Democratic messenger., 1894-08-18
THE ISLE OF LEPERS.
Or. TALMsCE TELLS OF HkWAIrS COL
ONY OF LIVING DEATH.
fic Contrasts the Sadness and the Cheerful
ness of N"lokai- -Unrrcognizcd Heroes
Who Suppien. rtcd Father Eanicn's No
BILE Work There.


ness of M"Iokai rnrecoGnizcd Heroes
Who supplemented Father Eamicn's No
Bile Work There.
lCopyTi@lt. Louis Eiop>ch. l@il
MIDocEAS, Near Tasmania, June %
The most of the worlds heroes and
hcroincs die unrccoSnizcd. They will
have to wait until the roll is called on
the other side Of the Dead SEA have
seen no celebration of the courage and
fidelity of Rev. 5 Waiwaiolc, who died
two years ago III the lcpcr settlement OF
the Sandwich Islands, nor of the Rev.
NJ. Pahio who. himself struck with
lcproSy. goes right on with his evangel-
/ ical laborS, except when especial fever Of
his disease prostrates him, and will con-
neither foot tn walk nor tongue to speak
because of the dreadful diSintcgration.
But once i'll awhile there are circum-
stances which thrill the world with the
same story like that of the brilliant
/ Belgian Catholic priest, Joseph Damien,
who after a weeks consideration of
whether he had better do so, accepted
the appointment as missionary 10 Mo-
( lokai. the isle of lcpors. for l6 years
administering 10 tho loprous and then
dying of the lcproSy When told by his
physician that he had the fell taint up
on him, he showed no alarm nor even
agitation, but said: ''As expected. i
am willing TO die for those | came to
save The king knightcd him, and "a
memorial slab designates his resting
place, but Professionalism has joined
Catholicism in the Identification of this
self sacrificing ecclesiastic.
a Tribute to Damien.
That moral hero completely trans
formed the isle of lcpcrs. IL WAS before
his work began pen of denominations.
No law No dcccncy. All the tigers of
passion Were let loosc. Drunkenness
and blasphcry and ibcrtinism and
cruelty dominated The moral disease
eclipscd the physical. But Damien
dawncd upon the darkness. He helped
them build cottages He mcdicatcd
their physical diStresscS. The plague
which he could not arrest he allcyiated.
He settled the controversies of the peo-
pie He prepared the dead for burial
and diggcd for them Christian graves
and pronounced upon them benedic-
tion. He launched a Christian civiliZa-
tion upon the wretchcdness. He gave
them the gospel of good cheer. He told
the poor victims concerning the land of
eternal health, where the inhabitant
never says, Il am sick. and the swol
len faces took on the look of hope. and
the CLASSY eyes saw coming relief, and
the footless, and the limblesS, and the
fingerless looked forward to place
where they might walk with the King
robcd in white and everlasting songs
upon their beads
Good and Christlilic Joseph Damien !!
Let all religions honor his memory. Let
poetry and canvas and sculpture tell the
story of this man who lived and died
/ for Others and from century to century
keep him i'll bright remembrance long
after the last lcper of all the earth shall
have felt through all his recovering and
rcvi;alized nature the voice of the Son
Of God saying: Il will! BE thou clean.
The Regime of Moiokai.
The eternal pathos of Molokai has at
tractod the attention of all nations be-
cause it is q lcper colony. 1t is small
island, but il contains u continent Of
woe. Ii was established i'll mercy. Lep-
rosy was so rapidly advancing i'll the
Sandwich Islands that the entire popu-
lation was impcrilcd. TO control and
extirpate TIE ghastly evil il was ncces-
sary to put ii by itself on an island not
easily accessible But those banished
there are made as comfortable rs possi-
BILE. In one year this lcpcr settlement
cost the Hawaiian government 500, 600.
Every week each patient Is allowed four
pounds of salmon, nine pounds of rice,
one pound of sugar, or. if preferred,
from five TO six pounds of beef, and 81
pounds of ''paiai. which is Il near ap-
proach to bread. Lcprosy reigns there.
The victims have bands of music. all
the players lepcrs. They have churches,
all the worshipers lcpers. They have
carriages, all the drivers and occupants
lepcrs They have hospitals. all the
nurses and patients lepers. They have
drama, and all the actors lepcrs. They
have schools all the teachers and schol-
ars lcpcrs Marriages are performed.
and the contracting parties are lepers.
Children are born there, and they are
ros;ly lcpcrs. Everything that pustu,e
and scari'ication and inflammation and
ganGrcnc and disfiguration can do Is
done here. Science, which has success
fully fought back most of the world s
disorders, has here closed its pharmacy,
put back into the case its surgical in
struments and come down to the gov
ornment boat and retrcatcd from this
island of death. Thank God, this do
minion of death IS being broken, and he
will have to dismount this sepulchral
throncl Segregation of the victims will
complete the overthrow of the foul
plague, and i'll these islands lcper will
he as rare rs i'll America, where most of
the people never saw lcpcr
Cheerful. Though Doomed.
, What most strikes Il visitor at Molo-
? kai is the placidity and cheerfulness of
. the victimiz,d. One would think they
, could never smile. never sing, never get
, ont from under Il sense of despair. But
I whatsoever agonicS may fill the hearts
| of these lepcrS :hcy appear 10 the be-
holder rs III Il resignation that amounts
to good cheer. They seem among the
E happiest people on earth Many of them
on horseback come galloping down the
road. Songs roll over the fated village
: by day and night. Hawaiian nature as.-
? justs itself 10 circumstances We have
often seen people who through pulmo-
nary or Bright disease Were certain Of
} early demise. and yet mir;h bubbling
and resonant. The fact is we must all
die, and y6 we manage 20 keep cheer
full. and why not those struck by leprous
Kenneth l;ahrmnrc had the good FORUM,
To receive Il small bottle of Chamberlain
Co,ic, Cholera aud Diarrhwa Kennedy wheI
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