I WAS a volunteer during the Spanish-American war and served one year in the Philippine Islands. The duties of my position took me among all classes of people and into every condition of life. Many of the natives were disfigured by skin diseases, and even leprosy was not an unusual sight. After my return to Cleveland I was told that I was suffering from this disease. Hoping it was not true, yet hesitating to investigate openly from fear of apprehension by others and consequent segregation, I went to the city library to study the best authority on the subject I could find. Each day I only found new evidence that the manifestations on my body and the aching numbness in my legs and arms were the first and certain symptoms of this disease, and that the time since my exposure had been the required length for such developments, according to six of the best authorities on the subject. In addition to this, I read in the daily papers about one of my comrades who was quarantined in the state of Missouri as a victim of the disease.
As soldiers we accept death as a mere incident of the service, whether we die at twenty-one or later; but that it be to add prestige to our country or honor to our comrades is the prayer of every true soldier. That I might bring sorrow and disease to my family and friends was a dread which excited the worst misery of my position. Having closed up my business affairs, I decided to go to the army surgeon at Washington for examination and for such treatment as might be prescribed, but without any hope of cure, and wishing for solitude and oblivion.
A criticism of Christian Science brought this subject to my attention, and I turned to it for help. I found a Christian Science practitioner, who advised me to buy a copy of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy. As I read the pages of this wonderful book, I began to awake from this awful dream, and for the first time in weeks I slept, and like a boy. When I awoke the following morning I could see "a new heaven and a new earth."
