The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-07
THOSE WHO DWELL ALONE.
TIE LEPERs OF RAWAIr AND THEIR
DAILY LIFE.

hNNN " NloUNH
Lire-souna Chfidren or Lrprons pnr-
ents-Leprosy NOS Spreading In Hawaii
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6.-Not long aeo I made
n visit to those who dwell alone in tho mid.
Pacific paradise Of the Hawaiian Islands. NV
| observations among those who. like tho afflicted
children OF Israel, have habitations apart from
their own people were taken n little before the
meeting Of tho international Lcprosy Confer.
cnco In Berlin. The conference decided that
the leprosy bacillus Is tho true cause Of the dis.
enso which makes tho blood creep with slower
pace and doadens nerve and muscle tin life
itself sloughs away. The conclusion Of the
conference that leprosy is contn sious, but not
hereditary, MAJ DO simply an expression Of
| opinion accepted or not by scicntists. Tho
declaration that isolation is desirable will be
| questioned by no one whose experience has
takon him among the lepers In any country.
Tho system Of isolation In It's methods and
results may be seen TO advantage in Hawaii.
The Levitical law has been observ we'd by the
Government for n full generation. The Mo-
sale decree Of segregation is enforced with Inn
partial infexibility. The application is softened
in outward form. Mildness and persuasion are
the rule in dealing with individual cases. but
tho welfare of the whole community is the
paramount consideration.
Tho leper settlement on the island Of Molokai
ID ~ mhinthiHou u u IcboIJ v tOuTlbIb. ~
is not meant to DO an attraction for travellers,
and access to 1t Is not made easy in order that
the curious may crafty a passing interest.
But no obstacles other than those which natur-
ally exist are placed in the way of legitimate
inquiry. The settlement Is under tho control
Of the Board Of Health. OF which the Attorney.
General Is President. No person may set foot
on the peninsula landing at Kalaupapa with
| out an official permit. The Board of Health
comos to inspect the place twice n ycnr-in
May and November. Some of the members
visit 1t between times Physicians and scien-
tifc men from all corners Of tho world who hap
pen to be in those parts rarely fail to improve
thor stay by going 70 to settlement. Morbid
ness is discouraged by the authorities. Taking
pictures of tho lepcrs is prohibited, Just as it Is
forbidden to take photographs of the patients
in hospitals. Regard for the feelings Of the
afflicted class and for their friends and rela-
tivcs forbids the use Of names.
After q two months stay in the islands 1
could readily understand why 30 few persons In
Honolulu have ever seen the leper colony. 1t Is
for the same reason that the wards OF the hos
pitfalls in tho great cities are unknown to all
except those whose professional relations take
them there. or whose kin are inmates. Dis
ease exists everywhere, but people do not seek
to know moro OF 1t than comes to them invol-
| unfairly. IL IL Cuoy W VA tho btu'tihOiib
that the great majority of people In Honolulu
have never seen a lcper. The afflicted do not
! walk abroad or stretch forth llngerless palms
craving aims, or cry out, "Unclean, unclean,"
to the compassionate almsgivcr who seeks to
! approach them. The barred head, the rent gar
ment, and tho covered lip are not the signs of
the lepers in Hawaii. The Government makes
them its own charge. provides for their needs.
ministers to their sufferings. All this is not
done in public places. A young physician, tho
first seventeen years Of whose life was passed
on the islands. told me he never saw q leper
until one was pointed out In San Francisco.
voyaging to the settlement on Molokai
docs not encourage frequent trips. An invita-.
ton to GO with q number of physicians and
scientific men for whose benefit the Govern
ment had chartered q vessel enabled me to
| make the voyage. The experience OF getting
thore was q chapter in itself. The thirst for
knowledge does not render q cargoless. and bal
~lastless boat proof against head winds and q
churning current from unknown depths OF the
sea. A long night was needed to cover the fifty
miles from Honolulu, which Is ordinarily a six
hours passage. In the morning n s~piritless
set of medical and scientific men crawled on
deck. They had passed an uneasy night on
the floor of tho cabin. with their ~tootgear for
pillows and common misery for consolation.
Kalaupapa, the chief leper village, IL not
easily reached. 1t is the only landing place on
the tongue of land which laps out from the foot
of tho lofty cliffs into tho ocean. The settle.
ment Is not an unpleasant sight. 1t differs
from most Hawaiian coast villages in not hav.
ing a fringe of %algabora trees or cocoa palms.
Once the place r must nave been desoiate. 1t is
neat, most of them set back In we'll kept yards.
some of them in the midst of gardens and trees.
The place will be more pleasing to the eye when
the water which Is pipeu down from a natural
reservoir in the mountains 10 increased and
vegetation receives more encouragement.
Beyond the chip OF a steamer which makes
regular trips n an IRREGULAR way once Or twice
the @G eOlon Sna the fse coming SSni @H Of a 0T 1essel pf Is a rs rS
event In Kalaupapa- So our arriv,l, unlocked
for as It was. brought most, OF the population
waters edge like sea ,gulls watched us with Gu.
elders, men and women, stood with expectant
looks. Visitors break the monotony and are
oGH first act was to hand the indisRpenssbl OH OIL
siia permits, IT. to e man with With green goggles Oyer
Visits are made, and the officer scans 1t as close.
" as he does tho document which permits tho
than the thing itscif. Ap outline pictuFFes Of The
glimpse Of faces scanned and enarlod. had in it
nothing extraordinary. Some ~visages. per-
hhaPS, we ,. would ID, not care to look nr9p aEnin,
that this L. true Of the entire settlement. Some
there are that tell in a single glance what may
happen to the Image of Gods creatures. and
pity shames wonder In the observers feelings.
II the imagination were TO frame its picture OF
the leper settlement on Molokai from these, it
would be IA fearful one. Happily this need not
be. The greater number are not SO afflicted
that their existence Is a blight In tho sight Of
others.
After coming ashore 1t Is a Hlgzae, walk to
the inc!osure round the residence OF tho super
intcndent and also the strangers house. Tho
riors, and their occupants., Most Of the ocGu-
pants hows eyer are o .tid In this settle,
dwoiler In the "teyeral-house" 10 the Ron-
leper. The isolation is for him. Tue lepers IRE
strangers aud the suporintendent's houses.
For the superintsndent this isolation means
For the visiting strangers 1t Is perhaps immu-
nifty from imagined and imaginary dangers. At
day morning to watch the lcper schurchsolng
They came on horseback, both sexes, and
day morning servlcoln thousands Of villages in
the United States. They poured out Of the cot.
. 49,. - anI ...t. "a A.