation--she had thirty eight snips taken during her treatment The result of the last official examina. ton and a special examination taken at her own request is contained in the fol- towing statement given Mrs. Blaidsen by one or the attending physicians:
 My efforts on Sunday to obtain from you at least few fragments of dead pacilli from five former localities chiefly ariected, must tell you ended in com piete failure. although I tried my best 10 Ind few for demonstration pur- z