The Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Waiamau, A Finely
Educated And Able Man, Is A Pure Hawaiian And A Leper.
Mr.
Bartlett, who is the present storekeeper, is an American who was in
business in Honolulu before he was struck down by the disease.
All
that these men earn is that much in their own pockets. If they do
not work, they are taken care of anyway by the territory, given
food, shelter, clothes, and medical attendance. The Board of Health
carries on agriculture, stock-raising, and dairying, for local use,
and employment at fair wages is furnished to all that wish to work.
They are not compelled to work, however, for they are the wards of
the territory. For the young, and the very old, and the helpless
there are homes and hospitals.
Major Lee, an American and long a marine engineer for the Inter
Island Steamship Company, I met actively at work in the new steam
laundry, where he was busy installing the machinery. I met him
often, afterwards, and one day he said to me:
"Give us a good breeze about how we live here. For heaven's sake
write us up straight. Put your foot down on this chamber-of-horrors
rot and all the rest of it. We don't like being misrepresented.
We've got some feelings. Just tell the world how we really are in
here."
Man after man that I met in the Settlement, and woman after woman,
in one way or another expressed the same sentiment.
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