The people of the Philippines, their religious progress and preparation for spiritual leadership in the Far East,

MEDICAL MISSIONS

421

The missionary doctor is willing to risk losing trade in
order to realize his vision of a diseaseless Philippines. He is
perfectly willing to render both himself and his hospital unnecessary-indeed in so doing alone would he feel that he had
entirely fulfilled his mission. He is apocalyptic in the daring
of his faith. His "hat is in the ring" for every movement for
better conditions, and when nobody else launches such a movement, he does. He throws all his influence into the campaign
for universal vaccination, notwithstanding the torrent of abuse
which he calls upon his head. One reads of Dr. Henry W.
Langheim, in addition to the heavy burden which he carried
in Silliman, supervising the vaccination of 40,000 persons in
one year. Smallpox is still one of the most dreaded diseases
in the Islands, particularly in the remoter and less advanced
regions. When an epidemic breaks out the people are likely
to spread in every direction carrying the disease with them.
There is great fear of vaccination since it is supposed by many
to produce disease, and only by infinite patience and insistence
can large numbers of people be persuaded to receive the
treatment.
Mission doctors contribute much to their communities by
quiet insistence that the town or provincial officials, shall
enforce laws for the protection of food, those relating to
clean wholesome markets, the screening of articles to be sold
from flies, the proper disposal of refuse, etc. Continued education is the price of success along these lines, and it is precisely here that the mission doctor performs an invaluable
service. Sometimes this process of education takes most unexpected turns, as for example, on the matter of non-cruelty
to animals. One morning Dr. Charles T. Sibley of Davao
saw a driver cruelly beating his horse. The doctor rushed
down the steps of the hospital, grabbed the whip and proceeded to apply it over the driver's back until the latter
screamed with pain. Then the doctor said in no low tone of
voice, "If you ever beat that caballo again, I'll whip you
within an inch of your life. Do you understand?" Although
the driver understood no English, he showed every indication
of having caught the purport of the doctor's remarks. The