Bound for the Leper Islands.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1888, 16 April 1892, Page 1 (Supplement)

Bound for the Leper Islands.

An Interviev/ *ifcli Sister "Rose Gertrude

Oa board tho B'es.m3liip Bothnia, which left Liirrpocl ft wlsilo e.po frr tlio other heaiiys'^cre, there wds a lonely girl passerper. IL r name arts went en J>c&rd was Mlfs A. Q» Fowler, bat from the hou; v»hen hhe shall j- lao fcs'iDro on the If per island in tbe youth 3-a ?h/> will ];?chauame, and beeoaie Bi?tsr II >se O-'Virncle, superior rf the iOLcra' ho-pus-l *t K-.!v.\ so. A short tinae ago ths P. jiics ot 'iV'a!t-s, in bia ppcecb ftt the banquet a.- she Me ropole, publicly renounced

that n young lady wes gfirg ou: to nuise tho lepcrcaaior.^ wfcmn I'H.ther Dimieu bad worked, and suffrtd, and died a raartjr'a death, ar,d tho cny after onr representative called on Mia.-: Fo vkr at her home in tho village of Combs Doth., Borne 1 ileß from Bath. Is «\i3 a long drive (writes onr representative) from B»lh to the village on the bills. The eight waa dark ard wild, tbe eky all torn, and tha b!tmerit>g wind drovp. the rain against the carrhg* windows. Sometimes a branch of a Or iree lathed ua from above as we drovo up some Btcfp black rosd. Trio lights of Bith wore flickering in tbe dia-

I tanoe, and before ua til was in utter dsifcj neso tili we roaohed tbo village, at tho further' end ci ■which Miss Fowle,; lived with her parents. Iler father, the Rjv. I/. Fowler, is a clergyman of tbe Chiu-uh of England, well-known in Bath, where be haß >vorkert for many yeara es che.plaio of the infirmary. 1 bad only a moment to wait in tba drawing - room, which seemed the more ailent and peac-fiil for the whirlwind outaide, before Miss Fowler asrue to greet me. A few minutes more and we were deep in a conversation coacerrung the young lady'a heroic undertaking. As she p.it opposite tv me, her head slightly supporUd by'htr small wbita hand, I waa fit o';ce etsuck by tbe brilliancy cf her eyes and thß unaeualswe«nse!B of her vo;o. j . What v/.1l tha lepers say when they greet her on tbc-ir lovely islandß, and find that tba English nurßJ who ba3

I come to work on; ia tho moHi Htcrßl sense I the clause in her favorite fsposition 0! wtmc I a Oatholio'B Hie should be — namely, that j " Suffering ia our vow and oar profession : j love which canco*. puffer 13 v a worthy of the name of lovo "—l3 a youag, freeb, beautiful giri with largo eyes of deepest blue, and a fsiir, rosy lioin file sicn ! Ia c-vary movement of her little figure aelivitj and energy are J expressed, notwithstanding the occasional dtcamincPß which corsee like a thia veil over ihe bright 'roc. Mrs. Fowler, a talL stately lady, joined us for a few monionts, and tbsn vie began ocx talk atoEoe. \ "What made you v.i»h to go in fcr thie j pßrticulor branch ot siok nnrei»g. Mise J Fowler V I askfd, and t»f»r n rnomerifc'B \ pause the answer pame : *'l have bad it in I my mind fir ra£iij- years, long before Patbei J Damien's illness ;.nd ii«atb drew special atI tention to the M'>!oVai kpers. Seven yeara 1 fi'^u, shortly sf.er I becsrna a Biman Catho- . I'm, i wi«btd to %'4, but I toj j tuen. N.iw I Imvß tbe mcissary b'.l- »isd j experience, and am able to desiffc l.r ,?:v. \ sail. Wnen young, one <3oe«n't knew ons'i ] own mind, and my friends did rot wiai me I to decide on whit I might a'terwarda re-

J She is very young piill, with her nimble, girlish figore and her rr.Md?uly bsr.gb.es, this sweetest of " fh-ters," but after a few minutes' conversation it becomes very cvi« dene that she does indeed know net own mmd, and hasgrapped tho full Bignioance oj the post whiob &ho baa undertaken to fiil. Presently ehe continued: "It bas alwaye bflen my wiah and my desire to do come o{ Gc-3's work on earth irita wbiuh I could throw my whole being, where there was scope ior the fullest Beli-gac-rifjcp. end where 1 could follow Him who said, * Greater Jove hata no mm than thia, that he lay down hia life lor his friends.' Bat- truly,"* she went on, with a bashful, posaled Icok, •' I do not think it all interesting to anyone besides my own friends to hear anything about me. I am a very unimportant person indeed, and if you publish anything about me I abail feel like that Pharisee standing in the marketplace,, and that would be very far from what I wish to be. It seems like hypooriay to m&ke me appear in the light of one who makes a great sacrifice, for it is no sacrifice to me. It is only the fulfilment of a wish 1 have had for many years. If, as you say, it may draw more sympathy and attention to tne lepers, I must have no objection, but promise me to Bay nothing till I am gone.

" Have you had any special training for your poet ?" — " Yes, several years of it. I have studied medicine at Paris, not to take a medical degree, but to become an efficient siok nurse, and I hold several certificates. I shall try what biobloride of mercury will do, which kills the micro-organisms mote quickly than any other known anti?epiio, and which can be put in baths, and on the hands, and is also useful for waehicg inetiumeats used in leprosy."

" But is there any epecm remedy yon take out for protecting yourself against the disease ?" — " Nothing bayond the ueual precautions, which I edrll c! oourpe carefully observe. But it is not of myself that 1 liave to think, but of my pa:ients, and nothing will prevent me from rendering them ail the services which a Hick nurse ought to undertake. If lam infected by the di?eare, I am quite ready to die when my work is dene ; but really that thought has hardly occurred lo me, there are co many other things to be thought about, and I look forward with intense interest to my work 1 &hall have the entire ohargo of the hospital, and there will ba only some native women to assist me. I mean to carry out several ideas with regard | lo nursing; if I find things in a superanuß- | ted state I shall change and revolutionise. Then, I am taking cut a number cf articles for beautifying tha hcspiUl. My frieade in Franca have bgen vary good to »ne ; they have given me some beautiful statues and | other ornaments for the hospital, dtlioioua Boft° sweets which the lcpeis can cat, norl many other things. Then I fchall wing to my patients, and later on, when I hava saved enough of my salary, I Bhall buy a piano or a harmoniaia for them, and brighten their livea by mesfc." A strange lair picture this of the f sir English girl in ber picturefque dress of the St. DomiDio order of nsnn, singing to the half eavage Hawatar.B afflicted with tha most loathsome d'gease, on the island where perpetual summer reigns, and in a voice too very speech 0! wcich is nunic J ... I rcse to go ; a pnotograph on which tho awcei young nun hsiu written her name and her motto was given me as a souvenir of ov.r mectiDg, but an I turned to gi she bsalfcttcd, her happy fives became once mora, very grave acri dreamy, and with the hot blood rushing into her choekß, she handf d shyly an eld little prayer-book over to me, and turning to tba fly-leaf at tho cad said, in bashful confusion, " I dou't know whether I oogbt to tell you, bu» unless I do, I shall net have explained one of the reasons of my greet wish to go and live with and help the lepers." In Misa Kowicr'a email cl^ar handwri'ing, a pr&jer was written on the leaf — tbe touching, pataetia prayer which is eaid to have been fouud on the chest of the Prince Imperial when he was carried dead from the battlefield in Zulolnnd. Misa Fowler pointed to the passage— "lf Thou only gives!, on this i earih a certain sum of happiness, take, O God, my share and bestow it on the most worthy. ... If Thou eeekeet vengeance on maa, strike me." " Good-bye," she Baid, aa we stood at the door, and looked cut into the stormy sight. " ftood-bye, and think sometimes of me ; perE3pe we may meet again." Perhaps— wno kno W8 ? Have not men gone forth an. scathed from the " burning fiery furnace," and hava not the hungry " beasts of the desert " refused to touch the • white-robed martyr, but crouched down at ha f««t,»nA obeyed hex 1

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