Evening star., 1928-11-19
.JOHN EARLY, ,LEPER,
COMING HERE WELL
Man Whose Escapes Caused
Much CONSERVATION at
Last Is Cured.

Old, whose frequent escapes and roam
/ ings about the country brought con-
! sternation to numerous health officers
/ in several States and in the District OF
! Columbia. is coming back to Washing
ton. No anxiety will be felt over his
visit here this time. nor will police be
instructed to apprehend him. for John
Early is cured
He will call this month to pay his
respects to DR.. William c. Fowler. Dis
trict health officer. who will congratu-
late him. Should he come with
certificate from the Public Health Serv-
ice" said Dr. Fowler this morning. Il
will receive him and l will congratulate
him" John Early will depart this
month from the National Leper Home
in Carville, La.
Will Be Officially Cured.
Sometime in November" John Early
is to be discharged with a clean Dill
of health. Recovered is to be writ
ten after his name in the grim records
of the institution. Another triumph
in medical science will have been ac-
complished.'
Although Early bears scars ot ms al
Fiction upon his face, the Public Health
Service has pronounced him well. Pc
riodic tests will be made, but there
seems to be scant danger OF a relapse.
Early first appeared in' Washington
in August, 1908, when local physician,
now deceased, saw him in one OF the
homes of the Salvation Army and re-
ported the belief that he was leper.
DIR. Fowler, then in charge OF the con-
tagious disease service under DR.. WIZ
liam C. Woodward, health officer. visit
ed the Salvation Army Building ana
took charge of him.
A bacterial examination clearly
showed that Early was afflicted with
the dread disease. He protested that he
was suffering from acid poison, and a
New York specialist expressed similar
view of his ailment.
Early had been in the Philippines as
a soldier in the United States Army.
however, and it was generally believed
that he had contracted the disease
while in that country.
Offered Problem Here.
When Early was taken into custody
by DR.. Fowler the latter fully realized
that he had problem on his hands.
There was no place in the District to
which he could be taken, and his first
night in custody here was spent in an
ambulance near the District quarantine
station in the vicinity of the JAIL Mos
quitoes were so bad that the ambu-
lance had to be covered with netting
to make life bearable. Later he was
transferred to brick building near the
Jail, which later became known as
"Leper Hospital"
hot IHn
from the disease, Early was permitted
to go to New York for treatment. off,
cials of that State agreeing for him to
come there He left with the under
standing that he would not return to
Washington.
Early did return. however, and was
found some time later at the Shoreham
Hotel, where he summoned newspaper
reporters to hear his story before COM
municating with Dr. Fowler. Again he
vas taken to the local leper hospital
and later he escaped. His wife and
child Joined him while he was in the
little brick building near the Jail, where
a second child was born. His wife later
left him and married a man who had
befriended him. q
Sent to Louisiana.
Early became patient at the Louisiana
Leper Home prior to the date in 1921
when the Public Health Service estab-
lished the National Leper Home at
CarviIle, La. Life at Carville did not
appeal to him. Early rebelled against
his fate. against the routine painful
treatments, against the necessary dis
cipline of the institution and even the
segregation of himself and other leperS.
He escaped and returned to Washing
ton. announcing his prospective coming
in telegram to Star reporter.
Before the message was received,
however, Early appeared in the press
room of the District Building. He was
accompanied about the city until IN
the afternoon. when a message tele-
phoned from the fifth precinct police
station brought him and DR.. Fowler
together again and resulted in his be-
ing detained at the local leper camp
until he could be returned to Carville.
In a second escape from the institu-
ton Early made his way to his noun
tain home in North Carolina He had a
feeling then that he would not recover
and expressed a desire to spend his re-
naming days near his relatives. A Pc
tition received by the surgeon general,
signed by practically all the residents
of the town, requesting that the execu-
ton of the Federal law governing the
segregation of lepers be suspended and
that John Early be allowed to spend
the rest of his life in self-isolation in
remote section of the North Carolina
hills was frowned upon. and Early re-
turned to Carville.
Treatment Resumed.
Treatment was resumed again, but
it was not as painful as it had been.
Health service physicians had devised
a way Of mixing an anesthetic with
each dose of Chaulmoogra oil Early
stayed and the health service in a re-
cent bulletin said he nov has his re-
| ward"
Early was detained at the quaran-
| tine station in Port Townsend Wash
| ington, for a period of two years be-
tween the times of his visits to this city
and also figured in detention and
escape from a quarantine station In
st. Louis, Mo.
Early is 81 years of age. but the Health
Service declared "he is of rugged con-
stitution and is expected to round out
| full period of useful and happy old
age" He will return this month to his
| home in the North Carolina mountains
near Tryon-a free man.