The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-01-10
The Honolnlu Lepers.

u any QiSIrlCL an OilCck 10 oOAs " AOeOA
him or her to Honolulu, where there Is q
detention hospital put on the outskirts Of
the city and on the bank OF the beacti-
full bay Then they are examined by
the doctor who decides whetherslt IS
case of leprosy or not. Once declared
3 leper the person is civilly dead, and
is incapable of suing in the courts OF =
being sued. At the hospital there are
accommodations for about 12O. 1t Is
filed every two months. The establish
ment consists of plot OF ground, say
i've acres, around which is very high
picket fence, with deep ditch outside
Of it. Within are cottages or wards.
There is little shade, except that made
by the houses. no sward nor running
water. The construction of the houses
is primitive, their furnishing PLAIN to
the verge of discomfort, but they are
clean. To the north rises the grotesque
form of the Punch Bowl, the crater OF
an extinct volcano, and beneath it ara
the green slopes and lower lands of the
beautiful city. Sweeping around to the
east is Wekiki, with its graceful forests
Of cocoa palms, and in front the green
sea splashes and roarS over the coral
reefs that form the harbor bar, In this
place the leper must give up all hope.
Before his admission here he had at
least the expectation of dying among
friends friends so loyal that they hide
their afflicted relatives in the mount
aims. and bring them poi and water IN
,alabashes. But now comes the harsh
discipline of a government Institution.
No wandering in the cool Algerooa Tor.
est. or bathing in the loved surf. but
simply period of suffering and waiting
for death by a mercenary, if cruel law,
| and from whose horrible provisions
there is no escape.
The hospital full, steamer comes to
take to the Island of Molokai those
whose condition is most advanced,
there to remain until death. 1t was
with such a party that travelled finally
to Molokai, his excellency having at
| last exhausted his reasons for my not
going. 1t was not my lot to witness
many sad scenes, but none of them APP
proa he'd in any way those which at
| tended the separation Of families as
these handful of lepers sailed away to
| their exile. Daughters reached out
their arms to mothers whom they
might not embrace; wives held up
their mouths for kisses which their hus-
bands could not give; babes. held in the
arms of strangers, laughed and cOoed
10 their mothers, to whose breaking
hearts they might not be held in one last,
loving clasp. And sobs-such sObs,.
.salas! that come from the depths OF
hearts wrunr with the misery of hope
less cond ton Presently Thea lines
were cast off, the little steamer turned
her head away and steamed slowly to-
ward the bar. l went into the little
cabin set apart for the captain and
closed the door, determined hear no
more and see no more OF such grief
The little port was open, when sudden
" it was darkened, and, looking up, j
saw the dark but beautiful face OF a
woman whose young husband was on
his way to MOlokai. She had swan
out to intercept the steamer, and being
as indeed are all her race-as much
At home in water as on land, she had
no difficulty in accomplishing her pur-
pose. .Ah," she said, ''you are not a
doctor nor constable. Tell my hus-
band to look over the side to me, and
God will bless you"
Invent on deck. We were steaming
slowly, waiting for the Government IN
spectOr to complete his task before
taking his own boat for the shore. The
lepers had become quiet, or compare
lively so, except for pain. A few
women were rocking on their Launches
and moaning, young half-white CIR
had flung herself on the deck in wild
abandonment of grief, and behind the
smoke-stack found the husband kneel
ing in prayer. His face, serrated by
the leprous sores, was held toward the
sun, the tears were streaming down his
disease-cut features, softenilg them bJ
} their agony of supplicatiOn.
William" said, ''your wife Il
alongside. Go quietly to the place
shall point out to you and you will SEQ
her"
The man sprang up, and for a mo
ment was perfectly beautiful, such
ioy as came in his face. Then he turned
and ran to the place 1 indicated. Hal
an hour afterward / saw him alone
We were then under a full head o
steam, passing Diamond Head.
"Where is she?" asked. He pointed
astern, and there, not an eighth OF
mile away, we saw her, swimming to
ward some fishing-boats, her soft blacl
hair floating out behind her and he
arm every now and again waving to u
I: goOd-by. ;,
The leper settlement is general,
; called Molokai, but that, in fact, is tn
=. name of the island upon which it
! placed. Kalawai is the official name O
the town or village. 1t is situated a
the foot of great ravine, throug
which at some time a stream of Law
: has poured. On either side are grea
|, precipices reaching far into the sea
! At their bases the surf beats high
sometimes breaking as high up thei
brown, hard fronts as seventy feet
Here the northeast trades roll up tn
seas they gather in passage of tw
thousand miles over an unobstructe
ocean. But the rocks stop them, an
sullenly they fall back again with
!. heavy monotone. The two cliffs ru
: backward in sharp ascents till the
). meet over the narrow pass throug
: which admission to the leper settlement
|, by land is alone possible. 1t is as
nature had made a prison. One ma
e could hold a thousand at bay over To
: bridle-path, and one guard is sufficier
!, to restrain the thousand lepers whic
= are at this place.-COr. N. Y. Times.