The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-10-14
Their Lives Living Exemplification of the
Fact That the Age of Christian
Heroism is Not Past.
With no Expectation Of Human Reward Serv-
ing the Sick and Dying They Face
Death From Disease.

The leper colony of Hawaii. place
where man and nature bar the way to
escape for it's doomed inhabitants, a
IpEaee also of heroism and splendid
self-sacrifice of men and women. may
praf1t in one notable respect from
recent visit there Of the members of
the Territorial Legislature, says the
New York Wcrld.
Since the colony was established half
"a century ago the lepers have been al
lowed to marry There are now in
the colony nearly two hundred chill
sYren, born of these leper parents.
large proportion of these children are
not themselves lepers. The girls, when
they reach the age of eighteen and are
still free from leprosy in their own
bodies, are allowed to leave the island
and go out into the world. Not so the
boys A boy born at Molokai is doomed
to spend his life there. Though not
himself leper, he looks forward to
no future but life always with lep-
ers, and through this constant associa-
ton to become one day such as they
are, a victim to the foulest and most
terrible of diseases. The legislative
committee visited the home where the
girls are kept isolated from infection
until the time when they may go out
into the world. And they listened to
the arguments in favor of such
home for the sons of the lepers.. The
subject will be brought before the Ter
ritorial Legislature. If the result
should be the building of such a home
in the Molokai colony, the visit to the
.Ieper settlement of the Legislative
. Committee of 1905 will go down in his
tory as most notable event.
When person is found in Hawaii
with symptoms of leprosy he is taken
to the receiving station at Kalahi, a
suburb of Honolulu. There final de-
cision is rendered. The leper is then
taken to Molokai by the "leper boat"
a steamer which makes the trip to the
leprosy settlement once week. The
Honoluluans are sentimental people,
and there are heartrending scenes when
the "leper boat" leaves, conveying some
father or son or brother or sister for
ever away from home and family and
friends.
Molokai is an island lying about six
.ty miles to the southeast of Honolulu.
From the superb cliffs that line it's
northern shore it tapers to a narrow
/. desert in the south.
Under those cliffs there is a plateau,
about 5000 acres in extent, washed on
three sides by the tumultous sea, while
the fourth side is guarded by pre-
.cipitous mountain wall 1000 feet in
height.
Although the Leper Settlement was
founded by the Government of Hawaii
nearly fifty years ago, not single one
OF its involuntary inhabitants ever sue
ceeded in escaping. The walls Of ada
naant are too formidable, the frown-
ing sea too tumultuous.
On the other half of the Island of
Hotokai, separated from the settlement
by the impossible mountains, are some
sugar plantations, extensive stock
ranges and a teeming deer park. Mol
okai also contains many small farms
In which taro, potatoes and rice are
raised Coffee is also successfully cul-
tivated. But all Of this is forgotten
when one speaks of Molokai. The pic
ture that comes before ones eye is not
ao6 small farms and taro patches, but
of men and women afflicted with the
most dreadful disease which 1t is the
lot Of mankind to bear.
Once every two years those who have
relatives at the Leper Settlement are
given passes allowing them to accom-
pany the members Of the Territorial
Legislature and Senate on their Gus
tomary visit to Molokai. The Hawaii
AN legislators and members Of the
press may roam at will through the
settlement, but the interview between
sthe lepers and their relatives takes