West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1896-02-13

"Piioki" means grief, sorrow,
and all that goes to weigh down the
heart. heard the awful word
thousand times that day. heard it
so mach that it still rings in my
ears. while the sadly disfigured
faces | met will, fear. never fade
from my memory. They have
haunted me in my dreams ever since
l left Molokai. Some OF their
faces were SO horribly dlsfgured as
To have no resemblance TO humani-
ty. No hideous mask has ever been
made to equal what leprosy has
done for the human face. | ob.
served n boy about ten wears OF age
whose eyelashes and eyebrows had
quite fallen out. II eyelids were
so paralysed that he could ra,se
them only the fractional part or an
inch, and he had TO hold his head
back in order to see. Mr.. Hutch.
iags, the assistant and sheriff of
the settlement, is one on whom the
disease seems to have exhausted
itself by the destruction OF his fin.
gers. These are gone and his
hands healed, but his under lin is
paral ysed so that, when he speaks,
1t falls down, and when he has flu
ished sentence he pushes it back
with his hngerless hand, and holds
1t IN place with his upper lip.
AT last horses were brought for
our party to cross over TO the
Baldwin Homo. Then clme IA mo
mentary hitch in the arrangement
caused by Miss Kato Field who was
unaccustomed to the Hawaiian
style OF riding. But she had to
yield to the inevitable. She was
determined to see the Baldwin
Homes it was too far to walk, and
there was not n side saddle on the
entire island. 80. by the kindness of
Miss Reynolds. she was soon attired
in divided skirts, and by the COM
bned efforts of Senator Waterhouse
and myself safely mounted on n
sad-eyed, dapple gray 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 a walk.
The Baldwin Home for bows.
which is under Catholic manage
ment contains score Of houses.
play room. school rooms, hospitals,
and living houses, all neatly and
cleanly furnished. Here we met
Brother Joseph Dutton. as he is
known, a man who for fifteen years
has devoted his life TO he care of
the lepers. He is plain, unas-
suming Christian man, who, in his
brave, humble way. is more nearly
following in the footsteps of his
Master than any other person il has
heen my lot to meet. 70 one visit.
ing his plain little room, devoid of
even the smallest luxury, uncarpet-
ed and unpaintcd, and realizing
that he is constantly in q greater
danger than If facing cannon,
it seems as tho we were in the pres.
ence of II superior being.
He took us TO the different apart.
ments OF the lcpcrs, all clean. neat,
whitewasbed plain and comfortable.
All the while he WAS explaining to
us that such 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 they are IN the last stages, A"
he explained, as we entered house
which, despite its cleanliness and
bare washed walls, gave forth
a sickeniDg odor.. "These poor
people won't last long"
-Four or five toeless and fngerless
wretches, whose horribly disfgured
features made them frightful to be.
hold, were on the front porch.
"These," SAID Brother joseph,
care still able to come out;" Then
rs we entered the hospital he added:
"These can't live long. Those three
are dying, this Que is almost gone. +"
Pointing 70 a vacant cot he added:
Zone died last night; We just took
him out and will bury him to-mor.
row. That poor fellow is nearly
dead D"
went over TO the dying leper.
lie still breathed, tho unconscious.
lie lay on his side with his head
over the side Of his cot. His hands
and feet we're gone, his eyes were
out, bis ears and nose gone, and
IN fact be was only horribly mutt.
lated trunk with little resem-
blance to n human being. Sicken-
ed at the sight aud deathly odor OF
leprosy, ] staggered to the door and
was soon again ia fresh air.
We called ut the house where
Sisters Cassentia aud Vinsentia
lived, those holy, angelic women
who arc deyoting their lives TO car.
ing for the lepors. They wash and
dress their sores, make their beds.
wash their clothing and keep them
neat and clean. Tho they have