Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/499

 MOLOKAI

445

MOLOKAI

tion. Therefore, a good part of the holdings upon the eastern and middle portions of the peninsula were se- cured, and improvements were begun. Waikalo Val- ley has not l^een useless, however, but has been usetl for cultivation of taro. The non-leper residents still remained at Kalaupapa, the steamer landing. In the time of these beginnings (1S65-6S) Dr. F. W. Hutchin- son was President of the Board of Health, and was Minister of the Interior from 26 April, 1S65, until 11 Dec, 1872. Mr. R. W. Meyer, a resident of the moun- tain-top above the settlement, was Board of Health Agent and attended to the business. He continued as agent, the practical and very efficient business mana- ger of the Leper .Settlement until his death, 12 June, 1897.

The physician at Kalihi Hospital reported 2 March, 1866, having received 158 lepers, 57 of whom were sent to Molokai Asylum, 101 remaining at Kalihi Hospital for treatment. In semiing to Molokai, some difficulty attended the separating of relatives. Therefore, a few non-leper relatives were allowed to go along as helpers or Kokuas. Some cattle and sheep were also sent to Molokai. For Kalihi Hospital, and Molokai Asylum (or Settlement, as it generally became known later), the total amount of expenses in 1866 was $10,- 012.48.

Matters went on pretty well at first, but after some time an ugly spirit developed at Molokai. Drunken and lewd conduct prevailed. The easy-going, good- natured people seemed wholly changed. Thus the President of the Board of Health reported at some length in 1868; but he was aljle to state that a change for the better had come. Improvements had been made at Molokai, including the building of an hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Walsh had been employed to take charge in February, 18(57, relieving Mr. Leparat, who had re- signed, Mr. Walsh to act as schoolmaster and magis- trate, Mrs. Walsh as nurse. This 1S6S report gives the number of lepers received at Molokai as 179, the number remaining at the Ivalihi Hospital as 43, the total amount of expenses for Kalihi Hospital and Molokai Settlement since 1866 amounting to $24,803.- 60. From this time on, efforts were continually made to render the segregation and treatment of lepers more effective. Many difficulties were met and overcome. To keep good order in these early years was always difficult. The lepers were increasing in number. Nearly all who came to the settlement were located at Kalawao, on the eastern side of the peninsula, the leper settlement practically continuing there for many years. In 1890 a better supply of water was brought from Waikalo Valley; the pipe was soon extended to I'Calaupapa, the steamer landing. A reservoir was constructed midway on the ridge between Kalawao and Kalaupapa. Previous to that time a pipe was laid from a small reservoir in Waialeia Valley, between Waikalo and Kalawao, and extended only partly through Kalawao. At Kalaupapa, two miles distant, the people brought their water from Waihanau Valley in containers upon horses and donkeys. The people at Kalaupapa were chiefly non-lepers who lived there before settlement times. Their holdings (kuleanas) had not yet been secured for the lepers as those at Kalawao had been. This was done, however, in 1894, since, after the waterpipe w-as laid to Kalaupapa, the people had begun to drift that way, and the public buildings also, the shops, etc., had gradually been moved to tli;it place. Therefore it was wisely deter- mined that, in the interest of good order, as well as for convenience, the Government should own and control the entire peninsula and all of its approaches, the non-lepers being sent away. This was quite thor- oughly accomplished in 1894.

Father D.\mien .^nd the Franciscan Sisters. — It is the name of Father Damien. however, that has made Molokai known throughout the whole world. He came to the Molokai Settlement to remain, 11 May,

1873. Good order in the settlement was somewhat precarious. Damien's determined character proved to be of great value. Besides his priestly offices, there was opportunity for his efforts at every turn. With a hungry zeal for work, he accomplished many things for the good of the place; he helped the authorities, and brought about a good spirit among the people. Ten years later (1883) the Franciscan Sisters came to Honolulu from Syracuse, N. Y., having been engaged by the Hawaiian Government. They expected com- ing to the settlement at once, but the authorities con- cluded that conditions there were unsuitable, that better order must be secured, and some improvements made in buildings, etc. So the sisters remained at Kakaako Branch Hospital, near Honolulu, for about six years, a certain number of newly gathered lepers being retained there. This hospital was given up

Exterior, St. Fi

when the sisters came to Molokai. At the settlement in 1883 conditions would indeed have been intolerable for the sisters, and the same was true in 1886 when the ■ivriter joined Father Damien; but matters were being gradually improved. At last three sisters came to Kalaupapa 15 Nov., 1SS8. Bishop Home for girls and women had been built. Two more sisters came 6 May, 1889, Robert Louis Stevenson coming by the same boat for a visit. Father Damien died 15 April, 1889. His death, after such a life, arrested the world's attention. A spontaneous outburst of applause from everywhere at once followed. The sixteen years of labour on Molokai made a record that seemed unique to the world at large. The world knew very little about lepers, and Father Damien's life came as a startling revelation of heroic self-sacrifico. Ho is anknowledged the Apostle of the lepers, and whatever of hers may do in the same field will help to pcr|jituafi' his fame and honour. A monument was offered by the people of England, and accepted by the Hawaiian Board of Health. It was given a place at Kalaupapa, not far from the steamer landing, near the public road now called "Damien Road", adjoining flic sisters' place at Bishop Home. The monument in itsi'lf is interesting, being an antique cross, fashioned and adapted from stone cutting of about the sixth century, such as was found in the ruins of the Seven Churches of Clonmac- noise on the river Shannon, Ireland. It was trans- ferred by the Board of Health to the Catholic Mission on 11 Sept., 1893. the Bishop coming to receive and bless it. Two miles away, at the other end of the Damien Road, in Kalawao, the body of Father Da- mien lies, close by the church, where the Pandanus tree stood that sheltered him on his arrival in 1873. Over this grave stands a simple cross with the in- scription on one side, " Father Damien ", on the other,