The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1913-07-16
LEpER BAND

= IT'S clear night on Molokai. The
full tropical moon sheds serene
light over a landscape dotted with
little white cottages, from whose
windows come CLEAN Of mellow
radiance. A mild breeze from the
salty stretches Of the open sea blows
inland, gently rustling the leaves OF
the cocoa palms and cottonwoods and
tanning the cheeks of the people with
. welcome GOODNESS. The silvery radi-
ance Of the moonlight accentuates
the silence till the hum Of hushed
voices In quiet conversation ID quite
audible to him who listens. There is a
great peace-a great quiet In the at
mosphere, something Differentiated
to explain, but beautiful. Its presence
fills the heart with wonder that the
world Is so good, SO kind place to
live in, and instills into the soul un-
altering faith that much better. much
greater things must surely be in store
for us out there beyond after this great
life has been left behind
In quiet veranda corner overlook
ing the silver ripples of the sea are
dozen men and women, lounging in
comfortable wicker chairs, speaking at
intervals, but mostly silent in attention
to the voices of the night. One of the
party Is younger man. He Joined his
friends as late as two years previous.
and he knows much more Of that great
world out there beyond the waves than
they.
The hillsides have become a check
erboard Of silver and jet and the roofs
Of the cottages are plated with won,
Cerful silver There is quiet laughter
from the party on the veranda and
from somewhere out under the trees
come the low notes Of woman's voice.
which ceases, calling forth deeper
echo. Lovers.
A sudden veerlng of the wind bears
up afresh the ceaseless wash of the
waves upon their countless rocks and
the sound Of eternal roaring as they
fruitlessly exhaust their force upon
the unflinching faces Of the cliff. The
wind settles. The moon moves on.
From afar off are heard the voices Of
Caruso and TettraZini as they join
with others in the great sextet from
Lucia" played on monograph One
by one the lights 60 out. the parties
break up and all is quiet. Molokai is
MISUNDERSTANDING the sleep of the
just, the pure in heart the weary of
body-and you are alone with the
moonlight, the breeze and the restless
waves.
Life on the Island.
Peace and quiet and happiness. beau
ty, cleanliness and contentment, work
play and study-there Is probably not
one person in a thousand who asso.
ciates these with Molokai, island OF
lepers. How can there be aught but
horror and loneliness and heartbreak
you ask, where people are ill-loath
somely ill-and cut off forever from
friends and home ties? Well, that can
only be answered by one who has lived
among these outcasts. studied their
ways and discovered their point OF
view Not long ago Albert ]. Arroll
an American passed two weeks-1i
happy days he states--as the guest Of
the superintendent of the island, and
some of the facts which most i'm
pressed MIR. Arroll are retold in this
article. In the first place he discovered
that Molokai is a beautiful prison, that
is, the part of the island inhabited by
the lepers-a plain, well watered and
yielding nourishment for every con
ceivable form Of plant life The coast
as Is we'll known, is stormy and rock
bound and looking inland from the set
Element which is situated upon YER
dant peninsula the island Is seen to
rise higher as the eye recedes, until
the vision Is terminated by an impas
sable wall of mountains which towe,
thousands of feet above the sea. No
man has ever scaled these peaks, nc
one has ever crossed them.
OF the 1000 souls who inhabit the
island 500 have no external mark by
which it could be suspected that they
are other than perfectly healthy. -Four
hundred have some mark-a spot. q
boil, a ulcer, which is carefully
dressed each day, or other minor indi
cation Of the disease. Fifty are OK
IRENE cases, people in the last stages
of leprosy. but they are confined in Q
hospital in secluded nook. where
they are never seen by any one save
their nurses and the priests. They
have attendants. physicians, japanese
nurses, books, music and everything
that will help to cheer along the drag
,ing days until death may come. a
welcome visitor, to release their sui
iering spirits from useless and mu
tilated body. Fifty more are superin