MANIAC ON SHIP

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22071, 29 March 1935, Page 10

MANIAC ON SHIP

TRANSFER OF LEPERS ONE ATTACKS OTHERS TWO SEVERELY INJURED BRAVERY OF DOCTOR ' SENSATION ON THE MATAI The tragic combination of insanity and leprosy in two of the 35 persons, taken from the various islands of the Cook group and . Samoa to Makogai leper station, Fiji, by the Government steamer Matai, which arrived at Auckland yesterday, gave an almost nightmare aspect to parts of the vojage. One madman attacked three of the other lepers with a large file, injuring two of them severely and one slightly. Had it not been for the courage and knowledge of the natives of Dr. E. P. Ellison, Chief Medical Officer in the Cook Islands, someone would probably have been killed. Neither of the men was known to be mad when they .were taken on the Matai, one at Aitutaki and one at Rakahanga. The Aitutaki man, one of the first three on board, spent the first night singing loudly, and refused to stop, and Dr. Ellison had later to give him an injection to stop him from injuring the others when he began to be violent. For two days after that he was much qpieter, and appeared to be returning to a normal state of mind. As a precaution ho was kept lightly tied up for a day or two, but he soon seemed so well that this was thought unnecessary. In the early morning of his fifth day on the ship, however, the chief officer, who was 'on watch, heard the leper yelling, and looking down from the bridge saw him dancing on top of one of the temporary buildings on the forward welldeck, where the lepers were housed. Timely Use of Hose Mr. S. J. Smith, Secretary of the Cook Islands Department, had also heard the shouting and ran to tho bridge to see what was the matter. Ihe madman, who was stark naked, seemed likely to fall into the sea at any moment, and Mr. Smith and the officer were both greatly relieved when he scrambled across to the top of the main leper house, which was amidships on the foredeck. Ho put his arm through the ventilator on the roof and called to the other lepers inside, then jumped to the back of the house and tried to scramble on to the bridge. By this time a hose had been rim out, and when it was played on the madman it quietened him down. Dr. Ellison had been called and superintended the other lepers who tied the Aitutaki man up. This man recovered and gave no more trouble, behaving quite rationally toward the end, but his place as a source of an.xietv to the doctor and to Captain J. W. Burgess and the officers ' was taken by the Rakahanga man. He had appeared to be sane, although he was a very advanced case. Wild Yelling Heard

The Matai was crossing the tail-end of the hurricane which struck Tonga, and because of the heavy seas had been slowed down to three knots, as otherwise water would have been shipped and would have fallen on the lepers' quarters. Suddenly there was a wild yelling from the leper-house and everybody ran to the windows above the house to see what was the matter.

In the light from the doorway and from torches shone down on the house Itwo men could be seen with brooms, with which they were hitting at someone inside. From the head of one of the men blood was streaming, while iboth of them and all the others who •were outside were shouting excitedly for the doctor. Dr. Ellison rushed to his cabin for a gown and rubber gloves and then weaf forward to the house. The door-

way was small, there was little room inside, and he was faced by a madman, who was waving the bloodcovered file,' with which ho had attacked three of the others. A Dramatic Moment - There are some things that are not to be described, and the sight of that maniac, blood streaming from his face, while ho shouted and waved the file, is one of them. There was little room, the beds, the floor and walls were covered with infected blood, and the ship was lurching heavily. Dr. Ellison, with t little hope of success, tried suggestion first.

"Put down that iron," he told the leper, in what he himself referred to as a "sergeant-major voice."

The madman wavered. Tho doctor repeated the command, and this time the file dropped. Tho, two other men who had been trying to bold the madman back with the brooms jumped in and tied him u&. This was an occasion when a sigh of relief was actually heard. It came from everyone who was watching from tho bridge or from the windows ou deck.

. But tho doctor's task was not over. With tho ship still rolling and pitching badly, and with spray now being shipped across tho well-deck by the wind, which was of gale force, he had to go forward to attend to the injured lepers. One had a deep soalp wound, another facial injuries, white a third had a badly-gashed leg. While Mr. Smith held a torch tho doctor dressed tho wounds and saw that all tho men were comfortable for the night. 1