The record-union., 1896-02-11

world of moral courage and a heart as
| tender as a woman's, was everywhere
among them, not hesitating to grasp
the fingerless hand and speak words OF
encoura cement.
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 he
/ said hundred times that day.
/ To which the natives (for most of the
| 1epers are natives1 usually answered:
"Pilaki. pilaki," with a sad shake of
the head.
'Pilaki'' means grief, sorrow and all
| that goes to weigh down the heart ]
heard the awful sound d thousand times
that day, heard it so much that it still
rings in my ears, while the sadly dis
| figured faces I met will, / fear, never
fade from my memory. They have
haunted me in my dreams ever since I
left Molokai. Some of their faces were
sc horribly disfgured as to have no
resemblance to humanity No hideous
mask has ever been equal to what lep-
rosy has done for the human face
observed a boy about 10 years of age
whose eyelashes 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.. Hutchings, the assistant
and Sheriff of the settlement. is one on
whom the disease seems to have ex-
hausted itself by the destruction of his
fingers. These are gone and his hands
healed, but his under lip is paraIyzed
SO that, when he speaks, it falls down,
and when he has finished a sentence he
pushes it back with his fingerless 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 arrangement caused by Miss
Kate 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 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 Senator
Waterhouse and myself safely mounted
on a sad-eyed, dapple- gray horse, into
whose good graces she soon began to
i1tS5I 1llcbLC IlCI SCl1 ny pdGlllIo Ills flGCh
and appealing to his honor not to go
faster than a walk.
The Baldwin Home for boys, which is
under Catholic management, contains
a score of houses. playroom, school
rooms, hospitals and living houses, all
neatly and cleanly furnished. Here we
met Brother Joseph Dutton, as he is
known, man who for fifteen years has
devoted his life to the care of the lepers
He is a plain, unassuming Christian
man, who, in his brave, humble way, is
more nearly following in the footsteps
of his Master than any other person it
has been my lot to meet. To one visit
ing his plain little room, devoid of even
the smallest luxury, uncarpeted and un-
painted, and realizing that he is con-
stantly in greater danger than if fac
ing cannon, it seems as though he were
in the presence of a superior being
He took us to the different apartments
of the lepers, all clean, neat, white
washed, plain and comfortable. All the
while he was explaining to us that such
ward was where the cases were not
50 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 a house which, despite its clean
liness and bare whitewashed walls,
gave forth sickenihg odor "These
poor people won't last long"
Four or five toeless and fingerless
wretches, whose horribly disfigured
features made them frightful to behold,
were on the front porch
These" said Brother Joseph, "are
still able to come out" Then as we en-
tered 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, though unconscious. He
lay on his side with his head over the
side of his cot. His hands and feet were
gone his eyes were out his ears and
nose gone and in fac. he was only a
horribly mutilated trunk with little re-
semblance to a human being. Sickened
at the sight and deathly odor of leprosy,
] staggered to the door and was soon
again in fresh air.
We called at the house where Sisters
Cassentia and Vinsentia lived, those
holy, angelic women who are devoting
their lives to caring for the lepers.
They wash and dress their sores, make
their beds, wash their clothing and
keep them neat and clean. Though
they have lived among them for years,
they have been wonderfully preserved.
Too much praise cannot be given the
Hawaiian Government for it's care of
these unfortunate people. The 1,120
lepers on Molokai cost the Government
nearly $4,000 per month. By this law
ish expenditure of money and with the
aid of the Catholic missionaries the
lives of these poor people are as pleas
ant and easy as it is possible to make
them. JOHN r. MUSICK.