The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1878-03-13
DEATH or A VERY REMARKABLE
Af4s4aft4g8l Man. .stf8sN3 f E

ti0vernnr af the leper settleneiit on the ".
land If Molpkai. Sandwich Islands. The
,iecesre ~ 81, noted and remarkable i man.
in the prime n if-.,l-rerye. q more exr
tended obituary. Billy Rassdale. as lle
was popularity known. was u Hawaiian by
lbirth, i,is mniher having heeu . native
aud his father mrd hmericaih By pro-
lfession ht. was lawyer, speaking Eng-
lilsh an fiuentIy M Hawaiian, and The
ln,ost noted oratoruf the Hawaiian King
dom, whites and natives included, aud
Among tile latter there are nlany coii-
Ispicuous orators Tie manner in which
Rarsdale discovered that he had the
Irlrosy. Us told hy himself, Is most IN
terrstipg, aud especially from ascientific
llOintos view. r.. .tss....s..,
i The deceased resided fora number Of
years ola ine island ~ Hawii, an,i had an
office Al Hilo, the capital Of the islan'I..
lone night he was studying upa law care
lin Which hr was deeply interested. when
the chimney from toe lamp fell on The
table. Although the chimney WAS hot us
lfire, Bill, Ia his excitement. picked i up
aud vel II in ils place without experieii-
cing the leart Inconvenience, such as
would naturally result 20 a really sound
person J.sudiil,g re,i-hof lamp chimney.
lie reflected for y nlonient, looked at his
hand, l,ut could not discover the least sign
sIii,ai II lad been burned. hethen took off
aud l,nt on the chimney repeatedly. aud
with the. same result. This experience
cnIvinced him that be was aniong the
afflicted. aud lie ins: 10 time In coni,nuii-
eating with the authorities. Anexamina-
tinn was made, aud medical authority lie.
cIare,l that lie was afflicted wItli leprusy.
TDr. 1nsSeau. far years physician At
Honolulu. but now 4 resident Of the Is
land of Hawaii. made the principal ex.
amlnaiion. 3ssH@ aT4e#t n yg4tfH .#Hn
i Uptalliis time no person on the Islands
ever ,leamrd that Bill Ragsdale had the
le,,ro~y. and sonie doabtr,i even sf.er the
examination II he were ~ afflicted. Bill,
however, was presumably convinced that
he was 80 afflicted. THE police did nol
larrrst him, however, owing tobis exalted
Ip,~itipn ~ was eomnion with those sus-
pected ofi,eing lppers, 10 lbe voluntarily
I,l-hvered himself upasa victim ~ this
terrible disease. He was then sest 20
Molokai and installed Goveri,or of the
Iei~r settlement, which position lie heId
fora number ofyrars up % the time Of his
death. "4sitsi hslaats aa% s#"" stsl
Sa,n after his isolaiion from, the world
and his friends the disease made itself
more upparvni, and there were none 90
llncrrdulous as 10 believe that he wa, not
forever afflicted with the lrprosy. .., ..r.
r During his administration of affairs he
was NJ successful NJ he was popular.
There were aud are a5out 500 iepers on the
-siiIeinen, but hy his tact aud kindbrai-
tedness kagsdale made The most extraor-
.dinary and sliIest cnmmunity Oh the
. face of the earth ~ cheerful aud happy as
the unf,ntunates could he. BY his ad-
vice tile Government made many reforms,
anl tie ippers reeognizrd him rs . father.
! Onc Of the most peculiar aud startling
phrases connected will this episode y the
fact that Mr. Rags,lale, whowas n married
man with family. took NJ with q young
I native woman on The settlement Of fMolo-
Mai who Icll III Irve will, him. She was
; remarkably handsome, Of splendid phy.
silue, aud had already buried two lius.
lan,ls ur luvrrs-for Loth terms are sub,
siantially the san,e with tile Hawaiians
FREE In,m missionary miiuence' Both her
husuands. as We will call them. died of
l-pr.-y. yei Tile wife. Asshe must DC ter
med, ~as never afflicted with Il. She fell
In kve with Rags,la.c. aud they continued
ta live liz tie nlust perfect harmony, the
wife not having lie least fear ofbriug SUBJ
Ijrcied 60 the ffighful afilic,iun Other hns-
, band. She still survives him, and Is in
perfect hralth, NJ lcast was not Icing ago.
II may lie here remarked that there are
snn,s seveuty.iive individuals sn ths
lrper settlement who aru not afflicted with
lrpr~y. These, have Voluntarily exilrd
themselves ON accpunt Of tile deep love
aud affection they have for thelr friends
who nfe lrIen. They mingIe freely
anmig the sorrow.strickun, eating out u
lthe same caiabasil ~ ppi. aud drinking
from the same cai,, chatting and talking
together ou the same n,ai. aud even
, sleepiiig together. SILL some Of The
healthy persons, indeed The nlaority u
| them. never catch the irpro-y. ~ =
word. they have 10 fear II MI " 10. dils
The Hawaiian Au.
I thor,tIvs have many faults aud short.
coiuing-. but the humanity they exhibit
toward the lrI.ers. ~ rrpsidiug aid caf-
ling fpI them. u gtsaiiy to their credit.
Tbis settlement b updsr lhe tsLoa; that y,
npliumsii t,eing j. permitted 10 enter The
dreadful lecaliiy wl,l'out special permit
frrm lie Bnar ~ Health a, Honolulu.
Id i very difnrue 10 get this permit, 10