The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-08-09
'LEPERs OF MOI.ol<Ai.
THE SETTLEMENT AS SEEN BY AN
AMERICAN PHYSICIAN.
Village Filled With Inhabitants Whose
lives Have Lost All Uopo OF Earthly
Happincss-Worls of Christian Churches
In That Destitute Land.

w OTA OF CHRISTIAN ChurChea
In That Destitute Land.
Dr. Leonard Freeman a prominent phy
sician of Cincinnati, has returned from "A
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 saws:
IL contains about 5000 acres 1t is sur
rounded on three sides by the Pacific ocean.
ana guarded on the fourth by u tremendous
precipice, which cuts it Off from the rest of
the world like gloomy wall. There nre
about l,lOO lepers in the colony, and it is
true of this spot if it is of any other that
1e who enter here leave hope beyond.n
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 a ser
mon. The church was as plain as church
could be. with wooden benches and some
ptifully small panes of stained glass in
serted above the windows, in order to i'm
part religious air to at least portion of
the light which entered. Just outside the
open door could see thewhite surf Mound.
ing against the black rocks with n roar
that sometimes threatened to drown the
voice of the preacher.
This was one of the strangest congrcga-
tons i'll 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 MI dark skinned natives eS
cept one white man who sat in front seat,
the picture of hopeless detection. Mr.. En-
erson spoke earnestly in the Kanaka Ian
guaSe, and his audience listened eagerly.
After he had finished, he 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 lcp.
rosy to him involved every evil in the
world and i'll escaped it could not fail to
be happy.
After the sermon we got some horses and
rode about the settlements. The lepers live
III white frame houses about the size of nm
ordinary room and divided into several
apartments. They do not require much fur.
niture. because they prefer squatting on :,
floor to sitting in a chair. They have
horses, cats, dogs and other domestic ami
mails, and some of them cultivate small
gardens. When n Kanaka gets leprosy,
40 ~ sS"iN' ~ tS a. QiSpcuSilllOn OIL l'fONl-
dence, burys his hopes and ambitions and
goes to Moloka to die. To be sure, the dis
ease is only feebly contagious, but con,a.
gious it is, and the slovenly, unhealthy
lives led by many natives are conducive to
its spread
luddled together in small damp huts.
existing OH insufficient and Improper food
eating with their dirty fingers from Il single
dish, smoking the same pipe, it is no won
der the Hawaiians have been decimn;ed by
leprosy and afflicted with other terrible
diseases. One may live with lepers for
many years, however, without contracting
leprosy. 1t is said That II native woman of
Honolulu sent three husbands to Molokai
with the disease before she developed it
herself. There are several other churches
Ill the colony besides the Methodist, includ-
ing Catholic church and Il Mormon church
met on the island Il gentleman named
button, who had been an officer i'm the
United States army and had lived for a
time in Cincinnati. He was formerly
wealthy and stood high in the social world
Five or six years ago he was converted to
the Catholic faith, disposed of his fortune,
gave up his social position and went TO Mo
lokni to devote the remainder of his life To
the lepers. | found him u good lookingan,i
extremely Intelligent man, about - years
of age, with black hair and beard and a
pleasing address. He lived in II distorted,
3-roomed cottage, surrounded by n high
stone wall.
Every morning this good Samaritan nuts
OH an old blue blouse and Il pair of ovcralls
and goes down To what lie calls his work
shop" small frame house with Il veranda.
around which are arranged Il number OF
benches and some dishpans filled with
warm water. Miserable, dccrepit lepers
hob FL.
filled and standing room is ut IL premium.
Mr. Dutlon, with true religious courage
and sympathy, bathes the sores i'll the pais
OF water and applies fresh salve and bnnd-
ages. y Cincinnati lady has presented
him with II large music box, and while he
Is attending to these poor people this music
box plays waltzes by Strauss-a genuine
piece OF sarcasm. Mr.. Button is nobly car
rying out the work inauguratcd by Father
Damien, who lived some IL years among
the lepcrs and finally died Il martyr to the
disease, the horror Of which he had endeav-
ored so long to mitigate
remained in the leper colony two nights
and nearly two days and WAS Just Us glad
TO get away from the place us was TO get
into it. never before realized how drcary
landscape could be in spite of beautiful
scenery and perfect climate if suffering hui
mainly formed the background. Although
strictly speaking the people do not suffer
much, Il characteristic of the disease is the
early destruction of sensation so that a fin
ger or even leg might he hacked Oft with
out much discomfort They never commit
suicide. 1t would be easy TO climb the
precpice that guards their prison and jump
off. but they do not do it. The truth is,
they seem comparatively resigned and
happy. There are so many of them that
they do not lack society, and the worst
cases appear to mingle freely with those in
the earliest stages.
The sistars ,voro ;,,ct ona,;,, ,