The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1889-02-16
GRAPHICALLY PICTURED.
The Beautiful Island Of Molokia, the
Home of the Leper-Descrip-
tion of the Disease.
HORROR WHICH THE DEATH-BED
Presents The First Superintendent OF the
Settlement an Irishman-father
Damiens Work.

Damien's Work.
A writer in the Dublin Freeman s
Journal writes as follows OF the lepe1
colony of the Hawaiian islands: The
doom of the leper to be set apart for
death is pronounced against him in
every land. He is to be found in many
lands, under many changing conditions
of temperature and climate. in Suma-
ira beneath the equator, in Iceland on
the verge of the Arctic zone, IN tenn:
perate regions, such as the Cane and
MADEIRA. on the arid plains of Arabia,
in the moist and malaricus districts of
Batavia aud Surinam, in the heart of
the great continents and On the lava
or coral islands of the Indian and Pa.
cihc oceans. But everywhere he is an
Outcast. confined in the pest house or
the iaZaretto, or condemned to wander
abandoned and alone, avoiding contact
with all of his kind not stricken as him.
self. Nowhere. perhaps, and not at any
time before in the struggle of humanity
with this foul disease, have these meas
nres Of separation been effected
on such a piteous scale as in
the little kingdom of the Sandwich
islands--or, to callit by its own prettier
name, Hawaii. Like other Poiynesian
races, the Hawaiians haye proved
strangely susceptible to the diseases of
the white man exhibiting them in more
acute form than he does. Measles are
comparatively trivial ailment amongst
us; they are 8 dan gerous epidemic to
HawaiaDs. Bat most fatal of all the
maladies which they owe to the foreign
er is leprosy. 1t Was introduced among
them some fifty years ago-introduced,
it is said, by reckless adventurer, who
has, little care for the life Of the nation.
and whose dissolute habits helped to
spread widely the poison he carried in
his veins. The manners Of the people,
the close intimacy in which they lived.
their love of travel and change, and the
abounding hospitality facilitated the
growth of the evil. In short time
leprosy spread through the Kingdom,
and the government was called upon to
interfere. Interference could take but
one forn-the separation of the dis
eased from the uninfected, and their
perpetual exile from society. But
wnere to fiud a settlement for the VIC
Tins of leprt sy, remote fran the paths
of human life, in which the outcasts
could slowly die without peril to their
kind? In Hawaii, a kingdom OF is
lands, this difficulty was more easily
solved than it could have been upon the
mainland. The island Of Moloka;. one
of the Hawaiian group, presents at one
Of it's extremities q strange geological
conformation. 'Vhe high table land
which forms the central ridge OF the
island terminates abruptly IN a Cliff
some three thousand feet in depth, the
face of which is "a cataract OF verdure
breaking at intervals into a foam OF
flowers" Beneath this cliff "a tongue
of land is thrust out into the ocean, sun
burnt and dust colored, blackened at
the edges where the rough lava rocks
have been uncovered by the sea . On
one shore of this lowland stands little
hamlet of white cottages in the midst
of a sheltered spot Of verdure; on the
opposite shore is another village. also
picturasuuely situated; and few habi-
tations are scattered between. The set
tlement thus walled in by the precipi-
tous Cliff behind, and girded by the
impassa ole sea before, is Ka!awoa, the
prison OF the lepers of Hawai-. 1t is
now about twenty-five years since the
deportation of the lepers Of Hawaii to
this secure place of exile was begun by
the government. The affection of the
people for the afflicted friends caused
serious difdculties>to the officers charg-
ed with this unpleasant duty. The
wretehed sufferers were hidden away by
their relatives; it became necessary to
surprise and capture them by~stealth.
and an agony of heartrending adieus
was excited at their departure from
Honolulu for the doomed colony. A
hospital was established near the CAPT
tai, where doubtful cases were detained
for treatment until the disease had fully
declared itself or the patients freedom
from the contagion was assured. The
colony at Molokai numbers between 700
and 500 lepers, the death rate is about
$50 year. There are few great incl
dents in the pubic life of any nation
under the sun in which an Irishman is
not concerned. The foundation of the
leper settlement at Molokai is no ex
ceptien to the rule. It had not been
long established when it was found that