The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-01-04
DIR. PARKER TELLS
HER INDIAN HOBBIES
PutnCy Woman Just Returned to the
Missionary Field Sends Out
Circular Letter.

AIlSSiOIdlS OuA
Circular Letter.
I'he Reformer a week ago cited figures
to show that of the $4,000 names of prom
inent men in who's Who In America,
one sixth are New Englanders, although
the population of the region is only one
fourteenth of that of the United States,
and that Vermonts record is 90 per 100,
600 giving the little Green Mountain
state leadership of all the Union as re-
CARDS the number of her prominent men
listed nj S''WhO's Who
As a parallel to this study it would be
interesting to check up thoroughly how
prominently Vermont also figures in
who's Who Among the Missionaries.
The recent Year Book of Missions listed
a large number of foreign missionaries
and from 4 casual glance one Is struck
ut the frequency with which Vermont
is given as the birthplace of these earn
est workers in heather or pagan fields.
As one remarkable instance, there is
the case of DIR. Harriet f. Parker, a ma
tive of Putney, who sailed from New
York last Friday after one of her rare
furloughs in the home land. She is re
turning to Madura, India, where for
26 years she has directed the American
Hospital for Women and Children.
Aside from the fact that DIR. Parker
was a Windham county girl, her work
itself is of real human interest. worthy OF
a sketch Mrs Lucy w. Peabody who re-
Gently visited Madura on a tour of inspec--
. ton of the Far Eastern missions found
that this little, slender, gray-haired doc
tor. with her unaSSumlng ways and gentle
speech was venerated bX MoSlem, Hindu
and Christians alike, and was believed
to have a skill which could almost raise
the dead. When il is remembered that
her hospital is the only one of the sort
in a region about half as large as New
England, with population of fifteen mil
lions or more. it is easy to understand
what an important place she occupies
as the only woman doctor i'll that region.
There are government or municipal hos
pitfalls, but these are stated with male
doctors, and owing to the Seclusion of
women and the prejudiceS and customs
of the land only the very poorest women
will generally come to such Il hospital.
At DR. Parker'S institution. however,
there are forty or fifty thousand treat
ments a year, or possibly twelve thou
sand separate patients who, upon recOv-
cry, are spreading DIR. Parker's fame in
the land.
For twenty years the doctor was handi-
capped by having TO make long journeys
with her horse aud carriage or often in
bullock carts over rough country roads
at cruising speed of two miles an hour,
but during the past few years she has
been equipped with Ford car which has
more than doubled her effective radius.
Many people who had never seen
railway train. motor car, or n horse
drawn vehicle are within 4 few hours
Journey now and DIR. Parker enjoys moth
ing better than a medical tour to such
regions. Notice is sent on before 10 the
weekly market of some central village
where hundreds will come and gather
under the trees of DIR. PaTkPrS t"1t -
avail themselves of her healing. Scores
of minor troubles are relieved immediate
Il. the Severer cases are oft times pre-
i 1aa
hospital where they may receive proper
care.
One of the most terrible diseases of In
dia is lcprOSy. the only one that DIR. Par
ker Confesses she fears; so il was charac-
teristic of her to volunteer to open at Dai-
yapuram an asylum for those afflicted
with this malady.
Strange as it may seem. the American
army surgeons in the Philippines dis
covered and used Il cure for leprosy-
ChaumoogFa oif-whiCh injected mira
ypinOusly has the power to arrest the Iav-
ages of the disease. DIR. Parker is very
reserved in her claims as to the results
obtained, but when the disease has not
advanced too far before treatment Is be
gun. most cases show marked improve
mcnt: many have been sent back to their
homes without any signs OF the disease
and without recrudeScence.
This leper institution requires visit
at least once each week by the little Put
ncy doctor. The physical labor of Civ
ing one hundred or more steriliZed IN
traveinOuS injections at one clinic Is in
itself a great task But with the eXcep-
ton of the American missionary nurse
the doctor has never entrusted them to
any one else. The utmost precautions
as to dress and contact have to be OBJ
served to prevent contagion that would
endanger herself and others.
Just before sailing for India last week
1 fIoFns 81.
circular letter which tells of one of her
hobbies" In her long service ~ tn"
hospital at Madura her sympathetic heart
was moved by the large number of waits,
orphans or half orphans, and like many
another missionary she has lavished much
of her meagre salary in rescuing these
mOtherleSS babies. In connection with
the hospital she has built Il bungalow and
called it the Birds Nest where unlOved
and abandoned babies are legally adopted
by the doctor. At present she has thirtys
two under her wing, seventeen ItlnduS,
one MOhammedan and fifteen more or
less Christians. While she calls it only
a sideshow to her heavier hospital cares,
she has become 50 devoted to it that she
Is now appealing to members of the Par
kcr family everywhere to give this little
orphanage permanent backing. Seeing
the time when she will have to relinquish
her post she fears for her little hobby,
out of which so much good has come, may
not be carried on unless her friends help
her to build an additional home for the
orphanage which can be done at the mod
ct sum of So 1900. She relates that prac-
tically all of the children have linked up
the name Parker with their own In
dian names If the Parker family on the
other side of the earth can only continue
these fine traditions" she says. 1t will be
q service of which they may all be proud.
But for that matter one does not need to
&c ,,T-. IL Il > rF 3 I,.,r,,
little waits. and contributions from any
source win undoubtedly be welcome
Either money or communications for DIR
Parker will reach her if sent to Miss Emf.
ly Wheeler, 34J East 18th Street, Brook.
Iyn, n. Y