The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1911-04-01


O. offered himself to what he
knew to be living death.
az Shadows were GATHERING
over all the Sandwich ISL
ands, and in the healthy sec,
tons the white laborers. men and
women, and the native "clean" were
strolling in groups about the pleasant
places when this man pushed forward
and buried himself and his past in the
plague-stricken island of Molokai. One
called a martyr received him with
open arms and showed him one of the
fields. The guide was the peasant Bel.
gian priest, Father Damien, the novice,
Ira B. Dutton, Yankee, born In Yer
mont sixty-eight years ago, a college
graduate, civil war veteran, retired
with the rank of captain; in his day
lover of worldly pleasures and ad-
judged to be a connoiseur of what was
proper In the matter of smart clothes;
later convert to the Catholic faith.
Dutton had experienced the horrors of
civil war. He did not shudder, there
fore. when Father Damien showed him
the incurable parts of humanity. From
that day forward Capt. Dutton became
Brother Joseph, assuming a name that
had been given to him when he enter
ed the Trappist Monastery at Gethsem-
ane, Ky.
Succeeded Father Damien.
Three years afterward Father Da-
mien died. as he had expected. of the
disease with which his parishioners
were afflicted. Brother Joseph was
named his executor, and, as he had
desired, succeeded his superior and CO.
laborer In the field. From the mo-
ment he put his foot on the island un-
til now he has not quit it, nor does he
expect to. Experts declare that he
must eventually become infected.
The actual causes that led to Capt.
buttons remuneration OF the world will
probably never be known. One &C.
count has 1t that domestic grief and
a sudden consciousness that he was
not leading Christian life were the
fmpelling motives. That between his
thirty-ffth and fortieth year Capt.
button became, as II were, a man
clothed with new thoughts. new de-
sires, and that he buried another man
In him is fact. And that much this
lay apostle Of the lepers candidly
acknowledges.
He was born at Stowe, VT, in 1843,
and his boyhood was passed in James
vile. Wis. At nine he was employed
In the office of local newspaper. At
eighteen he enlisted in the Thirteenth
Wisconsin Infantry. At the close of
the war he was mustered out with the
rank OF captain. Old comrades have
frequently urged him to apply for
pension, and since his self-exile on
Molokai the United States government
has taken the friendly position that It
awaits the application of the old sol
der. Brother Joseph answers that he
gave his young years for love of his
country and that he has offered his
early manhood and the evening of his
life to his fellowmen.
Brother Joseph Declines Pension.
THE United States government" he
wrote a friend, has treated me go
well that would be ashamed to ac-
cept pension. The government does
not owe me anything. On the contrary
feel so much indebted to my country
that the giving of my life, II really
needed In just cause, would reuuite
only In a measure"
During the eight years immediate.
ly Following the close of the war Cant.
button was an employee OF the war de.
partment. adjusting claims against the
federal government. He was well
come visitor In the best homes of the
south In those days, and reputed to be
careful and practical student of the
art of correct attire. Then one day he
was seized with the desire to build a
barrier between himself and the
world he loved so we'll 1t was not an
easy task. 1t may be surmised. for a
soldier to rrostrate himself before the
abbot of the most severe religious
body in the Catholic church. He was
received into the Catholic church.
Then he iourneyed to Gethsemane and
found seclusion in the monastery for
year and half and decided that he
was intended for that manner of life.
His Fervency and Zeal.
Il had a feeling" he told his friends.
that wanted to be in touch with hu.
man sufferings. to be active in the re-
lief of those of my fellow-beings who
were afflicted. yet so as not to bring
me in direct contact with the outside
world"
From the monastery Brother Joseph
went to the convent of the Redemptor.
list Fathers in New Orleans, where he
passed many days in prayer. One day,
In the recreation room, he came across
magazine describing the life of Faith
er Damien. He went to the library