My leper friends

by Alice M. Hayes

My readers may imagine that in the face of so much opposition, I was beginning to lose heart. While these persons were inspecting the tank in which the lepers’ clothes were washed, I went into Daisy’s room, and gathering the three English-speaking lepers—Bella, Daisy, and the Jewess—around me, I begged of them to speak out and tell these gentlemen of their need of a female attendant, of washstands, and a place in which they could bathe in private, as well as of the bad food of which they had complained to me. The poor things said they would, but when the three stern men stood before them, and Mr. Lambert asked, in his severest police tones, what complaints they had to make, the miserable leper women crouched down on the floor and were silent! What “complaints” dared they make? Did they not know that such men possessed the power of turning them, diseased and penniless as they were, into the streets at any moment? The horror and disgrace of a European leper woman begging in the streets was an idea that they could never have tolerated—anything rather than that. There is a certain amount of sympathy accorded to native lepers, but Europeans afflicted in like manner are regarded more as wild beasts than as human beings. Could they have uttered a word of complaint under the circumstances? Of course not. To me, as an Englishwoman, the sight of these three leper women, cowering before the very men who posed before the world as their friends and benefactors, was one that roused every feeling within me to rebellion! However, after all, I was only regarded as a meddlesome unit, whose blame or praise was a matter of utter indifference to persons of position and standing; though who knows but that a merciful God in Heaven, the Father of the fatherless and afflicted, to whom all hearts are opened, did not see and pass judgment on one and all of us who stood before Him that day? It may have been this thought which caused me to bridle my tongue and refrain from giving utterance to strong words. Anyhow, I did manage to control my feelings sufficiently to enable me to speak calmly to Mr. Lambert, to point out to him the bathing-place, and to ask him, as a man who had daughters of his own, if he considered it a fitting bath-room for European women. Mr. Lambert, looking into the bathing-place, saw a native woman taking her bath, and retired in confusion. I commented on the unprotected state of the European women, who were obliged to bathe in this place, which was exposed in an enclosure where native male dressers, washermen, cooks and others were in the habit of walking, and suggested the desirability of having a door placed in one of the bathing partitions, which should be supplied with a bathing-tub, and reserved for the use of European women, who are unaccustomed to bathing like natives. I was informed that such additions were altogether superfluous, and that if the ends of the outer wall were rounded or curved in, instead of being straight as they then were, all requirements as to the privacy and comfort of the bathing arrangements would then be met. This was done, but up to the time of writing, no door or bath-tub has been provided for the use of Daisy, Bella, or the Jewess, who have to make their daily ablutions under the tap as best they can. I may mention that there were no arrangements at all in this asylum for giving the patients a warm bath.

CHAPTER IV.
NEWSPAPER CRITICISM—“TRUTH” AND MR. PRINSEP—“THE QUEEN.”

As I have already mentioned, the remarks I wrote about the Calcutta Leper Asylum made the honorary officials of that institution “mad” at being “shown up” (which was a necessary consequence of the appearance of a true account of that institution) as mere poseurs, and not as workers, as they fain would have appeared before the Government from whom they received pay, and expected preferment. Being the head of the institution, and never having visited it, to my knowledge, except on the occasion of the official visit I have described in the previous chapter, Mr. Prinsep was, of course, my bitterest opponent. Consequently appeared the following extract in Truth of the 10th of July last year:—

On May 15th reference was made in Truth to a deplorable account of the Leper Asylum, Calcutta, given by Mrs. Alice Hayes, in a local paper called Hayes’ Sporting News. I have now received from Mr. Justice Prinsep, president of the District Charitable Society, which has the control of the Asylum in question, a letter in which the writer states that the statements in Hayes’ Sporting News “are absolutely without foundation, and are merely the careless and inaccurate reports of a hysterical, irresponsible woman seeking for notoriety.” Mr. Justice Prinsep does not deal with the whole of the statements specifically, but he states (1) that in only one of the six buildings “can it be pretended that there is any overcrowding at all;” (2) “that the medical attendance is appropriate;” (3) “that a person referred to by Mrs. Hayes as a native doctor is the ‘compounder;’” and (4) that he could, if it were worth while, “similarly refute all Mrs. Hayes’s statements.” He also sends me a copy of a letter addressed on behalf of the management to the local press; but I find here quite as much admission of the impeachment as denial. I find further that in subsequent articles in Hayes’ Sporting News, Mrs. Hayes adheres to her original statements, and points out that many of them are unanswered or unanswerable. It is impossible for me at this distance of time and space to go further into the matter, but the impression left on my mind is that Mr. Justice Prinsep’s abusive language of Mrs. Hayes is entirely unjustified, and that this Leper Asylum will probably be all the better for the light that has been turned on it.

Mr. Prinsep, being a lawyer (he was Judge in the Calcutta High Court), was well acquainted with the old legal maxim: “when you have got no case, abuse the other side.” Consequently his strong language—however unbecoming it was in a man of his high official position, and addressed to a woman—was a convincing proof that the words I had written were true. His assertion that I made a mistake in the designation of the medical attendant, proves how sorely he was pressed to find something to refute; for the fact of a “compounder” being lower in grade than a “native doctor” made my case all the stronger.

I received not only a kindly pat on the back from Mr. Labouchere; but a most sympathetic article under the heading, “A Lady’s Work Among the Lepers,” appeared on the 22nd of the following November in The Queen, as follows:—

A Calcutta correspondent writes:—“Perhaps your readers may be interested to hear what a woman has done for the lepers in the Calcutta Leper Asylum. Mrs. Alice Hayes, lady correspondent of a local weekly entitled Hayes’ Sporting News, edited by her husband Captain Horace Hayes, lately commenced writing in her husband’s paper a series of articles on Calcutta Charities, visiting each one for this purpose, amongst them the Calcutta Leper Asylum. She found entombed there about seventy lepers—men and women, and one or two children. Amongst the inmates are some Eurasian and European men and women. The latter seem, from Mrs. Hayes’ accounts, to be badly furnished with the comforts of life. Two of the women had been students in some of our large public schools before the disease showed itself, and were hidden away here by parents and friends anxious to put such a visitation from the world’s gaze. Mrs. Hayes was much touched at the sad loneliness of these poor creatures, and describes their condition most vividly in the paper before mentioned, inviting the help of the public to form a small fund to provide them with small creature comforts which the asylum had omitted to supply, such as sufficient clothes, sheets, washstands, fruit, jam, illustrated papers, &c., and proposing personally to visit the asylum weekly, and distribute amongst the afflicted people the small offerings. Her appeal has been very generously responded to, and money, clothing, etc., have been sent to her. Nobly too, does she, week after week fulfil her self-imposed mission, going among these poor outcasts, and cheering their loneliness with sprightly talk and news of the outside world, and leaving each time some memento of her kindly presence. Leprosy in our tropical climate assumes its most loathsome aspect, and many of the inhabitants of our Leper Asylum are in a very advanced stage of the disease. The sight, as described by others whom curiosity or pity perhaps has tempted there, is enough to appal any man. I hardly think a second visit is paid, however good the intention of doing so. Mrs. Hayes, on the contrary, as I have said before, has never failed a single Tuesday to visit her poor suffering fellow-creatures. We read with admiration of the deeds of Florence Nightingale, Sister Dora, Sister Gertrude, and I think we should add to this list the name of our brave young citizen, Mrs. Alice Hayes, whose kindness and courage are certainly unequalled in India.”

I had a great deal of criticism in the Indian papers. The Calcutta ones, which are largely dependent on the support of the local officials, chiefly backed up the principle that the king can do no wrong; while the journals that were free from Calcutta official influence, as a rule, took my side. The result, however, was favourable; for subscriptions from all parts of India came to our fund, which, since our departure from the East, has, I am very sorry to say, decreased. As I can now no longer personally stimulate support, I am doing the next best thing by writing this book.

CHAPTER V.
EFFORTS TO COMFORT—OUR SUBSCRIPTION FUND—IMPROVEMENTS.

I managed, after a deal of trouble, to give each of the leper women a small tin-enamelled washstand; but much opposition was brought to bear on me by the officials in my efforts to alleviate their sufferings in any way. Daisy, who spoke to me about the bath-room, says she hangs up a towel in front of the doorway and so secures privacy in that way; but it is a wretched makeshift at the best. Seeing that no female attendant was provided to attend to the personal requirements of these poor women, whose disease renders them miserably helpless, we thought out a project by which a native woman could be got to wait on them. By this time my article, which, as I explained, had been written when the scene presented to me on my first visit to the Leper Asylum was fresh and vivid in my recollection, had been published in our paper and had been productive of good results. Parcels of linen, books, soap, tea, and various things were sent me, together with subscriptions amounting to over Rs. 800. Out of this we sent a cheque for Rs. 192 to the committee of the District Charitable Society, with the request that a female attendant be provided for the female European and Eurasian inmates of the Leper Asylum, at a salary of Rs. 8 a-month, for two years. This money was, I am glad to say, accepted by the committee, and the attendant procured. We read an account in a local paper of Dr. Unna’s new medicine for leprosy, which had been highly recommended by Dr. Milton, senior surgeon of St. John’s Hospital for Diseases of the Skin, London, and at once forwarded to the committee of the D. C. S., from our Leper Fund, a cheque for Rs. 250, with the request that the money be used in procuring the medicine from England and giving it a fair trial in the Calcutta Leper Asylum, together with a promise of a further remittance of Rs. 250 for this object should it be required. This money was, after some discussion, accepted, and an order for the medicine sent to England. I must not forget to mention that we pointed out in our letter to the Committee the advisability of having the new medicine tried here by an English doctor. I had secured the confidence of the public, who sympathised with me in my work, and sent me various sums of money from time to time. Monthly subscriptions to our Leper Fund amounted to Rs. 40. With this sum I was able to spend Rs. 10 weekly on comforts for the white female lepers. I gave the four of them a rupee each, and spent the remaining six rupees on jam, fruit, biscuits, lavender water, flowers, etc., always reserving a few rupees, which I exchanged into coppers, and gave each native leper woman as many as I could afford. My weekly visits to the Leper Asylum were always paid in company with Brother John, who arranged to go with me every Tuesday, and who was my most staunch and sincere helper in this work. We had at first to encounter much opposition from the officials; were not allowed to visit the asylum without sending for the superintendent, nor permitted to give anything to the lepers without first having our gifts pass through his hands. I found this arrangement most unpleasant, for among my gifts to these poor friendless women were things that are not generally allowed to pass through the hands of a man, and, besides, I often wanted to speak to the women alone, and the presence of the superintendent was in no way desirable. Being utterly powerless to move the men on the Committee, who regarded me as an enemy to be thwarted at every turn, and held up to scorn and ridicule, I appealed to the public through our paper, with the result that several indignant letters from sympathisers appeared in the local daily papers. This caused a change of front. Mrs. Smith, the matron at the almshouse, opposite the asylum, was told to attend me in my visits, and distribute the gifts I took to the lepers. I noticed, also, that some improvements had been made in the asylum. Bridget’s room had been cut off entirely from the native ward by a wooden partition; a bath-room, constructed of matting and bamboos, for her special use, had been fitted up in the small verandah at the back of her room. The food of the lepers had also been undergoing a change, and Bridget was given a little curry and rice, in addition to her bread and milk. The people who are always ready to put an entirely false construction on the motives of others had been busy with their tongues, and had told Bridget and the others that I had only taken them up as a “fad,” to drop as quickly when I got tired of them. This was all duly repeated to me by the lepers themselves, who had begun to put by their weekly rupee against the time when supplies would be stopped. Of course, I was hurt and grieved to think that people could be so ungenerous as to say such things to the poor lepers, and tried to impress on Bridget that so long as I remained in Calcutta, with health and strength, I would let nothing prevent me from paying my weekly visit to them, and that when I was unable to do so, failing any lady, Brother John had promised to take up the work. This satisfied the old woman somewhat. She considered for a time, and then said, “Yes, I think you are telling the truth, because you have always kept your promises. I asked Mrs. —— to bring me some red herrings, and she said she would; but they never came. When I asked you, you brought them. Besides, a young clergyman came here once—only once—and promised to send me some picture-books, but he never sent them; so you see we haven’t much faith in people now: we only believe them when we see them keep their promises.” I often used to find Daisy, the Jewess, and Bella together in Daisy’s little room, talking of their affliction. Suffering and sorrow have bound at least two of these women together in the holiest ties of friendship and love. One day I found them much depressed. I know not what had happened: I think there had been trouble with the officials. Whatever it was, they were afraid to tell me more than that they had been forbidden to speak about their feeding and treatment, as I had been publishing articles on their state in our paper. When I told them that money had been sent to England for the newly-recommended medicine for them, they were delighted; asked me many questions as to what it was like, when it would arrive, whether I thought it would do them any good, and many others that I was unable to answer.