At That Time The
Leper Was Considered Legally And Politically Dead.
He was placed in
a funeral procession and led to the church, where the burial service
was read over him by the officiating clergyman.
Then a spadeful of
earth was dropped upon his chest and he was dead-living dead. While
this rigorous treatment was largely unnecessary, nevertheless, one
thing was learned by it. Leprosy was unknown in Europe until it was
introduced by the returning Crusaders, whereupon it spread slowly
until it had seized upon large numbers of the people. Obviously, it
was a disease that could be contracted by contact. It was a
contagion, and it was equally obvious that it could be eradicated by
segregation. Terrible and monstrous as was the treatment of the
leper in those days, the great lesson of segregation was learned.
By its means leprosy was stamped out.
And by the same means leprosy is even now decreasing in the Hawaiian
Islands. But the segregation of the lepers on Molokai is not the
horrible nightmare that has been so often exploited by YELLOW
writers. In the first place, the leper is not torn ruthlessly from
his family. When a suspect is discovered, he is invited by the
Board of Health to come to the Kalihi receiving station at Honolulu.
His fare and all expenses are paid for him. He is first passed upon
by microscopical examination by the bacteriologist of the Board of
Health. If the bacillus leprae is found, the patient is examined by
the Board of Examining Physicians, five in number.
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