The sun., 1896-10-18
THE HEROES OF MOL0KAI.
MEN AND WOMEN VINO ARE DE.
VOTING 7HEIR LIVES TO LEPERS.
Self Sncrince-A Syracuse Clergy ymnn
and "a Former Omcer of Our Army Who
Have Their Home Among the Lcpcrs

PcMosA, ,5Ii., oct. S.-The Rev. Dr. Eds;i:I
G.. Wheeler has returned to his home In 20.
mona Valley after visit of five months to the
Sandwich Islands. Ho travelled for the Pa
cifc Island Missionary Society. After much
trouble Dr. Wheeler got permission In Homo.
lulu TO vist.the leper island OF Moloka In the
Hawaiian gro. p. He accompanied by
physician, delegated for the purpose 10y l'rcs.
don't Dole of tho Hawaiian republic. nnd hc
was required to obey implicitly the decision Of
the physician as to where he should go and how
much he might come In contact with the lCpers.
Tho part of Molokai occupied BY the lepers,"
said DIR. Wheeler, 'is about three miles long
and three. quarters Of n mile wide, and con-
tains about $1,000 acres. The Pacific Ocean
beats upon the shore On three sides, and 4 huge,
precipitous range OF cliffs cuts Off the view on
tho fourth side, and makes escape an mpOss-
bility. Tho climate is always soft and balmy.
Bananas and oranges grow wild. The island is
better managed under the Dole administration
In the now Hawaiian republic than when the
monarchy was In power. The sanitary condl
tions are better and better houses and food arc
provided for the wro;ched neoplc. who are
never to leave the island and seldom to SEQ
their friends and relatives rhe Roman CATH
olic Church has done more than any other de.
nomination In tho way of alevating the lot OF
1,2i0 residents IF the leper colony. Everybody
k..ows of the sacrifice made by the late Father
Damien, who went to Molokai in 1874, when
hc was a young, hea thy. and finely educated
young priest, to make his home among the lep-
ers and to die there. The good that Father
Damien did in Molokai can hardly he ex.
pressed Even in the midst Of pain and help
lessncss through tho literal rotting away Of his
hands, hc went about daily visiting the dis
,ased and dying and cheering the epcrs. There
nrp n hp Ianpr pnlnp,r t,yn IN, n n.
oic priests, who have cheerfully accepted tho
risk Of disease and given Up their live, TO com
parative Imprisonment, because they were In
spred by Father Damien's example. Besides,
there are six Catholic Sisters from New York
and Pennsylvania, who went to the island last
winter To live there until relea.ed by death, he
cause they think thnt II is ticir mission to
minister 10 the girls and women at Molokai.
The Methodists have built n little wooden
church in the colony in the last two years and
there IS service there every Wednesday and
Sunday by clergyman named Winters. He
lives aloic on the reTote mart of the island and
goes to the colony TO preach and pray. He is
very charitable man and draws no pay for his
services Besides, he sends quantities OF 'ood
and clothing to the lepers every holiday sea-
son. | believe Ii" came from Syracuse, " y.
where he inherited small fortune. lie he
licves that by extreme and eRsc.csS caro- he
Cnn avoid Nr,ominH infected with lcprosy, and
that lie may thus be able to minister TO his
diseased fock'longcr and better than the Cath
ollc missionaries, who resign Themselves to fate
among the l"pcrs.
The native llawaiians comprise over 90
per cent. Of the Iercrs at Molokai I saw
about dozen men of American birth among
the diseased residents on the island. They hnd
lived in the Sandwich Islands for years. and
|. had bec ma lcpcrs. There are some Chinese
and Japanese and n sprinkiinc OF EnGlishmeA
and Germans. The leading physician in Homo.
lulu IA graduate Of the College OF Physicians
and Surgeons In New York. told me that the
discus" is no doubt !uocuatcd where there is
an abrasion of the skin. The. .lIawaiiuns have
dish of half-hakcd raw ish and ots-known
as poi and from one large vessel whole fam
ily and all II. family friends eat at time.
A lcpe- may lie among them, and even he NAV
not know that the disease Is in his blood He
dips his hands into the food, and 1t Is very easy
to SEQ how another may thus contract leprosy.
PIPES used by several persons Rlro spread the
disease. Then, too. the native ltawailaus live
In fifth and have no i3ca o. hygiene and lurc
air. Lco-osy seems to defy all rules both in
nppearanC" and development. and there are
many pccps at Maoka who are sire that
they did not have the disease when they were
put under arrest rs suspected lcpcrs and sent
to the Island to I've n living death, and ho say
that they soon contracted leprosy on the island
while | was at Molokmi SPOKE in the af-
tcrnoon from the pulpit in the little Method
IT Church The physician who accompanied
me told me that should not shake hands with
any ono there. and should keep In the fresh mir
all the time Tho seats Ii tho church are rude
benches, u few Of which have ba ks TO them,
where III" d!sa lied lerers may sit. The open
door and tn" windows looked out upon the
black soil and volcanic rocks that compose tie
island. and could lear the ocean rear - it
beat upon the rocky shore about us. There
were about 200 people In the congregation that
assembled to hear me. think every Ame"l-
can.horn man on the island was there. one or
! two Englshmen. and the rest were liawaiians.
| about equally divided MS to sex. There we're
several men and women not over % years old
| ll."re and pitifuly observed u few boys
| der l5 among the lepcrs. Probably no strang-
| e. assemhage ever gathered to hear the Cos.
pei preached Every one bore Tho, stamp of
| the disease | spoke in English for that Is now
n common language al! over Hawaii. When. |
had finished mih,tIe-aged Kanaka arose in his
wanted to speak and thnl.k the american for
coming To MoloEni to make the life of th" lep,
would tell all the world wh"t frightfnl thing
! leprosy Is. and urge the smart white men 10
tn8y to e" n"re tE M S%S ana r rY said ID Sa he @
been there nine years. a,d that he hmprd and
| prayed his wifo and children in Honolulu
| would never know what hc had suffered h"
| cause OF his doom away from all he had loved
one or two other persons spoke IN hrok"n Eng
li~h in tho Fame strain, so that the asscrnbln.e
fell % weeping. and ! clrscd tho meeting as
soon possible.
After tho meeting my friend. the physician,
| and went out for walk Rhout Molokai. We
saw the disease in every stage as we walked
| past the hospital ground, and looked In through
tho open doors of the hundreds nf little white
washed cabins that the Hawaiian Government
has had ruilt for she eXi"d sufferers II does
| not secnl possible that person can live there II
week without contracting "pr0sy. But | was
told that four OF the Sisters Of Charity have
been there two years and have not yet shown
any symptom of the disease, but they live rs
carefully and neatly there M they did in
| America The lepers 1--we cheuply HI home.
but they are all an unclrnnlv class; Some
| OF them have married lepcr women nj AlOlokni
and have hcFot children. Sey eral old men
were pointed out to us as having h"cn In Mol0-
kai twenty-five years. The Oldest lepcr there
is n woman, who was brought there in 1862,
Nhcn a Young woman. She mas been an opium
eater tor years, and says 1t has checked tho
disease in her
Tine hest known man nt Molokai since
Father Damien died Is CHARLES J.. Dutton. His
life Of sclf-sacriiico is scarcely Sn.wn outside
| OF Hawaii. lie was once an oillcrr III the
| I'rited Stntes army. and vas born and raised