Kalaupapa Historical Society Collection In the early 1900s, mail was delivered to and from the settlement by mule four times per week. A patient named David Kupele rode the mule up and down the trail, sometimes three or four times a day. Kupele would have to ring a bell attached to a wire when he reached the gate. The watchman would send a key down the wire so Kupele could unlock the gate and drop the mail off. He described it as letting himself in and out of prison. The watchman and gate were removed when a cure for the disease was found in the 1940s. Kupele never thought he would live to see that day. David trained his mules so well that he would ocassionally send them up the trail by themselves. The mailman from topside would meet them at the old guardhouse and gate, load them up with mail and send them back down. The mules would carry the mail back down the trail until they hit another gate near the coast, where they would wait for David to let them back into the settlement. On October 9, 1931, David traveled up the trail, got the mail, and brought back something new; the first-ever talkie movie1 film reels for the newly installed projector at Paschoal Hall. A talkie movie means it had sound, something novel at the time; not even the theatres on topside Molokai had shown one yet! For the next few decades, movies were played at 7 pm sharp Monday and Friday, except during WWII when they were shown at 3:30 to adhere to the black-out rules. The last projection movie at Paschoal Hall was shown on July 27, 1981. |
Last updated: November 15, 2022