Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1893-06-28
LEPERS OF MOLOKAI.
THE SETTLEMENT AS SEEN BY AN
AMERICAN PHYSICIAN.
A village Filled with Inhabitants Whose
Lives Have Lost All Hope of Earthly
Happiness-work of Christian Churches
In That Destitute Land.

Happiness-work of Christian Churches
In That Destitute Land.
DIR. Leonard Freeman, prominent ply |
stefan of Cincinnati, has returned from
tour of the Sandwich Islands. where after
much trouble he secured the privilege OF
visiting the celebrated leper colony on the
island of Molokai OF the island he says;
1t contains about ZOO acres. 1t is sur
rounded on three sides by the Pacific ocean,
and guarded on the fourth by tremendous
precipice which cuts it off from the rest OF
the world like a gloomy wall. There are
about 100 lepers in the colony, and it is
true of this spot il it is of any other that
''Ye who enter here leave hope beyond"
Even the ground itself looks as If it had
leprosy, with it's volcanic debris sticking
through the thin soil.
We went at once to the little Methodist
church, made OF boards and painted white,
where the Rev. Mr.. Emerson, whom had
met on the steamer, was to deliver ser
mon. The church was as plain as church
could be, with wooden benches and some
pitifully small panes of stained glass in
serted above the windows, in order to i'm
part a religious air to at least a portion of
the light which entered Just outside the
open door could see the white surf pound
ing against the black rocks with roar
that sometimes threatened to drown the
voice of the preacher.
This was one of the strangest congrega-
tions in the whole world-sOme without
fingers, some with their stumps of hands
| and feet done up in rags. There was not
one who did not in some way show the
/ stamp of the loathsome malady.
/ They were all dark skinned natives ex-
/ cent one white man who sat in front seat,
! the picture Of hopeless detection. Mr.. En-
erson spoke earnestly in the kanaka Ian
/ puage. and his audience listened eagerly.
/ After he had finished, be requested me to
address the congregation, and ] preached
my first and perhaps last sermon. One OF
! the lepers, with an obvious paucity Of fin
gers, arose and thanked me. Among other
! things he said he hoped would live long
and "never have leprosy'-as though lep
rosy to him involved every evil in the
world, and if escaped it could not fail to
be happy.
After the sermon we got some horses and
rode about the settlements. The lepers live
| in white frame houses about the size OF an
ordinary room and divided into several
apartments. They do not require much fur
niture, because they prefer squatting on 4"
floor to sitting in a chair They have
| horses, cats. dogs and other domestic am
mails, and some of them cultivate small
gardens When a kanaka gets leprosy
he regards il as a dispensation of Provi-
dence, burys his hopes and ambitions ana
goes to Molokai to die. To be sure, the dis
ease is only feebly contagious, but conta-
gious it is, and the slovenly, unhealthy
lives led by many natives are conducive to
its spread.
Huddled together in small damp huts,
existing on insufficient and improper food,
eating with their dirty fingers from a single
dish, smoking the same pipe, it is no won
der the Hawaiians have been decimated by
leprosy and afflicted with other terrible
diseases. One may live with lepers fol
many years, however, without contracting
: leprosv. 1t is said that a native woman Of
Honolulu sent three husbands to Moloka
I with the disease before she developed il
herself. There are several other churches
in the colony besides the Methodist, includ
ing a Catholic church and a Mormon church
| met on the island gentleman named
Dutton, who had been an officer in thu
United States army and had lived for
time in Cincinnati. He was formerl.
wealthy and stood high in the social world
Five or six years ago he was converted Z
the Catholic faith, disposed of his fortune
gave up his social position and went to Nc
lokai to devote the remainder of his life L
the lepers / found him a good looking an
extremely intelligent man, about 40 year
of age, with black hair and beard and
. pleasing address He lived in "a distorted
3-roomed cottage, surrounded by hig
stone wall.
Every morning this good Samaritan put
on an old blue blouse and pair of overall
and goes down to what he calls his 'worl
y, shop" a small frame house with verandi
, aro.nd which are arranged a number
benches and some dishpans filled wit
warm water. Miserable, decrepit lepei
come hobbling in until the benches al
!. filled and standing room is at premium
Mr. Dutton, with true religious coura9
and sympathy, bathes the sores in the par
Il of water aud applies fresh salve and ban'
a ages. A Cincinnati lady has presentt
him with a large music box, and while
.o is attending to these poor people this mus
Il box plays waltzes by Strauss-a genul
81 piece of sarcasm. Mr.. button is nobly ca
rying out the work inaugurated by Faith
-. Damien, who lived some 16 years amor
y the lepers and finally died martyr TO Il
49, disease, the horror of which he had endea
ored so long to mitigate.
remained in the leper colony two nigh
and nearly two days and was just as gil
to get away from the place as was to
into it. never before realized how drea
gu a Landscape could be in spite Of beautlf
az scenery and perfect climate if suffering b
n manity formed the background. Althoul
eu strictly speaking the people do not sun
II much. a characteristic of the disease Is
10 early destruction of sensation, so that I
TO ger or even a leg might be hacked off wit
ont much discomfort They never CONN
rs suicide. 1t would be easy to climb I
OF orecipice that guards their prison and JUL
ni, off. but they do not dot. The truth
Ed they seem comparatively resigned a
ey happy. There are so many of them IL
m they do not lack society, and the wo
ls- cases appear to mingIe freely with those
Ho the earliest STAGES