Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1896-02-12

, vas NJ III emu.
"Come here and sit down." said Sena.
tor Waterhouse, who also had been
driven below by the rain. "Don't rub
your eyes until they are red. You will
have to get used to this"
L found myself in company of iollv
fellows who had already abandoned all
thought of sleep,
81 have been fishing many times,n said
Judge Wilcox, "when we had to sit I'M
all night in the rain"
The very mention of fishing exnedi.
tlon Will rouse the Hawaiian, native or
naturalized. Senator Waterhouse, who
knows something about big fish, at once
started out with story:
speaking OF natives and fishing. 7
VIII tell you what witnessed with nv
own eyes," '
"Go on Senator" was the general de-
mand, for when the Senator gets started
me boys know they can expect some
thing good.
"Wli!e going along the coast of Oahu
one uay, saw some natives on the rocks
ana some IN the water. / asked what
they were doing and was told they were
gong 10 lasso a shark, and that if |
wished might help pull il ont of the
water. | climbed down the preeipitous
clif short distance, and discovered
there was hole in the rock in which
the shark had gone and was asleep. One
OF the natives plunged into the water
ana tied rope around the sharks tail
without waking him, and we pulled him
out, l tell you he was a monstern
Inere were some incredulous remarks
at THIS story which caused the Senator
to declares: '''-
III any man doubts this story let him
pay the expense of the trip and l will
take the whole party to the cliff and
snow them the whole from which the
shark was pulled. If don't will bear
all expenses"
Judge Wilcox smiled, and stroking his
mustache with a "thats nothinpN ex-
preston answered:
~ don't deny the truth of that story.
There is fish pond down the coast where
the sharks come in at high tide. When
the tide goes out it leaves the water so
shallow that Mr.. Shark can't turn over.
Inc native boys used to go to this pond
plunge In, mount the sharks, and ride
them all around. The shark is not
dangerous unless he can get on his back.
ana the water is too shallow for that. so
the boys can ride them in safety, Now.
II any one doubts that story just charter
the ship and l will take him to the fish
pond. If don't, I'll pay all expenses.n
Shark stories were in order until the
steward announced that coffee was ready
Ior the party, this to keep them awake
untll breakfast When invited to have
a cup of coffee 1 announced that / did
not drink coffee.
:, Maybe you prefer beer" said one of
the newspaper men.
81 never drank glass of beer in my
life" answered,
THAT is more incredible than any
shark story told this morning.p the
Senator declared. Then / offered, if he
would pay the expenses of the party to
the United States, to show them the
country in which L had lived without
drinking coffee or beer, and if did not,
would pay the expenses of the voyage
myself.
When day dawned we were at anchor
of Kalanpapa. The lepers were aware
OF our intended visit, and, soon after day.
light the shore was lined with these un-
fortunate people straining their ewes to
catch the first glimpse of their visitors.
The band, composed of leper boys, played
several airs of welcome Bishop Ropert
Father Pamrhile, and the other mission
aries, went ashore in the first boat and
were greeted with cheers. To get ashore
we had to climb down a swinging ladder
over the ships side into a boat. both
bobbing about and in opposite direc-
tions, which added the spice ofdanger to
the expedition.
On landing we found on the shore two
or three hundred lepers. Some of them
were but slightly affected by the disease,
and some so disfigured as to hardly re-
semble human beings. The disease
seems to attack the extremities first.
Usually 1T first appears in the lobes of
the ears and they begin to hang as il
there was heavy weight in each. Then
1t appears in the face in great Jumps, and
the cheeks swell. The fingers lose all
feeling and wither away and drop off,
until the hand is fingerless and the foot
toeless. Often the head is earless and
noseless. The unfortunate often loses
his eyesight, the balls entirely disap-
pearing. 1t may take years for the dis
ease to accomplish its deadly work, but
there is no hope for the victim when
once it seizes him.
And yet 1t is not uncommon to see
leper on horseback galloping over the
settlement, SO manned that one can not
understand how he holds the reins.
Their ears often become so elongated
that they interfere with their riding, A
doctor who was for three years in the
settlement, said:
~ have often had them come to me
and say: Doctor, won't you cut my ears
OH they are getting in my way"
There Is house set apart for visitors
which no leper is permitted to enter
We went to this house to wait for the
horses which were to convey us across
the island to the Boys Home. The
lepers, to the number of several hundred,
came to the fence and gazed at us so
longingly, so fondly, as to almost melt
one to tears. To them we were superior
beings, loved friends, from whom they
were forever separated.
Senator Waterhouse, who possesses a
world OF moral courage and heart as
tender as a woman's, was everywhere
among them, not hesitating to grasp the
tingerless hand, and speak words of en-
couragement
"How are you, old boy? How are you
today, my friend? Come, cheer up and
be happy. You are happier here than
you could be anywhere else,n he said a
hundred times that day.
To which the natives (for most of the
lepers are natives) usually answered:
"Pilaki, pilaki," with sad shake of
the neaQ.
"Pilakp means grief, sorrow, and all
that goes to weigh down the heart. l
heard the awful word thousand times
that day, heard it so much that it still
rings in my ears, while the sadly disfig-
ured faces l met will, 1 fear, never fade
from my memory. They have haunted
me in my dreams ever since left Molo-
kai. Some Of their faces were so horribly
disfigured as to have no resemblance to
humanity. No hideous mask has ever
been made to equal what leprosy has
done for the human face. / observed a
boy about ten years of age whose eye
lashers and eyebrows had quite fallen
out His eyelids were so paralyzed 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.. Hutchinss,
the assistant and sheriff of the settle
ment, is one on whom the disease seems
to have exhausted itself by the destruc-
tion of his fingers. These are gone and
his hands healed, but his under lip is