Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-28
"A THER DAMIEN Ar MOLOKAL
An Account of n visit to the Leper set
tlement.

An Account of n Visit to the Leper Sci
Element.
In a late number of the nineteenth Cen
tury, an English publication, correspond
ent, Mr.. Edward Clifford, describes visi
which he paid to the leper settlement OF
the island of Molokai in December last
The island is one Of the smallest of the hab
table islands of the Hawaiian group. |
is long and shaped like willow leaf. |
lies in the waters Of the Pacific, very low
on the south coast, but rising gradually t,
a height of 1900 feet, from which the de
scent to the north coast is precipitous. Be
tween the base Of the precipices and the Sc,
lie the two leper villages Of Kalawao anC
Kalaupapa. Landing is difficult on tn,
rocky coast, and ON this occasion it wa.
necessary to put off boat from the Homo
lulu steamer for a rocky point a mile and d
half from the village of Kalawao. The
writer says
Climbing down this point we saw about
twenty lepers, and There is Father pa
mien said our purser and, slowly NOV
ing along the hillside, | saw dark figure,
with large straw hat. He came rather
painfully down, and sat near the water
side, and We exchanged friendly signals
across the waves while my baggage was he
ing got out of the hold-a long business
for, owing to the violence of the sea, moth
ing else was To be put on shore. The captain
and the purser were both much interested in
case Of gurjun oil the product Of fir tree
growing on the Andaman islands which /
was bringing for the lepers' use, and they
spared no trouble in unshipping it, At last
all was ready, and VIZ went swinging across
the waves, and finally chose fit moment for
leaping an shore. Father Damien helped
me up the rock, and hearty welcome
shone from his kindly face
He is now forty nine years old-a thick
set, strongly built man, with black curly
hair, and short beard, turning grey His
face must have been rather handsome. with
a full, well-curved mouth, and IA short,
straight nose but he is now a good deal
dsiigured 10y leprosy, though not so badly
as to make it anything but pleasure to
look at his bright, sensible face. His fore
head is swollen and ridged, the eyebrows
are gone, the nose is somewhat sunk, and
the ears are greatly enlarged. His hands
and body also show many signs Of the dis
ease, but he assured me that he had felt lit
tie or no pain since he had tried DIR. Goto's
system of hot baths and Japanese medicine.
Il think he had not much faith in the CUR
jun oil, but at my request he began using
it, and after a fortnights trial the good eff
fects became evident to all. His face looked
greatly better, his sleep became very good
instead of very bad, his hands improved,
and last Sunday he told me that he had
been able that morning to sing orisons-the
first time for months.
Father Damien is building a church with
which he incorporates as transept the
same building which has hitherto been in
use By the side of it grows the palm tree
under which he lived for some weeks when
he first arrived at the settlement in 1873.
1t was then a miserable place the houses
were wretohed, undrained and unventilat-
ed, the people were ill-fed, ill-olothed and
worse washed, The water supply was very
bad. The sufferers were desperate, and of
ten lived vicious and lawless lives Now all
these things are changed. The cottages
built by the government are neat and con
venient, raised ON trestles SO as not TO be in
contact with the earth. The water is
brought In pipes from a never-failing sup
ply, and is excellent in quality and quantity
dIt hN6 CuuItues, In6Te IL a large
general shop, and the faces one sees are
nearly always happy faces.
'Of course, | saw cases in the hospitals
that were terribly emaciated and disfg-
ured, but there is no doubt that the disease
has taken a milder form than it wore years
ago. As a rule the lepers do not suffer Sc
we're pain, and the average length of life at
Molokai is about four years, at the end of
which time the disease generally attacks
some vital organ. Women are less liable TO
it than men. One woman accompanied her
husband to Molokai when he became a lep
er, and at his death became the bride of an
other leper. He died and she married an
other, and another after his demise. So
that she has lived with four leper husbands,
and yet remains healthy.
'As | sat in his little veranda making
sketches of Father Damien, he told me
about his early history. He was born ON
the 3d of January, lS4l, near Louvain, in
Belgium, where his brother Ia priest) still
lives His mother, a deeply religious wom-
an, died about two years ago, and his father
twelve years sooner. On his nineteenth
birthday his father took him to see his
brother, who was preparing for the priest
hood, and he left him there to dine while he
himself went ON IN the neighboring town.
Young Joseph this was his haptismal
namel decided that here was the opportu,
nifty for taking the step which he had long
been desiring to take, and when his father
came back he told him that he wished to
return home no more, and that it would he
better thus to miss the pain of farewell.
His father consented unwillingly, but, as he
was obliged to hurry to the conveyance
which was To take him home, there was no
time for demur, and they parted at the sta
ton. Afterwards, when all was settled,
Joseph revisited his home, and received his
mothers approval aud blessing
His brother was bent on going to the
South seas for mission work, and all was
arranged but at the last he was laid low
with fever, and, to his bitter disappoint-
ment, forbidden to go. The impetuous Jo.
seph asked him if it would be a consolation
for his brother TO go instead, and, receiving
an affirmative answer, he wrote surrepti-
tiously, Offering himself, and begging that
he might be sent, though his education was
not yet finished. The students were not
allowed TO send out letters till they had been
submitted TO the superior, but Joseph ven
tured 10 disobey,
Cone day as he sat at his studies the su-
periOr came in, and said, with a tender re
proach, oh, you impatient boy you have
written this letter and you are TO go.
Joseph jumped up and ran out, and
leaped about like young colt
" is he crazy Z said the other students.
He worked for some years ON other is
lands in the Pacific, and finally reached
Molokai in 1873, his heart having been
stirred by the report of the sufferings and
darkness of the lepers,
'When he first put foot on the island he
said to himself, Now, Joseph, my boy, this
is your life-work.'
81 did not find one person in the Sand
wich Islands who had the least doubt as to
leprosy being contagious, though it is pos
sible To be exposed 10 the disease for years