Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-09-12
DEvOTES HIS LIFE
TO CARE OF LEPERS
Brother Joseph Dutton, Civil
War Captain, Has Been
at Colony 40 Years.

correspondencc Of The Star and the Chicago
Daily News
HONOLULU. August 1O.-For more
than 80 years a smallish, bearded man
with kindly eyes and deft hands has
administered to the lepers in the little
village of Kalawao, MOlokai-and in
all that time he has not left the com
pound" or yard of the village.
Two miles away is another village.
where are other lepers and where this
man has personal friends A few
hours steamer voyage away is the
metropolis Of the Hawaiian Islands.
Honolulu. where this man might go
II he wished. But in 80 years he has
not crossed the gentle slope from one
village to another, nor has he taken
steamer to the busy life and varied at
fractions of Honolulu.
Almost alone, except for the lepers,
he remains in Kalawao, expecting to
spend the remainder Of his strange
life in this secluded spot between the
pounding Pacific surf and mighty
walls of volcanic rock that form q
perpendicular cliff behind the narrow
strip of land.
Has Served 10 Years.
The man Is Brother Joseph Dutton,
coaborer OF the famous Father Ia
rnien Of Molokai, about whom Steven
son wrote so valiantly.
Brother Dutton, on July %. finished
40 years Of continuous service among
the lepers of Molokai. For most or
that time he has not left the tiny set
Element of Kalawao. which Is a part
OF the promontory OF Molokal gwen
~,
Dutton Is now SO years old. but re-
fnarkably vigorous and with keen
interest in the outside world. To him.,
from many parts of the world, comes
by every mail q huge volume or let
ters, papers and documents. lie car
/ ries on an enormous correspondence.
Born as IRA Dutton in Vermont, he
was reared In GAINESVILLE, Wis, and
still gets a daily paper from there. lie
served ir the Union Army with credit,
became a captain and staff offlcer,
later was in the quartermaSter'S SerV-
ice. then retired from the Army sud
denly and went to a Trappist monas-
terry in Kentucky. Thence he came to
Hawaii, having read of the heroic
work of Father Damien and determin-
ed to Join him in the obscure and
dangerous labor among the lepers.
II turned from a Jay Lie.
The exact reason for buttons sud
den withdrawal from the world and
iriuolation In distant Molokai has
never been published and probably
few people know it. He has revealed
that he turned from "a gay life" and
resolved to give his services to the
unfortunate, feeling 'sin upon his
soul"
Although Brother Dutton has for
40 years worked among the lepers,
he has never caught the dread dis
ease. Scrupulous care for bodily
cleanliness and use of the scrubbing
brush and soap on all instruments
and tools. on woodwork and anything
else the lepers might have touched,
has kept him safe. Incidentally, the
view seems to prevail in Hawaii that
Father Damien. who contracted the
disease. did so because III his ardent
zeal of ministration to the lepers he
neglected simple precautions of clean
Illness.
Brother Dutton has a letter ac'
uuaintanCe" with many noted men
and women. In his mail are letters
from the great and the small, the rich
and the poor Often he sits up all
night at work on his correspondence.
(Copyright 1920