The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-02-13
fngerless hand, and speak words ofen-

"How are you, old boy? How are
you to-day, my friend? Come, cheer
up and be happy. You are happier
here than you could be anywhere else, y
he said hundred times that day.
To which the natives flor most of the
lepers are natives) usually answered:
"Pilaki, bilaki," with sad shake
Of the head.
"Pilakf' means grief, sorrow, and
all that goes to weigh down the heart.
| heard the awful word thousand times
that day, heard it so much that it still
rings in my ears, while the sadly dis
figured faces l met will, l fear, never
fade from my memory. They have
haunted me in my dreams ever since |
left Molokai. Some of their faces were
so horribly disfgured as to have no
resem blance to humanity. No hideous
mask has ever been made to equal what
leprosy has done for the human face.
l observed a boy about ten years Of age
whose eye-lashes and eyebrows had
quite fallen out. His eyelids were SO
paralized that he could raise them only
the fractional part Of an inch, and he
had to hold his head back in order to
see. Mr.. Hutchings, the assistant and
sheriff of the settlement, is one on whom
the disease seems t.; have exhausted it.
self by the destruction of his fingers.
These are gone and his hands healed,
but his under lip is paralyzed so that,
when he speaks, it falls down, and when
he has finished a sentence he pushes it
back with his hngerless hand, and holds
it in place with his upper lip.
At last horses were brought for our
party to cross over to the Baldwin
Home. Then came a momentary hitch
in the arrangements caused by Miss Kate
Field, who was unaccustomed to the
Hawaiian style of riding. But she had
to yield 10 the inevitable. She was
determined to see the Baldwin Home;
it was too far to walk, and there was
not side saddle on the entire island;
so, by the kindness Of Miss Reynolds,
she was soon attired in divided skirts,
and by the combined efforts Of Senat or
Waterhouse and myself safely mounted
on sad-eyed, dapple-grey horse, into
whose good graces she soon began to
ingratiate herself by patting his neck
and appealing to his honor not to go
faster than walk.
The Baldwin Home for boys, which
is under Catholic management, con-
,ains score of houses, play room,
school rooms, hospitals, and living
houses, all neatly and clearly furnished.
Here we met Brother Joseph Dutton,
as he is known, a man who for fifteen
years has devoted his life to the care OF
the lepers. He is plain, unassumlng
Christian man, who, in his brave, hum
bic way, is more nearly following in
the footsteps Of his Master than any
other person it has been my lot to meet.
To one visiting his plain little room,
devoid Of even the smallest luxury, I'M
carpeted and implanted, and realizing
that he is constantly in greater danger
than if facing cannon, ltseems as tho
he were in the presence of superior
being.
He took us to the different apart
ments of the lepers, all clean, neat,
white washed, plain, and comfortable.
All the while he was explaining TO US
that such a ward was where the cases
were not SO bad, the next was where
they were lower and weaker, here the
unfortunate beings were able to crawl
out on the porch, and sit and gaze on
the sea, sky, and earth once more.
"Here is where they are brought
when in the last stages, he explained,
as we entered house which, despite
its cleanliness and bare white washed
walls, gave forth a sickening odor.
"These poor people won't last long"
Four or five toeess and fingerless
wretches whose horribly disfgured fea-
lures made them frightful to behold,
were on the front porch.
"These," said Brother Joseph, care
still able to come out" Then as we
entered the hospital he added: "These
can't live long. Those three are dying,
this one is almost gone" Pointing to
a vacant cot he added: "One died
last night; we just took him out and
will bury him tomorrow. That poor
fellow is nearly dead.
| went over to the dying leper. He
still breathed, tho unconscious. He
lay on his side with his head over the
side of MS cot. His hands ard feet
were gone, his eyes were out, his ears
and nose gone, and in fact he was only
a horribly mutilated trunk with little
resemblance to human being. Sick
ened at the sight and deathly odor of
leprosy, l staggered to the door and
was soon agal.. in fresh air.
We called at the house where Sisters
Cassen,ia and Vinsentla lived, those
holy, angelic women who are devo,ing
their lives to caring for the lepers. They
wash and dress their sores, make their
beds, wash their clothing, and keep
them neat aud clean. Tho they have
lived among them FIR years, they have
been wonderfully preserved.
Too much praise cannot be given
the Hawaiian government for its care
of these unfortunate people. The eleven
hundred and twenty lepers on Molokal
cost the government nearly ten thous-
and dollars per month. BY this lavish
expenditure of money and with the aid
of the Catholic missionaries, the lives
Of these poor people are as pleasant
and easy as it is possible to make them.
JOHN r. MUsICK.
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