MAKOGAI LEPERS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 503, 10 April 1933, Page 2

MAKOGAI LEPERS

A STRANGE COUONY YICTIMS O'F DRlEAD DISEASE TENDED WITH LOVING CARE. DO NiOT WANT TO LEAVE. Mr. W. E.. Hancqck, mapager foi' F-ijiy -Union Steam Ship Company,- has forwarded to'he Evening Post, Wellington, an interesting account of a recent visit to the Makogai Island leper station. It wa's his privilege, he .says, to visit -the island in ian offieial party with the Director-General of Health . (Di\ A. H. Pearce). Mr. Hancock descfibes the trip in a . small 10-ton auxiliary cutter from Suv.a. to Makogai Island, and says he and the other visitors were the gueSts at Makogai of the .medical suparintendent (Dr. C. J. Anstin). Next morning,.ai'ter their arrival, they visited the leper patients. "A speech of welcome," says Mr. Hancock, "is given by the 'buli.' Chief of Eijian patients, who professes his ' profound appreciation of all that has heen done for him .and speeches are tlien given by the Director-General of Health and-. Sir Henry Scott, K.G., seniof. member of -the Legislative Council in Fiji,. and then the writer is embarrassed, for. his name ts being I mentioned and the fact of his having I come from New Zeialand is noised abro,ad and there is a general outhurst of enthusiasm not for the writer so much as for New Zealand and New Zealand people and what they have done for Makogai.

Praise for N.Z. - j They hold New Zealand very dear to them, for has not she and her people snpplied them with such a lot of their needs and on tour of inspection afterwards it was 'Look, this is the moving picture machine and all thsee films were donated from New Zealand,' 'This K'elvinator .and electrical plant were given us by New Zealand people,' 'all these toys (some of them seven or eight years. old and still in good conditions) were sent by kindly people from New Zealand'; several things in the operative theatre have been donated by New Zealanders, and the Reverend Moth'er and her nursdng staff and the patients speak with unstinted praise of the kindness of New Zealand and her people.

"As we pass through the wards and eompounds we see pathos, tragedy hope ■and relief all expressed on the hundreds of faces of the patients, for there are 480 of them stationed at Makogai, sufferers from that oldestknown disease, 'about which we read in our earliest Bihlical History. "Oui* visit means that a board. will sit to-day and certain cases will come up for consideration, some which are recommended hy the superintendent as being definitely cured of the disease and ready for release and freedom. But what is this we come to?_ A dopr is being held open by ia girl of 19 years of age, and she is in teatfs; when we ask the Reverend Mother what is the matter she tells ns that this girl who is cnred 'and wliose name goes hefore the hoard to-day does not want to leave — she is so happy and contented, and this is verified by a question pnt to the girl hy the doctor. She has heen 12 years on the island, and it has hecome her home and interest, ;and ishe knows little of

the world to which she is to he aiiowed her freedom. Visiting the Lepers. "We are shown buildings containirig rows of beds, all neat and tidy, with some of the most wonderful needlework hedspreadsi and pillow slips that it would be possible to find. ,Some of ^ them have taken years to make 'and are worked in all sorts of fantastic — patterns and designs, according to the ideas cf the worker. We pas© from these wards to sadder cases which ■ have been unfortunately left too long hefore gaining treatment land for which there can only he one relief from earthly suffering. From these we pass to even more tragic cases, sightless and limhless, and, confined to a compound with 10 feet of galvanised iron surrounding it and rows and rows of haxhed wire are poor creatures whose sense of reasoning^ has left them and who are only awaitmg the final call. All these cases have to be attended to two or three times . daily, and it is this wonderful work that is carried on hy the nohle hand of women who have devoted their lives to this cause.

"We proceed a quarter of a mile up the hill and come to a very fine build.ing with' 'a closed-in verandah and several hedroomisi. This is the European section-r-a heautiful position gazing out td the west with the station at its feet. We meet two or three New Zealanders— one a tragic case, totally blind and fingerless, and we spend a! quarter of ian hour chatting and talking of Christchurch and names of steamers, etc. Is he happy? ^ Oh, yes,vVety ha-ppy^ quite resigncd to ending his days on Makogai, where he receives such wonderful caie land attention. Anotlier talks of Tauranga, and we are able to speak of its pleasantness and beauty, land of the surrounding districts and towns. Another mentions Auckland and .ships and shipbuilding yardsi Excellent Organisation. "The Director-General of Health must take the chair at the hoard meeting in ten minutes' time, so. Sir i Henry Scott and the writer are plac- | ed in the care of the Reverend Mother,- who escorts us through the various little colonies on the island, and she shows us what, isi ibeing done. Hundreds of. poultry,, ducks and fowls of all descriptions are being reared, for poultry plays an important part in the food; yams, tapioca, banana plantations, hreadfruit are in ahundance. All the villages are spotless, for cleanliness is essential. The grass is well cut and multi-coloured plant* life ahounds — heautiful gardens — vivid reds and yellows and hright greens all comhining to make a wonderful h'armony of colour. The houses are white, with red roofs, dotted amongst the many palm trees, and the lazy waters of the Pacific fall tired on the sandy. iheach in front of the homes of the patients. "The hoard is over, and a hoy runsto meet u!s., and th'e news is hroken-that 25ri patients have gained their freedom; these, with mixed fe.elings oftUncontrollable joy, and also of revulsion — revulsion at the thought of what attitude their fellow mankind lare going to adopt towards them when they reach the mainland, and the news has ' -.:.v 5 '* ' • * .

gohe forth, "Oh, he is j gajt— he has -heen a'kpn they istand on the brink? dom hestiating as to whe this coiony and world heen accustomed to «° w'hieh such true love aC . ahound or whether to g°^ the insincerity of the °u