The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1890-08-16
EulOCY ON FATHER DAMIEN.
The Leper Priests Life and Labors
Ably Portrayed BY Minnesota
Protestant.
HERBERT TANNER lHE EULOGIST.

DEnOEnI tHNNln UE ELUlOQiOI
He Delivers an Awe inspiring Address on
the Martyr Of Molokal at
WaverlY.
One of the greatest eulOgies ever
made on the life and labors of Father
Damien, was delivered by Herbert Tan
..er, ex editor of the Howard Lake
Herald, at Waverly, Mimi. Sunday.
Aug. 3, before the Catholic temperance
society of that place. The address is
the more important because of the fact
that the speaker is Protestant, and
his utterances are on that account of
greater Importance than ANYTHING that
has yet been published in this connec.
1ion. The many calumnies that had
been uttered against the leper priest
are here ably dlsproven. and the address
which is given in full below will repay
perusal
The bravery of the warrior, the wis
dom of the statesman and the enter
prise of daring and adventurous spirits
are the never ending theme of hero
worshippers. But the subject of these
remarks tonight was neither warrior.
statesman or adventurer. Romance.
when it sheds a lustre over achieve
uents of camp and field can have no
newer or brighter light in which 10 en-
circle the deeds Of the man on whose
wonderful and unique history I propose
to dwell for few moments. There was
nothing picturesque in his life or sur
goundings: nothing In which pomp and
E,ageantrY, knight errantry Or hero
worship can revel.
But when the great deeds of the
Nineteenth Century pass in review be.
fore the critical gaze of future ages,
anen will acknowledge the simple
grandeur of career commenced In pov
sarty and prematurelv cut short by the
most loaths0me Of diseases contracted
instheperformance of missionary labors.
Our hero was born in an obscure town
IN Belgium in the wear 1S41, and died
about twelve months ago after great
suffering at Mo)okai, the fixed abode OF
iepers in the Sandwich Islands. His
name was Joseph Damien de Veuster.
We are told that Molokai, the leper's
island, is long, and shaped like willow
deaf; it lies in the form Of wedge on
the Pacific. very low on the south coast
and gradually rising to its greatest alti-
tude, from which the descent-l.5O0 feet
to the northern coast is preclpitOus.
Between the base Of these precipices
and the sea lie the two leper villages of
Kalawao and Kalaupapa. Not improb-
ably half the island is sunk in the sea,
and the villages are IN the actual cup OF
the crater of an immense volcano, half
of which is submerged. Clifford on
Father Damien and the Lepers.l
Let me describe briefly the state Of
the island and it's wretched inhabitants
when Father Damien first arrived in
1878. and as nearly as possible in his
own words. The population was in the
neighDorhood Of q thousand. They had
cut down the old Pandanus groves to
build their houses, though a geat many
had nothing but branches of castor Oil
trees with which to construct their
small shelters. Under such primitive
roo were living pell~mell, without dis
tinction Of age, OF sex, old or new cases,
ali more or less strangers one to anoth-
Ell, these unfortunate outcasts OF socl-
ETY.. They passed their time with play
ing cards, native dances, drinking fer
mented ki.root beer, home made alco-
hol, and with the sequels Of all this,
Tue state Of the sufferers was unbear-
able to new conner. The poorer lepers
had scarcely enough to cover their max
edness. They were feverisb. coughed
badly, terrible swellings began and the
poor creatures gave themselves up to
the ravages of the disease without an
effort to stem its progress. They had
almost no medicine, and it was q COM
mon sight to see them going about in
lamentable want of a few rags or little
lint for their sores. Sometimes women
and children prostrated by the disease
were cast out to die with no shelter but
a stone wall. Along the base of the
cliffs there grows very abundantly
plant which the natives call kl. and
from the root Of which very intoxica-
ting liquor is distilled. The natives
who fell under it's influence forgot all
dacency, ran about nude and acted as If
thep were stark mad. (Clifford on the
HaWaiians.) The island became per-
feet pandem0nium, a hell upon earth.
Physical suffering and want. moral de-
pravitY, ignorance and destitution
reigned supreme. Men and women
died like sheep .uncared for and un-s
pitied. The crew s Of vessels when they
passed within sight Of the island turned