25 Years: Makogai Leper Station's Anniversary

steerage in order to get away. 25 YEARS Makogai Leper Station’s Anniversary From Our Own Correspondent SUVA, Dec. 20.

FRIDAY, November 27, was the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Makogai Leper Station, in Fiji, where lepers from many Pacific Islands and New Zealand are treated. A message of congratulation on the fine work accomplished there was received by the Government from the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Lepers in Fiji were originally confined in an area below the old hospital in Walu Bay, Suva, but public agitation led to their removal to Beqa Island, famed as the home of the flrewalkers. Beqa did not prove satisfactory, as it was impossible to acquire the whole island —this was considered essential if isolation was to be complete. Therefore, in 1909, the pretty little island of Makogai 'was purchased by the Government from private interests.

Financial stringency and other causes gave rise to delays, and it was not until 1911 that 40 patients were transferred, the station being officially opened on November 27 of that year.

Since then wonderful work has been done by the resident medical staff and the Roman Catholic nursing sisters, whose sacrificial devotion to their self-imposed task has won the admiration of all creeds.

Makogai has recorded a high percentage of complete cures, and has often been described by visiting authorities on leprosy as one of the finest stations they have ever visited.

The record of achievement in the cure and alleviation of the terrible complaint