KATE MARSDEN AMONG THE LEPERS OF SIBERIA
A brave English lady aiding the Siberian lepers

Kate Marsden among the lepers of Siberia

There world has never witnessed a nobler example of supreme unselfishness, unless it be the untiring labors of Father Damien among the lepers of Molokai, than that furnished by Miss Kate Marsden, the young English woman who spent some time with the lepers of far-off Siberia. It required a total self-forgetfulness and a love of humanity that not one person in a million possesses to undergo the hardships she endured and the risk of life which she counted as nothing, and all this for a people who were strangers to her. Four years ago Miss Marsden became so interested in the stores of the horrible sufferings of the lepers of Siberia that her heart was touched and she determined to ameliorate their condition. She first went to Queen Victoria, who was so pleased with the project that she interested the Princess of Wales, who wrote to her sister, the Empress of Russia. The latter replied, expressing great pleasure if she could be of any use. It was owing to her efforts that Miss Marsden secured written recommendations to all the authorities and officers of the country. She left England for Siberia in the latter part of 1890. When she reached St. Petersburg the Empress gave her a reception and presented her with a large sum of money to be used at her discretion. She left Moscow for Siberia Feb. 1, 1891, her objective point being Yakutsk, the extreme province of Eastern Siberia. She left the train at Slatust, and from there had to travel by sledge. She was on these sledges for months, travelling thousands of miles. And then for a long time she used the tarantas wagons. She stopped at the different capitals in order to rest as well as to gain the assistance of the governors, churchmen and other influential persons and, through the recommendations which the Empress of Russia had given her, she was enabled to organize several collection committees and was assured of substantial assistance. She reached Yakutsk in June, where official notices of her intended visit had preceded her. It is to Yakutsk that the Russian Government banishes the most dangerous criminals, and it was here she found so many lepers compelled to live in the forests among such horrible surroundings as to occasion extreme suffering. The inhabitants refuse to have anything to do with the lepers, as they believe the disease is not only contagious but a direct curse of the devil. Nothing had been done to alleviate their sufferings or to assist them in any way before Miss Marden's visit. When she left Yakutsk to visit the lepers in that vicinity she was accompanied by fifteen men, comprising farmers, soldiers, and state officers. They took with them thirty horses, and covered 1,800 miles before they made the rounds. The dangers and hardships of this unprecedented ride were so incredible a nature that Miss Marsden carefully prepared official reports and affidavits in regard to them. Many a time she looked upon death in such appalling hideousness as to haunt her for weeks and months. Worn out she persevered and visited the different groups of lepers helping and consoling them with promises of lasting assistance. The heartrending scenes that she daily witnessed made her all the more determined to leave no stone unturned in bettering the lot of these unfortunates. She consulted with the officials who accompanied her in regard to the best location for her future colony, which should comprise cottages, hospitals, etc., and was so enthusiastic in all that she did as to awaken the greatest confidence wherever she want. The lepers had lost all confidence in mankind owing to the unsuccessful attempts made by the local governments of Eastern Siberia to alleviate their condition. The only assistance they had was given them by one of the men from the village who visited their locality once or twice a week. He never saw them, but left food in a certain place, to which the unfortunate creatures would crawl until they had secured it. Kate Marsden, after a short rest in which she was not by any means idle, as she arranged the plans for the different buildings and adopted measures for organization, started on her return trip in August. Of course, the journey from Yakutsk to Moscow was as difficult to make as the one from Moscow to Yakutsk, but with the indomitable courage so characteristic of the woman she bore the hardships of the return trip. The receptions that she met with at different places on the road were most gratifying. She conferred with the different committees, and everywhere large donations were made for her work. She accomplished what she had deemed impossible even in her wildest expectations. When she reached England she received the hearty approval of Queen Victoria in a letter recommending her efforts and the work which she had accomplished and wished to accomplish. This was the means of awakening a wider interest in her work throughout England, and numerous contributions came to her from all sides. By the book -- Kate Marsden: On Sledge and Horseback to Outcast Siberian Lepers The Delphos Daily Herald, July 24, 1894 Among the lepers of Siberia The Imperial Family of Russia - The Romanoff Dynasty Cossacks - The Origin of the Term "Cossack" Czar Interview Count Tolstoi