The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-04-18

j. however assisted in the discharge Of bis gov
ernmental duties by 4 committee Of twenty,
chosen by the lepcrs from among their own body,
BIZ whom ordinary controversies and disagree
ments are settled. But the superior mind Of
Ragsdale guides and regulates his little principal
ity in most matters Of government, quite as abso-
Iutely and undisputedly as the captain Of q ship,
whose word Is law. Under the circumstances.
this state Of affairs will be seen TO be necessary,
If only the right man can be found to put in the
place. Ragsdale certainly appears to be
that man, and to be impressed with the gravity
and responsibility Of his position. In his case,
perhaps we may apply the words Of the poet
Ne Who hath never ward win misery.
NoT ever tugs d van fortune aa o1sIes-'
Hath had 10 'cas0n, nor 10 field 10 Try
Tie strength and forces OF his WORKINGS
Those parts Of Judgment which felicity
And only men show their abilities,
And what they are, in their eXtTeaiues
THEIR HAJESTIEs The KING AND QUES .
Landed at KaIaupapa at half-past u O'Clock,
and were received by the assembled lepers at the
beach with hearty cheers. The people then
formed in line while the King made them a short
but feeling address. While His Majesty was
speaking, his afflicted subjects listened with fixed
attention, and tears Of gratitude rolled down
their cheeks at the thoughtful condescension of
their King in thus coming and speaking to them,
who were, to use their own expression, already
in the grave. The King said in substance, that
his heart was grieved at the necessity which had
separated these his subjects from their homes and
families necessity which they themselves rec
ognized and acquiesced in,-and that it should
always be the earnest desire of himself and his
q, ro,Ior ;Io;, oo,1;t;oa -, ill ,s
comfortable as possible. Then, after n few words
Of kindly recognition to personal acquaintance,
and a general - aloha oukou, - their Majesties
returned to the steamer, painfully affected with
the sights of human affection that they had wit
messed.
Meantime the members of the Board of Health
and their visitors-the party consisting of His
Excellency ii. a. Widemann, Minister of the In
terror, the Hons. S. G. Wilder, 4. S. Cleghorn and
j. L. Kawainui DIR. Trousseau, DR.. Pitkin of the
L. 5. s. Benieia, Rev. j. ii. Wythe, of Califor-
MIA, Messrs. b. Adonis, d. Malo, and the writer,
mounted on horseback, and NJ. Ballieu the
French Commissioner and NJ. Doiron of the Cath
Ollie Mission on foot, proceeded about three miles
inland to the village of
KALAwAo,
Where are the Hospital buildings, and where the
most of the lepers reside. On the way thither
we stopped for a few moments at two neat wooden
cottages near the road, in which reside Mrs. Ma
pela, a former resident of Wailuku, and the Hon.
Peter Young Kaeo. We found them both very
comfortably situated, as suited to persons of their
means and connections in life, and reasonably
cheerful under their sad condition of exile.
Passing on over a slight rise, we came to the Hos
pital buildings, pleasantly and airily situated on
n plain between a towering mountain and the sea-
shore. There are some twelve of these buildings
constructed of wood, enclosed in a neat fence, and
all kept thoroughly whitewashed The grass
was soft and green within the enclosure, but we
noted the total absence of trees. We learned
however that since the water had been laid Oh
from the mountain, a goodly number of algeroba
and other shade trees have been set out, and in a
few years the premises will be well shaded.
The bringing of water from the stream in pipes
is a great boon to the lepers, for accomplishing
which individual members of the Board deserve
every credit. Formerly the water for drinking
purposes was brought a distance of three miles,
whereby the health and comfort of the people was
retarded not a little. Now a tap stands in the
Hospital - s-d a novar-failinG simply of the
lQulbpSISdDle eIcul6l6 10 dlWdy6 dG udHu. DIX
thousand two hundred and ffty-three feet of lead
pipe was used in this work, at q cost to the Board
of $500.
Led by DIR. Trousseau and Mr.. Wilder we now
proceeded to inspect the interior of the Hospital
buildings, and to
VISIT THE SICK.
If our sensibilities were shocked at the sight of
the crowd of lepers we had met at the beach, walk
ing about in physical strength and activity, how
shall we describe our sensations in looking upon
these loathsome creatures, in whom it was indeed
hard to recognize anything human? The rooms
were cleanly kept and well ventilated, but the at
mosphere within was peryaded with the sickening
odor of the grave. At each end, squatted or lying
prone on their respective mats or mattresses, were
the yet breathing corpses of lepers in the last
stages of various forms of the disease, who glanced
inquisitively at US for a moment out of their ghoul-
like eyes-those who were not already beyond
seeing-and then withdrew within their dreadful
selves. Was there ever a more pitilul sight?
Pen cannot describe it.
And, if thou teIest the heavy story right,
Upon my soul the hearers will shed tears;
Yea, even their foes win shed fast falling tears,
And say-Alss, ii was a piteous thing :"
In one room we saw a sight that will ever re-
main fixed indelibly on the tablets of memory. A
little blue-eyed, faxen haired child, apparently
three or four years old, a halEcaste, that looked
up at us with an expression of timorous longing
to be caressed and loved; but alas, in its CLASSY
eyes and transparent cheeks were the unmistaka-
bic signs of the curse-the sin of the parents
visited upon the child
In another room was one-a mass of rotting
flesh, with but little semblance OF humanity re-
maining-who was dying, and whose breath
came hurried and INSTRUCTED. y few hours at
most, and his troubles would be over, and his
release arrive. There had been fourteen
deaths in the settlement during the previous
On the day of our visit there were So
inmates of the hospital.
From january, 1866, (when the first leper