Christian Science War Time Activities/Chapter 04
IV
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CAMP WELFARE COMMITTEE
As the great camp cities, scattered throughout the United States, established for the training of the army-to-be, took form in the summer and early fall of 1917, the necessity of providing for the spiritual welfare of the soldier Scientists already gathered there in considerable numbers began to press for attention.
Exclusion by the War Department of all religious and benevolent organizations excepting the Y. M. C. A. and the Knights of Columbus, a ruling later greatly modified, made the problem at first a rather difficult one. It had been hoped to erect in each camp a Christian Science building capable of accommodating good-sized groups of soldiers during their leisure hours and also of housing one or more Christian Science practitioners whose services would thus be immediately and constantly available. The ruling referred to, however, made this at least temporarily impossible and other means had to be devised.
While these were being sought, the demand from many parts of the country that something be done for the men in camp became increasingly insistent. Christian Scientists traveling in the South called attention to the fact that in many of the camp towns in that section there were few if any Scientists and that no provision was being made for the Science men in the army, adding an urgent plea that something be done at once to supply literature, practitioners and, if possible, an assembly room for them. Mothers of boys who had entered the service wrote asking what provision was being made for the spiritual welfare of their sons who would soon be far from the home influence and surrounded by new and strange conditions. Interested friends and relatives added their voices to the growing appeal that steps be taken at once to make Christian Science available to the men in service.
A new note was introduced when groups of churches and societies in the neighborhood of some of the northern camps wrote asking sanction for plans they were considering for establishing and maintaining a purely local activity and this was emphasized when, from the Northwest, came a telegram one day asking approval for a plan to build a Welfare house at Camp Lewis for which several thousand dollars had already been pledged. In fact, in some instances, the demand had seemingly required the taking of steps in advance of any general plan, and both in Northern and Southern California, in San Francisco and San Diego, well-appointed rooms for the exclusive use of soldiers and sailors were in operation, the expense being borne by the churches and societies of the towns and cities adjacent to these centers. Somewhat similar action had been taken by the Scientists of Greater New York and a well-defined local scheme was virtually ready to be put into operation when that of The Mother Church was submitted. Needless to say the New York churches immediately adopted the larger plan, endorsing it enthusiastically at a State Conference of Churches and Societies early in December, 1917. The church at Battle Creek, Michigan, assisted financially by a number of other Michigan churches, was doing a considerable work at Camp Custer at this time, something like eight hundred Monitors being distributed daily. The Literature Distribution Committee of the Chicago churches was also serving the men at the Naval Training Station at Great Lakes, Illinois, and The Mother Church had itself rendered some aid at Camp Devens at Ayer, Massachusetts, and at Camp Lee in Virginia. The Junction City, Kansas, church had also instituted a work at Camp Funston and aided by contributions of literature from the Publication Committee for that State, was doing effective work. Thus from many directions and in differing ways was coming the evidence, accumulating daily, that the Christian Science field was ready, yes, willing, even anxious, to undertake the task.
During this period the Christian Science Board of Directors, mindful of the ruling of the War Department and equally so of the growing need, earnestly sought a solution of the problem thus presented. In November of 1917 the Board appointed a Christian Science Camp Welfare Committee and delegated to it the working out of a suitable plan to accomplish the desired result. The Committee set to work at once, visited several of the large camps, studied the needs carefully and soon developed a plan that gave promise of meeting the requirements of the Christian Science men in the service as well as any others who might be inclined to accept the aid of the Committee and which at the same time met the conditions imposed by the War Department. The basic thought in the plan was, first of all, to render a tireless service to all men in the army at all times, day or night. This of course was to include physical healing by Christian Science methods, and the supply of Christian Science books and literature to whatever extent might be justified by the circumstances. This service was to be rendered by Camp Workers who would visit the camps daily and remain only as long as their work required. It was hoped that such a service would quickly justify itself and result in official permission for these Workers to live permanently in the camps, in homes provided either by our Committee or the Government itself. The plan also included a definite form of organization whereby the Christian Science Churches and Societies of each state were to appoint a War Relief Committee to supervise the work locally and to act as the link between them and The Mother Church Committee in Boston. To these State Committees the burden of the work was entrusted, as well as much of its responsibility, including the gathering of funds with which to carry it on.
With some minor changes the scheme was adopted by the Board of Directors and a notice was immediately sent by them to the three largest churches in each state advising them of the appointment of the Committee and stating that the Manager of the Committee would be available to explain the plan and assist in the organization of the work in their state if desired.
Through the instant and hearty cooperation of the churches the Manager of the Committee was enabled by the end of January, 1918, to visit and assist in the organization of the work in thirty or more states and in a notably brief space of time work was under way in a considerable number of camps.
Organization continued uninterruptedly until the United States was fully covered and the work in and out of the camps grew rapidly month by month as Christian Scientists learned more of what was being accomplished and of its value. Under this plan the activities reached their highest point in October of 1918. At that time there were employed by the Committee over two hundred men and women distributed throughout the camps, hospitals, barracks and various training centers in the United States and abroad. The record of the work done by these men and women constitutes a story of unwonted activity, of unselfish devotion to duty and one unusually rich with incidents testifying to the efficacy of the service rendered. A detailed history of the work of any one of them would in most cases require a volume larger than this report, though it would be replete with interest throughout.
The rapidity with which the organization of the Camp Welfare Committee was perfected, the unity of thought and action expressed by Scientists everywhere, the astonishing results that immediately and continuously rewarded the ministrations of the Workers in camp and hospital, all testify to the readiness of the Christian Science movement to respond wholeheartedly to every proper call made upon it and give evidence of its efficiency in hours of emergency.
IN CAMP AND TRAINING STATION
To give the reader a clear understanding of the plan of organization adopted by the entire Christian Science field and put into operation so promptly, a detailed description of the procedure in a single state will suffice. Virginia may be chosen as typical, because of the varied lines of war activity represented there. Besides the great training camp at Petersburg, named Camp Lee, in honor of that beloved leader of the South, there were five important embarkation camps in the Tide Water District, known as Camps Morrison, Hill, Stuart, Alexander and Eustis. There was also Langley Field, an aviation center, a balloon school, as well as trench mortar and anti-aircraft schools, ammunition train and army supply bases. In the same district was located our greatest naval base. The Grand Fleet lay off Yorktown. Thousands of men were stationed at the navy yard at Norfolk and the big naval hospital at the same place was usually filled. Hampton Roads, Old Point Comfort and the naval operating base opposite were veritable hives of industry. Including both arms of the service there were probably never less than two hundred thousand soldiers and sailors in Virginia during the spring, summer and fall of 1918, to be served by our Committee. To meet adequately the varying needs of these numbers of men was the problem.
With this in mind, representatives of the three largest churches of Virginia met on January 6, 1918, and elected a State Camp Welfare Committee. This election was later ratified by the remaining churches and societies of the state. The Committee at once took in hand the organization of the large task before them and soon had Workers at Camp Lee, Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton. Rooms were established at these four points and attendants placed in charge. At its maximum the work in Virginia required twelve persons, eight Workers and four Welfare Room attendants. Five automobiles were purchased for the Workers with the land forces and two boats for those who were to serve the forces afloat, and for many months thereafter, members of the Committee had little time for any activity save that connected with the army and navy. The expenditure of large sums of money necessitated great care and thought. Direction of the group of Workers stationed at widely separated points required much time, and the ever-present desire to do more and more each day to extend the work until it should reach every single man and place, no matter how remote, permitted no cessation of activity. A diagram of the Tide Water District is reproduced to aid the reader in forming an idea of the task performed by the Virginia Committee and its corps of Workers. In the section of this chapter devoted to the work in the navy will be found further details.
Unusual features in connection with the early development of the work were to be found in many states. The Massachusetts Committee in caring for the soldiers and sailors in and immediately adjacent to Boston alone, found it necessary to employ three Workers and an assistant. Camp Devens, in the same state, was the first to have a regularly appointed Camp Worker, though volunteer work had previously been done in at least two camps elsewhere. The condition in North and South Carolina was unique, for here one Committee, with its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, cared for the work at the numerous points in the two states. Texas, also, with its great size and splendid distances, found a slight departure from the general scheme necessary, and appointing a local Committee of five or more persons at each of the camp towns, brought these under one head by choosing a single individual as Manager of all the Committees in the state, with headquarters in Dallas. This person was a paid Worker and regularly visited the various points of activity in the state, aiding and in a general way directing the work everywhere. The service to men along the Mexican border conducted from El Paso carried the Worker for many miles up and down a desolate and much-neglected part of the army world and for this reason was doubly welcome. The mammoth aviation fields, Kelly I and Kelly II, at San Antonio, presented exceptional opportunities and the men in this branch were most appreciative of our efforts. There were eighteen authorized Workers and assistants under the supervision of the Texas State Manager, and nine automobiles were in constant use. The perfect teamwork of this large force was a source of constant gratitude to all concerned.
Formation of the Tank Corps School at Gettysburg gave Pennsylvania the opportunity to employ its second regular Camp Worker, the first being the naval Worker at Philadelphia. The Ambulance Training School at Allentown, in the same State, was also cared for by an authorized Worker and the needs of Pittsburgh were likewise provided for. The marines stationed at Quantico, Virginia, and Paris Island, South Carolina, were given special attention at the first point by authorized Workers at Washington, District of Columbia, and at the second by resident Workers. At Paris Island the work was characterized by an especial degree of cordiality exhibited by the officials in charge, and was so greatly appreciated that an effort was made to induce the Committee to establish a permanent representative there.
The service rendered to the submarine fleet at New London, Connecticut, at the naval base at Newport, Rhode Island, and among the ships that visited the harbor at Portland, Maine, was of a somewhat different character from that performed elsewhere, and developed qualities in the Workers which proved them to be versatile as well as willing and tireless.
The Workers in the Quartermasters' Training Camp at Jacksonville, where the shining white sands of the St. John River merged into the deep pine forest of the mainland, as well as those at Key West and Pensacola, proved their efficiency during long seasons of heat and epidemic.
The Wisconsin Committee, although representing a non-cantonment state, rendered a big service to the families and friends of men at the front by securing prompt information as to their conditions and needs.
The work in the spruce camps of Oregon was peculiar to that state. The loggers and lumberjacks felt the hospitality of Christian Science out in the deep woods and their response was immediate and hearty. The Christian Science Monitor was accepted with eagerness and the vest-pocket Song Book with enthusiasm, for under the leadership of our Worker, who was a musician, these children of the woods learned to love our hymns and to sing them with great feeling.
Virtually every state in the Union maintained a War Relief Committee which carried on its functions in a thoroughly satisfactory manner and the foregoing states have been singled out for special mention only because the work within their borders was somewhat out of the ordinary.
In this general survey, mention may properly be made of hospital work done for soldiers and sailors at points outside of the larger camps and cantonments, sometimes by regular Workers and oftentimes by volunteers. As indicative of the method employed by the men and women who participated in this activity, the following letter, written by one of them in December of 1918, is cited.
“Since my last report many good things have happened. Perhaps the most prominent in my thought is the following: After inoculation with serums a student officer was stricken with sickness. He was mentally deranged, paralyzed in hands and feet, totally blind in one eye and nearly so in the other, and had set the day to die. A friend had recommended Christian Science treatment and had written to me about him. The letter was received after the patient had been in the hospital two days. He was in a ward for the insane. The doctor did not want me to see him but finally consented.
“Our friend listened to what I had to say but was so anxious to have some letters written to settle insurance and business matters, and to make arrangements for his burial, that the best thing I knew to do was to satisfy him. In three days he was going to die and he wanted his worldly affairs attended to. Soon after I began to write for him he was relieved to such an extent that I told him I would not write another line. Reasons for this action were given to which he readily assented. I told him that he had sent for me because I had something for him which no one around there knew how to give. Others could write his letters and I would proceed to do the good I knew how to do. To this he agreed and what had been written was then torn up. The next half hour was spent in telling him of simple truths he could easily understand.
“Next day I returned. Our friend was tremendously cheered. In civil life he had been a school-teacher and as he could not read now I asked him if he knew ‘The Ancient Mariner.’ Immediately he began to quote it with spirit and effect. He knew little of Christian Science but he did know ‘The Ancient Mariner.’ That was enough! That part where the Mariner felt a little love in his heart and saw that all things began to take on a new aspect was metaphysically explained and dwelt upon. From that moment there was a ‘ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.’
“The day he had expected to die he was moved from the insane ward to one for nervous troubles. Here the doctor was openly hostile. He could not stop me from visiting but he used up the two-hour period as much as he could by having something done to the patient during that time. For a week this doctor and others had a new experiment to try each day. One day it was to be an operation on the spine, another on the head. Always he or others were intending to do something for the patient but they never did, although our friend was taken to the operating room twice and then sent back for further diagnosis. Daily the case appeared different to the doctors, so that what would be decided upon for the following day, the patient would then be found unsuited for. Things came to such a pass that it required higher demonstration.
“About this time I was reading Jacob's experience with Esau at the ford Jabbok. It was evident that Jacob had to realize the metaphysical concept of ‘brother’ or meet with certain destruction. After that famous meeting Esau asked Jacob a question and he answered, ‘I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me,’ and that reply satisfied each brother. This fact held my attention and after carefully studying the situation I came to the conclusion that Jacob had seen ‘brother’ as the reflection of Principle—‘as though I had seen the face of God,’ he said. I must therefore think of ‘doctor’ in the same way, and I did. I came to the conclusion that ‘hospital’ might represent that which aids men to be well and whole, and ‘doctor’ that consciousness which knows and ministers to every man as a brother.
“About this time a miracle seemed to happen. I did not go to the hospital till the day after and I found our friend was decidedly improved. He and another patient both told the same thing unknown to each other. In substance it was this. The doctor became gentle and considerate to all in the ward. There was a marked improvement in the health of all the patients. For a week I went to see our friend but never met the doctor. He was letting my patient alone except to be pleased at his rapid recovery. At the end of the week this ward had sent all of its patients to the convalescent wards or returned them to their organizations. Also my friend was active in all his functions, perfectly well and fit, so far as I could see. I gave him my post office address with the request to write me if he needed me again. I have not met him since but am informed he was soon after discharged—a well man.”
With such healings attending the efforts of the Workers, it was little wonder that the usual reluctance of the medical practitioner to consent to the presence of Christian Scientists in the hospitals was somewhat modified. This greater spirit of tolerance was manifested not only in camps and training areas, but in the hospitals in and near the large cities temporarily loaned to the army and navy. Volunteer and regular Workers served successfully in the hospitals of Boston, New York, Minneapolis, Denver, Chicago, Washington, Toronto and elsewhere. Meanwhile Workers regularly stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Fort McPherson, Georgia; Fort Sheridan, Illinois, and the shell shock and tuberculosis hospitals near Asheville, North Carolina, were reporting interesting cases of healing, some of which are recorded elsewhere in this volume.
Having given the reader this brief outline of the Camp Welfare work in general, we now proceed to mention in more detail the several lines of activity which characterized the work everywhere. For convenience these have been grouped under different headings. The first, “Daily Deeds,” deals with the most conspicuous details of the daily routine of Camp Welfare Workers. The second, “Quiet Resting Places,” gives an interesting account of the various buildings and rooms operated by the Committee. The third, “Our Only Preachers,” tells of the Christian Science services held throughout the world by the men in khaki and blue. The fourth, “He Sent His Word,” gives some idea of what was accomplished by distribution of Christian Science literature. The fifth, “With the Forces Afloat,” is a brief story of what was done for the boys of the navy.
DAILY DEEDS
A recruit sitting near a Camp Welfare Worker one day suddenly called out:
“What line are you in, big boy?”
“I'm not in the army line, if that's what you mean.”
“Then what are you doing out here?” persisted the recruit.
“I'm a Welfare Worker.”
“Welfare Worker, what's that?”
“A Welfare Worker is a man who hunts for soldiers for whom he can do favors.” A long silence ensued, then—
“Whew! You're a rare bird.”
Helpfulness—this was the keynote of our Workers' efforts in the camps. They made the welfare or well-being of the enlisted men their responsibility and as one soldier expressed it, “when one fares well by the help of Christian Science, he fares well in every phase of his being—mental, moral and physical.”
Probably nothing will indicate better the variety of service performed by a Camp Welfare Worker than to quote from the report of one who describes a typical day's work.
“In the early morning the Camp Worker awakens with the birds. His thought reaches out for more spiritual light as he gives a number of treatments to the faithful soldiers who have applied for help and who are so earnestly striving to meet their strenuous problems.
“Later he finds his way to the camp to deliver the Monitors and other parcels from the Camp Welfare Committee, conscious that his times are in God's hands, and that each moment will bring forth fruitage.
“First, he inquires of the railroad representative when the next troop trains will leave, that he may distribute Monitors on them. Then, in crossing the street to the post office for his mail, he is approached by a stranger—a shy, diffident country boy who has evidently just been drafted and who has a letter to the Commanding Officer, a mile or so down the camp. So the Worker invites him to get into the machine and they start for the Receiving Office. On the way there he makes a stop at the Fire Department headquarters, where twenty-five Monitors are left. Then the Receiving Station is reached, where the young patriot is to be initiated into a new experience and gain a larger vision of world events.
“It was Love's direction to perform this kindly service and to give a few words of loving counsel, which seemed greatly appreciated. But now, in its own way, Love seemed to halt all activities and to direct the Worker to take time to read the recent Monitors which he had just received at the post office. So, quietly and leisurely, in the face of many things demanding his time, he drove his car to an open space near by the receiving tents and began to read the Monitor. Why he should have taken even this twenty minutes in the midst of an overfull day of duties was not at the time just clear to him, but since he felt peaceful about it, he enjoyed the recreation and feast of good things that the reading brought. The reason for this pause, however, was soon made clear when presently, an officer, seeing the lettering on the car, stepped up to the machine with the exclamation that he had been looking for the Camp Worker for several days but had been unable to find him. He was most anxious to obtain a vest-pocket Science and Health and to have a conversation along metaphysical lines. Just then another young man approached who also wanted a Science and Health. Then a Y. M. C. A. Worker who was passing by said, ‘Haven't you got one of those little books to give me?’ and added, ‘You know when you and your wife first came to camp I wondered how you had ever taken up with such a thing as I thought Christian Science to be. Then I watched you and your work, and it seemed to me that you had something that others did not have, and the first thing I knew I wished I could know something more about Christian Science from the standpoint of the Christian Scientist himself. I read some of the Monitors that I found in the hut, and then, as you will remember, I had an hour's talk with you one day. During the talk a burn on my hand was healed, and now I really want to read Science and Health.’ Then followed another talk of a half hour or so, and a Science and Health was given to the Secretary, who proved to be an Episcopalian minister.
“Starting on his way, the Camp Worker remembered that a man in the Fire Station a block away had inquired for him, so this was the next call, which lasted some time, and after a most interesting talk another Science and Health was given to the interested beginner. From here the Worker went to the barracks to deliver Monitors to all the officers in the regiment.
“After this he sought an interview with a certain Colonel who had been none too courteous at a previous call when consent had been given to distribute the Monitor to only fifteen out of his two hundred officers. Good work had been done in the meantime however, and thus the interview was pleasant and profitable, and arrangements were made to send the paper daily for a month to each of his two hundred officers. Having carefully read various articles in the Monitor the hour before, the Worker was able to point out to the Colonel the vital things in the copies which he showed him.
“It was noon and time to go to the Hostess House, where the Worker was to take lunch with four Y. M. C. A. Secretaries, as a member of the committee for making plans to take a religious census of the new recruits. It was a source of gratification to see the kindly and respectful attitude of the Y. M. C. A. Workers towards any ideas presented by the Christian Science representative, for they evidently included him as one of them and recognized no mental barriers.
“From here a call was made at the base hospital to see a young man who, materia medica had said, ‘had slim chances.’ The Worker had been directed to this young man a few days before by someone who had been interested in him. The patient was not a Scientist and said he did not think he cared to have Science treatment, but that he would like the Worker to call again. Today he met the Worker with a beaming face and said, ‘I feel like a different man. Your talk the other day almost healed me, and so I want a copy of Science and Health and a testament. I never felt so happy before, and feel sure I will soon be out of the hospital.’
“Several other calls were made at the hospital and two copies of Science and Health were given out. Then the out-going troop trains were visited as soon as they were located, and the Worker placed 400 Monitors on them—Monitors which had been left over from his daily delivery because of a delay in their arrival, so that eight hundred had been received on this day. He waited until the troops were loaded and the trains started. As the men waved their farewells many had the Monitors in their hands and others were reading them.
“And now as the day is almost over, the Worker drives over to the Welfare Cottage and the men soon begin to arrive for an evening's visit—a colonel, a lieutenant, two ‘non-coms’ and several privates, five of whom desire treatment. While the treatments are given in an adjoining room, those waiting visit together and tell of the blessings that Christian Science has brought into their lives. At about ten thirty they begin to leave. Then correspondence and records are attended to and the work for the next day considered. Thus ends at midnight one of the happiest days of the Worker's experience, and he thanks God for His goodness to the sons of men.”
When one realizes that an army cantonment sometimes covered thousands of acres of ground it will readily be seen that the Camp Workers had to be provided with automobiles in order to cover this large territory, to distribute literature and to locate men in various parts of the camp. At one time the Committee owned as many as sixty-nine cars. These all bore in gold letters on each side the words, “Christian Science Camp Welfare Committee.” The wisdom of marking the cars in this way was proved again and again. In one instance our Worker drove past a group of men who were drilling. One remarked: “There goes that Christian Science car. You know, my wife has been sick for a long time and can't get well. Seeing that name makes me think that she had better try Christian Science.” His neighbor then told him that he was a Scientist and advised him to ask for treatment for his wife, later lending him his copy of Science and Health.
At another camp our Worker left his car in front of the library building, and returning, found a soldier comfortably seated in it. The lad said he felt at home at once and he was most grateful to hear of the Christian Science services being held in the camp. Our Worker adds that this soldier was the first one to arrive at the service on the following Sunday.
In one of his reports a Worker near Washington, D. C., says:
“Repeatedly when I come back to the car after visiting the barracks, I find men waiting for me who tell me they are Christian Scientists and were attracted by the sign. Most of them are men who have recently arrived in camp and did not know there was a Worker. Only yesterday I stopped the car in front of another company of men who were lined up on one of the streets of Fort Myer, and when the order was given to dismiss, four of them walked over to the car. Three told me they were Scientists and wanted information, the other stood for a moment looking at the sign. After a moment he reached in his pocket and pulled out a well-worn pocket edition of the textbook, saying, ‘I wouldn't take a hundred dollars for that.’ ”
Another Worker tells the following:
“One of the new boys just from Jefferson Barracks saw my car passing and whistled the shriek of a lusty youth to call my attention. I could not locate the whistle and concluded it was not for me. But the crowd knew, as the boy was running full speed to catch me, and by calls and yells from the crowd, I was stopped. He came up breathless and panted out: ‘I say, but I am glad to get you! I want a Science and Health and a Monitor. I haven't seen either for a week.’ ”
Many and various were the uses to which the Camp Welfare car was put. On one occasion the Worker's car was picking a careful way over a bumpy road. Two women were walking along in the heat and the dust, going the same way. A cheerful greeting was called, the car door was swung invitingly wide and the two, with grateful words and smiles, stepped in. One of them, the camp librarian, with an apologetic air, asked the Worker if he were going to a camp several miles away that afternoon. The reply was affirmative. It was then explained that a Y. M. C. A. Secretary from this camp had asked for a book desired by an enlisted man who came to his building. The Worker readily agreed to deliver the book. When he entered the “Y” and placed the book on the counter before the Secretary, the latter exclaimed, “How did you know I wanted that book?” The case was explained and the Worker said, further, “How many times must I tell you that I stand ready always to be of service?”
“When he says that, he means it,” spoke up a “Y” man standing near, whom the Worker had not noticed before. Turning in surprise, the Christian Scientist saw it was somebody he had never seen. Noting the interrogative look, the “Y” man said: “When I was stationed at one of the camps in the South, whenever anybody wanted anything done, the Christian Science Camp Welfare Worker was the man they got to do it. That man was always going somewhere with his car full of something or somebody.”
Like Paul, in his epistle to the Corinthians, the Camp Welfare Worker might have said of himself: “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” His car was known from one end of the camp to the other as one of the few cars upon the running board of which a soldier might leap at any time uninvited, and always be greeted with a smile and the welcome of a friend of long standing.
At one camp, the Worker's car came in with a squad that had been left to guard baggage beside a railroad track a mile or two away from the barracks. Trucks had come for the baggage but the guard had been forgotten and was just starting to trudge its way to its tents, when discovered by the Worker. The top of the car was taken down, the soldiers' full packs and rifles and other equipment were piled in and then the squad mounted on top of this. They were taken to their encampment area in the car instead of walking the whole way.
Orderlies, struggling along under big bags of home mail, came, in one camp at least, to look for the car labeled, “Christian Science Camp Welfare Committee,” for it meant the lifting of heavy burdens off their shoulders and an opportunity to find rest the remainder of the way to headquarters.
During the quarantine period in another camp, when the mail accumulated at the Y. M. C. A. hostess house and there was nobody available to keep it going to the post office, in order that the relatives of the men might know how they were faring, the Worker, on the way for his own mail, would stop and get a load of soldiers' mail, and take it to the office, bringing back the mail for the hostess and her assistants.
Again the Worker found time, together with his own great amount of work, to take the parents of men in the hospital from the railway stations to the wards where their boys were to be found. Coming from a section where but little is known of Christian Science or Christian Scientists these relatives and friends have had reason to carry away a friendly memory of the Welfare Worker. Of a Worker in one of the camps in the southeast, an officer spoke feelingly, “The day was never too long nor the night too dark for him to do anybody a good turn.”
Says another Worker:
“This morning as we drove up to the post office for the mail, an army officer approached the car and asked that I drive him back to camp after some important papers that he had left behind. I did so. Later when we arrived at the head of the column we found the lads strung all along the road, overtaxed with their heavy packs, going up the hill. A lieutenant doctor and I worked with them for two hours carrying them up the hill and down to the boat landing. Most of the boys that fell out were from the hospital. I made six trips and then came back after the packs. A hospital ambulance made four trips. The officers were delighted with the ‘lift’ and were outspoken in their praise of the War Relief work.”
Says another Worker:
“While visiting the base hospital, a telephone message came to the convalescent building, saying that two of the soldiers who were to have been taken for an automobile ride had been disappointed. I volunteered to take them out in our car. The boys were delighted. One of them had never seen Washington before and was much pleased with the White House, Government buildings, the beautiful speedway drive and the various points of interest.”
The automobile proved itself useful in an unusual way during a sand storm in Oklahoma. Our Worker had called to help the boys prepare for the Sunday service. The storm being at its height, it was impossible to seek the usual secluded outdoor nook. The men, however, drove the car near an observation tower, placed it with its back to the wind, put up all the curtains and found the interior an ideal place in which to study the lesson.
On one occasion at least, the good deeds done by the camp car were returned in kind. Our Worker, upon visiting a patient in the base hospital, found him in the best of condition. “How do you get around the camp?” asked the soldier. The Worker answered that he had a Ford. The boy's face brightened, as he said: “I am a Ford expert. Let me fix the machine when it gets out of repair.” This was his way of expressing gratitude for benefits received.
Of our “Welfare Fleet,” which was the grandiose designation of our two launches, more will be said in the chapter devoted to work in the navy.
The Christian Science War Relief Committee also maintained a Home Service Department, although it was not dignified by that name, nor specifically organized for that purpose. It was the natural outgrowth of the fact that the men in the camps and their friends and families at home turned to Christian Science to smooth out all the difficulties presented by the war—and they were many and various. In this work the main office in Boston was naturally the clearing house through which these calls for help were sent out, to be taken care of by workers in the camps or overseas.
For example, on October 7, 1918, a telegram was received in the Boston office stating that a young man in Camp Eustis, Virginia, was ill. His family desired our Worker there to visit him and report to them. Our Committee at once wired the Worker in Camp Eustis and in a day or so he reported the young man as being practically well again. This message was at once forwarded to the uncle who had sent the inquiry and from him we received the following grateful reply:
“My wife and myself wish to express our gratitude for the loving help that was extended to our nephew by the Welfare Worker at Camp Eustis, Virginia. We wired you on October 6 that he was ill and asked for your assistance which was promptly given. Our nephew has expressed to us his delight in receiving the pocket-size Bible which completed his pocket equipment for study. During the many months in which we have been contributing to the Welfare fund we did not realize how close to home the Welfare work might come and you can therefore appreciate the satisfaction we now have, in knowing that we had some part in carrying on this wonderful work from which we received such loving cooperation in the time of need.”
This service was not limited to Christian Scientists, of course. On one occasion a call came over the phone in Boston for information about a boy who was ill in Vancouver Barracks, Washington. A wire to our Worker at that point brought the following response: “Private B. much better. Looking forward to father's arrival.” The Worker later wrote:
“I went immediately to the hospital and located B. in one of the pneumonia wards. I was allowed but a few minutes' talk with him. I told him who I was and that I had been requested to visit him. He indicated that he did not want Christian Science treatment but was very appreciative and said he would be glad to see me again.”
The relief and comfort brought at such times to the anxious ones at home, can readily be imagined, yet it was much greater in the case of those having wounded boys in France. The many miles which separated them from their loved ones, and the knowledge that it was difficult, if not impossible to receive reports on their condition until sometimes many months had passed, made the efforts of our committee of great service to the “home folks.”
When a case which seemed urgent was reported to the Boston office, a cable was dispatched to the Paris headquarters asking that the boy be visited in person, if this was possible, or helped in Christian Science, if this was desired, or a report secured through the Government Records. Sometimes the reply would be surprisingly prompt, bringing much joy to the families here. Then again many weeks would pass, because our Workers in France found the records in such a chaotic condition that they were often obliged to trace the case through many hospitals or camps.
One instance will serve to illustrate. A letter was received in our office on July 24, 1918, stating that a certain marine had been gassed. His family, who were Scientists, requested treatment for him if he desired it and also deposited ten dollars to be delivered to him with a copy of the vest-pocket textbook. On August 14 we were able to telegraph his family that our Paris office had cabled his condition as much improved. A letter which followed in due course said that a sergeant, a Christian Scientist, in this boy's own company, had been put in touch with him, that he had received his money and the textbook and was improving.
At another time when help was requested for a seriously wounded soldier, on November 1, 1918, our Paris office reported on November 15 that he was receiving treatment and was doing well.
Our Committee in England likewise gave us loving cooperation in such cases. In reply to a cable sent them about a man in an English hospital, they cabled that he was improving, following their report by a letter which read:
“On receipt of your cable asking that Private T. should be visited at Bethnal Green Hospital, we got in touch with a practitioner who went at once to see him, and found that he had been badly wounded in the arm and was most anxious to see a Christian Scientist. Treatment was given him, and he wrote next day saying that there was great improvement and that he felt much encouraged and supported through the loving thought of the committee in Boston, which had been instrumental in meeting his need.”
Literally hundreds of calls of such a nature came to our Committee, and as our faithful workers proved so helpful in securing the information desired, the volume of the work increased proportionately. Very many requests came from those who were not Christian Scientists and these received the same attention as the others.
The demands were not always to locate wounded men—they were as multifarious as human needs. One which was constantly recurring was to get word to boys overseas that their families were writing regularly, or to send word to the same boys that no letters had been received. An interesting example of the former was a request sent us by a lady in Texas to inform her brother in England, who had been abroad some five months without news from home, that his family were all well and were writing regularly. This letter was forwarded to our English Committee and of the result the boy's own letter will speak:
“Dear Mother and all: I heard from home today. It was not through a letter but through a lady who approached me on the street in Liverpool. She asked me my name and said she had a message for me from home and told me you were all well. She said she was a Christian Scientist. It sure made me feel happy.”
One other service rendered to the men should be mentioned—that of delivering money through our overseas offices. Friends in this country deposited money at a War Relief office in this country and our Paris office delivered the amount requested to the boy in France. Sometimes the many moves made by the men over there made it very difficult to reach them. Again the man was very promptly located. For example, $50 was sent to the Boston office on September 25, 1918, to be cabled to a boy then in France. A letter from our Paris office dated October 22 stated that the check had been received and acknowledged by the boy in question. In several instances, also, our overseas office was able to advance money to men in France, which was refunded by the parents in this country or by the boys themselves upon their return. In such a case as this latter, our Worker at Camp Lewis recently sent us a check amounting to $192.30 loaned by our Paris office to a lieutenant then in France. Our Worker writes:
“Lieutenant B. expressed a great deal of gratitude for the favor shown him and said he was going home to tell all he came in contact with, of the many blessings that had come to him, during his service, through Christian Science.”
It is impossible to describe or even to call to memory the many kinds of service rendered to the men in uniform. Some of the demands made upon the committee were ludicrous, some were tragic; some were joyous, some were sad; some were easy of fulfilment, some were difficult, but a sincere effort was always made to meet the need, for the Christian Science Workers were constantly striving, in the words of Isaiah, “to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free.”
“QUIET RESTING PLACES”
Very early in the establishment of the Camp Welfare work it became evident that some sort of building was needed in each camp as a headquarters for the Christian Scientists. The men felt the need of a quiet retreat to which they could come for study and spiritual refreshment and where they could meet the Worker to talk over the problems which military life presented. Moreover, it was necessary to provide a room where our services could be held regularly and where the literature could be obtained and sent forth for distribution.
Simple and homelike in structure, cozily furnished, with flower boxes at the windows and “Welcome” over the door, the Christian Science Buildings have been a refuge not only to young soldiers but to the stranger, the chaplain, the nurses and relatives of boys in need. Christian Scientists know, however, that these buildings, no matter how attractive, could never of themselves have met the heart's great need. It was the conscious realization of the presence of divine Love, its protecting Fatherhood and Motherhood, which created the loving atmosphere that attracts, uplifts and comforts. Many a heartsick boy having come to the War Relief Building and having found there a touch of humanity, came later on to find Divinity,—seeking a quiet, homey place, he found also healing and courage.
With the consent and approval of the Commanding Officers, buildings were erected for the use of Christian Scientists, or rooms were designated by the Government for their occupancy, in or near the following camps: McClellan, Alabama; Sheridan, Alabama; Pike, Arkansas; Kearny, California; Fremont, California; Hancock, Georgia; Wheeler, Georgia; Merritt, New Jersey; Mills, New York; Jackson, South Carolina; Bowie, Texas; Lewis, Washington.
In addition, tents were maintained, in some cases being provided by the Government, at: San Pedro, California; Camp Beauregard, Louisiana; Pelham Bay, New York; Commack, Long Island, New York; Camp Greene, North Carolina; Paris Island, South Carolina; Ellington Field, Texas; Camp Logan, Texas.
At Camp McClellan, Alabama, part of a Government building was made available to our Committee. It was fitted up in an attractive manner and made to appear homelike. At Camp Sheridan the Committee originally used a room which was practically within the camp. We later built a small structure just outside the camp at a cost of $877. It was a simple frame building with a large porch across the front, fitted up in the interior as a combined reading and writing room. In Camp Pike, Arkansas, the Government placed part of a building at the disposal of our Worker.
The building at Camp Kearny, California, was designed for our own use and built by us at a cost of $2200. It contained a reading room, storeroom and rest room for the men and office, bedroom and shower for the Camp Worker. There were two cozy corners in the reading room with easy-chairs, and twelve reading desks with plain oak chairs to accommodate forty soldiers. It was not the original plan to paint the building but some of the soldiers volunteered to do the work if the material was provided. This was done, the interior presenting a very restful and pleasing appearance in a shade of gray with window frames harmoniously contrasted. Drapery for the windows was furnished and two soldiers put it in place. A “Y” Secretary who visited the rooms soon after, said, “You people have a knack of always expressing beauty and art in everything you do, no matter how inexpensive it may be.”
At Camp Fremont, California, a beautiful building was also constructed by the Committee, costing $3045. It was of the bungalow type, in a setting of trees, and among other attractive features contained a great fireplace.
A large tent within Camp Hancock, Georgia, was the original center of Christian Science activities in that cantonment but later a very fine building was erected at a cost of $3265. This edifice looked much like the other camp buildings without, but its interior was most tasteful and comfortable. There was a large living room, adaptable either for reading or writing or for religious services. This opened into a smaller room used as a private office and in addition the resident workers had comfortable living quarters. Bright colored curtains at the windows, plants and flowers here and there, and a pretty vase or candlestick contributed the necessary home touches.
In Camp Wheeler, Georgia, the Government gave us the use of a building known to the boys as “the little cottage by the lake.” It was surrounded by a wide veranda and stood in a wooded patch on the edge of a little lake.
The building erected by the Committee at Camp Merritt, New Jersey, was the most commodious and expensive of all those owned by us. Merritt was possibly the largest embarkation camp in the United States, thousands of troops passing through it daily on their way overseas, and as many on their return trip. For this reason it was deemed right and necessary to have a building adequate to meet this need. The first building at Camp Merritt was a small portable cottage which stood on “Inspiration Point” just outside of Picket No. 4. It commanded a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside, standing on the main thoroughfare at the top of the hill. Along this road and down this hill all the troops passed on their way to the trains which carried them to the waiting transports. This small cottage was soon seen to be entirely inadequate and plans were laid for a fine structure which ultimately cost in excess of $10,000. A bulletin of the New Jersey State Committee describes the building as follows:
“It is a one-story frame structure, 50 by 30 feet, with broad piazzas on two sides. The piazza facing Madison Avenue is protected from the street by a natural screen of white birch trees, while the one on the eastern side commands a beautiful view of the Palisades.
“The original temporary room, which was the first of the Christian Science Camp Welfare rooms to be established, has been moved back upon the lot and is used as a practitioner's office. On a line with the new building, and facing it as it does, it reminds one of the proverbial grain of mustard seed looking out upon its own large branch. Both buildings are painted white with green trim, and have attractive window boxes filled with flowers.
“There are two main rooms in the new building, an office or reception room and a larger room for reading and writing. These are connected by glass doors capable of folding to permit the two to be made into one large room, for services or lectures, as the occasion may require. The inside walls are of beaver-board, painted a yellow ivory color, with the wood of a lighter shade, giving an agreeable effect of warmth and light. A large stone fireplace is one of the attractive features of the reception room. Four double French doors open on to the piazza through which the men can enjoy a view of the Palisades, as they sit at service, or in quiet thought, reminding many of the Psalmist's words, ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.’
"The furnishings consist of individual writing desks stained mahogany color, large tables, davenports and chairs of wicker. A piano was loaned by two Christian Scientists, and it is an inspiring sight to see our men in uniform standing around it singing hymns after the evening service.
"One of the most interesting features connected with the building, which occasioned much favorable comment, was the installation of twelve drinking fountains of iced water in a stone wall along the sidewalk in front of the building. There is a large tank inside this wall containing twelve coils of pipe fifty feet each in length, through which the water flows, emerging upon the surface from faucets known as bubblers, upon pressure of the buttons connected with the faucets. The water in these coils is chilled by ice with which the tanks are kept supplied. In this way, twelve soldiers at a time may obtain a cool and refreshing drink.
"The way in which this method was discovered is very interesting. The idea having occurred to one of the Committee, in trying to work it out, he found that the necessary equipment for the purpose could only be secured from a firm dealing in bar fixtures. The proprietor of this firm remarked the day after receiving the order: ‘I could hardly sleep last night for thinking of your idea of using this cooling apparatus for the purpose of water fountains. It has never been used before except for beer, and with prohibition coming, I have been worried about my business and this has suggested to me a new avenue of work.’ This incident in connection with the fountains has led to their being called the ‘replacement draught,’ and is the second instance whereby the course of our work has led to the replacement of a destructive concept by a constructive one, the Welfare Room at Hoboken having formerly been a bar room.
“The following letter from General S., in command of the camps in our State, shows how much these fountains are appreciated:
“ ‘My attention has recently been called to an excellent and very serviceable drinking fountain established in front of your Welfare House. This fountain with its unusual facilities is a most welcome addition to the camp and I desire to thank you for the thoughtfulness which prompted its installation.’ ”
At Camp Mills, New York, a building was erected by the Committee at a cost of $1850. It was located within the camp, being on the main thoroughfare. It was 20 by 40 feet with an 8-foot screened and lighted porch the full length of the 40-foot side, being divided into a large Welfare room, with practitioner's office and sleeping accommodations at one end. It was painted white with green trimmings, and had awnings and screens for comfort during the summer. The furniture was soft-toned brown reed, upholstered in blue and brown chintz, the curtains and hangings being of the same material. Through the generous cooperation of a member of a local church, trees were planted, a lawn prepared and a rustic fence put in place.
The Committee also erected and owned a building in Camp Jackson, South Carolina, costing $2175. The following item from a letter of the Worker at Camp Jackson is of unusual interest in connection with this building:
“On Monday, April 29, 1918, the foundation was put in for our Camp Welfare Building at Camp Jackson. In the evening a few of our boys on short notice, together with Camp Worker and Welfare Building Attendant, held a little service on a lumber pile, using passages from the Bible and Science and Health as found on page 17 of The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany, used at the laying of the corner stone of the Extension of The Mother Church.”
This building had a very beautiful setting among the pine trees and one of its features was a long screened-in porch on which were tables supplied with Christian Science literature and writing material. It contained a fine large living room with a fireplace at one end.
At Camp Bowie, Texas, the Committee was able to purchase, at a cost of $1418, a large structure intended for a restaurant. Government regulations did not permit the owner to maintain it within the camp zone and he was very glad to turn it over to our Committee. It was a two-story building with a large auditorium, writing room and Worker's office on the first floor and comfortable living accommodations on the second.
At Camp Lewis, Washington, there were large numbers of Scientists in training. To meet their need for a quiet place in which to study the lesson, two tents were first set up in a grove of trees a mile from the cantonment. Keen with interest in all that concerned the War Relief activities and grateful for the good received therefrom, some forty Christian Science soldiers banded together and within ten days built a small cottage on property that had been secured for the future use of the Welfare Work. This they called home and every nook and corner was dear to them. Many of those who had hitherto spent their week-ends in the city, whiling away the time in worthless amusements, now came in to read and study to their profit. As this cottage was very soon outgrown, a larger permanent building was erected on the same piece of property at a cost of $6120, the original house serving as Worker's quarters. The new building was a beautiful one, in the bungalow style, having a large fireplace at one end of a spacious room used for a reading room and for the church services. There was also a fully equipped writing room, as well as private rooms for quiet talks with boys who came for treatment. The entire building was very tastefully furnished, and supplied the atmosphere of “home, sweet home,” as one of the boys remarked when he first entered it. This building has since been given by the War Relief Committee to the Christian Science Churches and Societies of the Northwest and is now operated by them.
Besides the buildings which have just been mentioned, the Committee maintained Welfare rooms in towns adjoining camps or training stations and in most of the larger cities. Fine, well-furnished rooms were in operation in San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Indianapolis, Des Moines, Baltimore, Boston, Minneapolis, New York, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Portland, Philadelphia, Galveston and Seattle, to mention only those in the United States.
In most cases the smaller rooms opened in towns near the camps were far from attractive to the eye, at least on the outside, but in every one the interior was transformed for our purpose. Light and cleanliness were prime essentials and to these, through the loving thought of the Workers and attendants, homey touches were added which went far toward making these little rooms the home which the hearts of the boys in service were yearning for. Sometimes it was bright cretonne curtains; sometimes an chair or a comfortable couch; again it was a water cooler, or again a spray of flowers. Each appealed to a different need.
In one of the rooms a soldier sat writing a letter home. When he had finished he came over to the attendant, saying, “Would you like to see what I have written home about these rooms?” He had drawn an elaborate plan, showing every piece of furniture, and had covered two pages with praise of the attractiveness of the room. Every detail was mentioned, the soft shaded lights, the flowers, especially the hyacinth plant “which gives the room a delightfully scented atmosphere,” the “grand comfortable chairs” and the “hand-painted Italian lamp shade.” The “very cozy look” and the air of “quiet seclusion” were commented upon and the description concluded, “Both rooms are charming—so restful and helpful for reading and for writing.”
To these bronzed and hardened soldiers, the beautiful meant more than one might suspect. On the day before Easter an exquisite white lily was placed in one of our rooms and shortly after it arrived a soldier came in. As soon as he saw the lily, a look of satisfaction came into his face and he exclaimed: “I just knew you would have one. I kept thinking about it this morning when I was working and could hardly wait to get down. I knew I would not be disappointed.” A Worker in Washington state writes:
“Beauty and order in the Welfare room in the Seamen's Barracks (Bremerton, Washington) brought fruitage today. A fine looking sailor lad came in just as the Worker arrived and said he had started to come into the room because it was the only place where he saw any flowers and he liked to write there on that account, but now wanted to read the literature, and while the Worker was about he remained reading the Journal.”
On the reading tables of the buildings and rooms were always to be found a complete set of our Leader's works, together with all the authorized Christian Science literature. To many a Science lad the familiar covers of these books in themselves suggested home and peace. In most of the rooms were hung photographs of Mrs. Eddy and of The Mother Church, and the “Mother” thought which reached out to meet the needs of the men in service has led many a grateful one to membership in the church.
The following is a complete list of the rooms and buildings maintained by the War Relief Committee:
| UNITED STATES |
| Alabama: |
| Camp McClellan |
| Camp Sheridan |
| Arkansas: |
| Camp Pike |
| Little Rock |
| California: |
| San Francisco (Presidio) |
| San Diego |
| Camp Kearny |
| Camp Fremont |
| Connecticut: |
| New London |
| District of Columbia: |
| Washington |
| Florida: |
| Key West |
| Georgia: |
| Atlanta (Camp Gordon) |
| Augusta |
| Camp Hancock |
| Camp Wheeler |
| Illinois: |
| North Chicago (Great Lakes Naval Training Station) |
| Rockford (Camp Grant) |
| Chicago |
| Indiana: |
| Indianapolis |
| Iowa: |
| Des Moines |
| Camp Dodge |
| Kansas: |
| Army City (Camp Funston) |
| Junction City |
| Kentucky: |
| Camp Taylor |
| Louisiana: |
| Alexandria |
| Camp Beauregard |
| Maryland: |
| Baltimore (Camps Meade and Holabird) |
| Massachusetts: |
| Ayer (Camp Devens) |
| Boston |
| Minnesota: |
| Minneapolis |
| Mississippi: |
| Hattiesburg (Camp Shelby) |
| New Hampshire: |
| Portsmouth |
| New Jersey: |
| Hoboken |
| Camp Dix |
| Camp Merritt |
| New Mexico: |
| Deming (Camp Cody) |
| New York: |
| New York City |
| Camp Mills |
| Ohio: |
| Columbus |
| Cleveland |
| Cincinnati |
| Port Clinton |
| Chillicothe |
| Camp Sherman |
| Oklahoma: |
| Lawton (Camp Doniphan and Fort Sill) |
| Oregon: |
| Portland |
| Pennsylvania: |
| Gettysburg (Camp Colt) |
| Pittsburgh |
| Philadelphia |
| South Carolina: |
| Spartanburg (Camp Wadsworth) |
| Greenville (Camp Sevier) |
| Charleston |
| Camp Jackson |
| Tennessee: |
| Chattanooga |
| (Camp Greenleaf and Fort Oglethorpe) |
| Texas: |
| Galveston |
| Camp Bowie |
| Virginia: |
| Newport News |
| Norfolk |
| Hampton |
| Petersburg (Camp Lee) |
| Washington: |
| Seattle |
| Bremerton |
| Port Townsend |
| Vancouver |
| Camp Lewis |
| CANADA |
| Toronto |
| Vancouver |
| Winnipeg |
| FRANCE |
| Bordeaux |
| Brest |
| Langres |
| Le Mans |
| Paris |
| Nantes |
| Nevers |
| Romorantin |
| St. Nazaire |
| Tours |
| GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND |
| Aldershot |
| Bedford |
| Belfast |
| Bexhill |
| Blandford |
| Brighton |
| Buxton |
| Chatham |
| Colchester |
| Dover |
| Dublin |
| Edinburgh |
| Glasgow |
| Inverness |
| London |
| Liverpool |
| Newcastle |
| Plymouth |
| Portsmouth |
| Reading |
| Ripon |
| Seaford |
| Tunbridge Wells |
In addition to the rooms, buildings and tents previously mentioned there were many important military and naval points where the Committee maintained a regular Worker who gave his entire time to the needs of the men and who supervised Christian Science services held at these camps. Besides this, there were innumerable other places where volunteer workers saw to it that the men were not neglected and where Christian Science literature was sent in abundance.
The following list contains the more important points where regular Workers were established, although there was no War Relief Room or Building.
| Alabama: |
| Mobile |
| Colorado: |
| Fort Logan |
| Florida: |
| Camp Joseph E. Johnston |
| Pensacola |
| Indiana: |
| Fort Benjamin Harrison |
| Kansas: |
| Fort Leavenworth |
| Michigan: |
| Detroit |
| Camp Custer |
| Missouri: |
| Jefferson Barracks |
| New Hampshire: |
| Portsmouth Navy Yard |
| New York: |
| Camp Upton |
| North Carolina: |
| Asheville |
| Rhode Island: |
| Newport |
| Texas: |
| Love Field |
| Camp Dick |
| Camp McArthur |
| Fort Bliss |
| Kelly Fields |
| Border Camps |
| Virginia: |
| Quantico |
| Camp Humphreys |
These buildings and Welfare rooms were used for many different purposes. They served as reading rooms, and were always equipped with desks and writing materials. They became the rendezvous in which the home folks were able to meet their boys in the service. Many a jolly group has gathered in one of our buildings or rooms for a chat and sometimes there have been pop-corn parties or other festivities at holiday times.
Many needs of differing character were cared for in these rooms. Within these quiet retreats many a boy caught his first real glimpse of God's goodness, and many were restored to health while reading or studying here. Sometimes on a Worker's couch a physical difficulty was mastered and a visit to the camp hospital made unnecessary. The rooms often echoed with the voices of strong young manhood raised in hymns of praise at our Sunday services or in grateful testimony at the midweek meetings. What these rooms meant to the men can probably best be told in their own words. A sergeant Q. M. C. writes:
“To be able to visit the rooms (at Newport News, Virginia) almost daily has been a privilege that I have more than enjoyed. Not only have I been able to read and study but also enjoy seeing others benefit from the great love that is extended to all who visit these rooms.”
From a private at Camp Sheridan, Alabama:
“This reading room has been my first resort and it comes in very handy just at present as I have no light in my tent.”
A private in the American Expeditionary Forces says:
“I take this opportunity of thanking you for your kindness and also for the Welfare House (Camp Jackson, South Carolina). It certainly was an inspiration to us. The Welfare House was truly an oasis in the desert—where one found refuge and succor from the many doubts and fears of mortal existence. ‘Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need’ (Science and Health, page 494). Many times did I go to the Welfare House depressed and with a heavy heart and came away refreshed and in a buoyant mood.”
Sometimes the boys' enjoyment of the rooms took an amusing turn as shown by the following from our Worker at Camp Cody, New Mexico:
“Within two hours after I had placed our sign in the window four new men came in. They had arrived from El Paso that morning in a sandstorm. One of them picked up a Monitor and read the entire time he was here, another wrote letters, a third chatted with me, and the fourth just rocked. He said it was the first chair he had sat in since he entered the army and I have never seen anyone enjoy a chair so much.”
Very often appreciation for our rooms has been expressed by persons who were not Christian Scientists. A colonel at a port of embarkation writes as follows:
“I desire to express to you my personal appreciation of the Christian Science War Relief rooms at this port.
“While I am not a Christian Scientist yet I am interested in the work and I have always found there a cordial welcome and an atmosphere of refinement and culture, and when I sought information on the teachings of Christian Science, it was given so tactfully and with such convincing logic that it has caused me to look upon Christian Science in a most favorable light.
“Your rooms here serve a purpose that cannot be fulfilled by any other Welfare organization and I congratulate you on the good permanent work that is being done.”
A captain at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, says:
“It has been made plain to me that the scope of your work here is not confined to the members of your faith, but instead, is extended cordially to all. The restful aspect of the reading room especially appeals to me and the undersigned is in possession of information to the effect that this place has proved a great blessing to many who visit it.”
In connection with the buildings and rooms maintained by this Committee, a word must also be said about the Christian Science Welfare houses or hostels, of which there were two, one in Washington, D. C, and one in London, England. The latter will be described in the chapter devoted to the work in England. The one in Washington was located at 1222 Pennsylvania Avenue. It was started by a group of Christian Scientists in Washington who rented an old hotel and converted it into a clean, comfortable and attractive lodging house where from fifty-five to sixty boys could be accommodated at fifty cents each a night. The War Relief Committee rented the entire ground floor of this building, furnishing several spacious reading and writing rooms and offices and providing attendants and workers for them. The stories of the interesting little depots maintained in France and England properly find their place in the chapters devoted to those countries.
“OUR ONLY PREACHERS”
(Christian Science Quarterly)
On page 91 of “Retrospection and Introspection,” Mrs. Eddy says:
“When he was with them, a fishing-boat became a sanctuary, and the solitude was peopled with holy messages from the All-Father. The grove became his class-room, and nature's haunts were the Messiah's university.”
The Christian Scientist in civilian life is inexpressibly grateful for his church services but he may not fully realize the extent of the blessings they bring him until situated where he is obliged to do without them. Such was the case of the Science soldiers during the early days of the war before the Welfare work was organized. Their invariable statement was, “We never guessed what it would mean to be deprived of attending our church.” Taken by the hundreds from their families and places of business, hurried off to training camps and there put through a strict régime of military discipline, which became more and more rigid as the time for going overseas approached, it was realized that the spiritual needs of these young Christian Scientists must be cared for, since none of the religious agencies recognized by the Government provided for them. Many of the camps were in sections of the country where there were no Christian Science churches and no registered practitioners. Others were miles from cities or towns where churches were available, and the means of transportation were limited and expensive for the soldier with his usually meager pay.
In this deprivation of church services many of the Science boys sought the quiet of the woods or camp libraries to read the lesson-sermons by themselves, or if, perchance, they were fortunate enough to meet other Science boys, two or three would gather together in His name and hold informal meetings. This was possible of course, because, as the notice in our Quarterly puts it, “The Bible and the Christian Science textbook are our only preachers.” With these books in their hands, earnest Christian Scientists never need miss a church service. A lad from Florida writes as follows of one which he conducted:
“I held a service all by myself yesterday out on the banks of the St. John River, reading from the Quarterly and singing the hymns from the Hymnal. I even took up a collection of thankfulness which I am sending to The Mother Church.”
Conditions in the training camps indicated clearly what would be faced by the men when in camp or at the front in Europe. Therefore the soldier Scientist must be shown that he need not lean upon civilians or any civilian organization in order to attain the spiritual comfort and sustenance which the Christian Science service would mean to him. He must be educated to grasp the fact of his sole dependence upon God and his independence of material surroundings. Therefore, the Camp Welfare Workers were sent forth with instructions to train the young Scientists to stand on their own feet where services were concerned, to prepare them for possibly greater isolation later across the Atlantic.
It was often in some such simple way as the following that services were started:
“Yesterday when the Worker drove up to the ‘Y’ eight boys, each from a different part of the country, came up to the machine and asked us to read the lesson. We went out in the shade in a quiet spot and ten of us had a fine service. We shall be organized by next Sunday, I'm sure.”
Shortly after the same Worker wrote:
“Our services at 9:30 a.m. Sunday are splendid and the boys are delighted. I hear them talking about ‘our services.’ We have a room in the Y. M. C. A. hut but while the weather is so warm, we are meeting out of doors. One boy wrote home that we had the finest lighted and best ventilated church in the world.”
Before a room was secured for their use about seventeen Christian Scientists gathered in the National Cemetery at historic Gettysburg and went over the lesson. Later these men of the Tank Corps held a regular service in their own room, which a visitor described as very impressive and earnest.
The meetings in camps were held in various places: Y. M. C. A. huts, Jewish Welfare buildings, camp theaters, gymnasium halls, mess halls, tents and often under the most unusual conditions.
In the larger camps and training stations where the men stayed sometimes for several months, a simple organization was usually formed. In one camp, when the Worker called the men together, they chose, without any preparation save silent prayer for guidance, a board of directors consisting of a major, a captain, a lieutenant, a sergeant and a private. This board each month chose two readers to serve for the ensuing monthly period, the First Reader a commissioned officer and the Second Reader an enlisted man. The Worker was then given the names of the new readers, the Bible and the textbook were placed in his hands and he was asked to notify the men who had been chosen and request them to be prepared to read the next Sunday and continue to do so until their term of service was up.
This plan proved admirably efficient in its workings, until departure for overseas drew near. Then, as nobody knew which organization would leave first or whether either of the regularly chosen readers would be able to be present for the next meeting, every Christian Scientist participating in the work in the camp came to service prepared to substitute for one or the other of the readers. The Worker in this camp, because so much of the responsibility for the work was assumed by the men themselves (in line with the Committee's plan), laughingly referred to himself as merely an “errand boy” for the soldier Scientists.
In other camps the readers were chosen direct by the congregation, to serve for varying lengths of time.
In one case the readers were made a committee to obtain a place for holding services, which were announced to start the following Sunday. A mess hall not then in use was found available. The Second Reader, a handy man with tools, constructed two readers' desks, and on the Saturday preceding the first service, drove the truck which brought firewood to the building and swung the axe which cut the wood for the fire that made the hall more comfortable. Never were hymns sung with more fervor, nor the reading of the lesson-sermon listened to with closer attention than by these earnest young soldiers.
The men showed their keen interest and love for these simple services, oftentimes making distinct sacrifices to be present. Soldier readers have been known to forego furloughs in order to be at their post in camp on Sunday. One boy, who was an attendant in the hospital, working all night, curtailed his sleep in order to attend the morning service. On another occasion twenty-four men came in a drenching rain, two of them omitting their breakfast in order to arrive on time. One boy made a special trip to a Wednesday evening meeting to testify to the healing of an ulcerated tooth. He was on duty until late and ran so hard that he could hardly talk when he arrived, but he was determined to speak.
There were times even in camps in this country when our boys found themselves without a room in which to assemble. In one such instance, a little group of men went down to a clump of trees near a railroad track, piled railroad ties against two saplings to make a desk, the readers hung their hats in the trees, the congregation sat on other ties and the service began. It was a wonderful day, with the blue sky overhead, the sun only an hour high, and the birds, the blossoms and the trees adding their pagans of praise to the hymns that arose from the little grove. That service, in its earnestness and spiritual fervor, made a lasting impression on all who participated.
At the time the epidemic of fear (alias influenza) appeared in the camps, in many instances the assembling of the men in large groups was forbidden, especially indoors. The Christian Scientists were obedient wherever this ruling was made, but small groups would assemble and go over the lesson in the open air somewhere about their camp. In one instance a group of six assembled at a big woodpile, found seats, chose readers and put into the service every bit of mental energy they could command. And why not? The subject was, “Are Sin, Disease and Death Real?” All about them in the camp were those who feared these false beliefs and it was the Christian Scientists' earnest desire to heal, not only themselves, but all concerned, of this fear. They sang the hymns, listened to a Scriptural reading, had silent prayer and applied themselves closely to the study of the lesson-sermon. In another instance, a coal-pile served as the setting for a service.
Primitive as were the surroundings at these simple gatherings, they never failed to draw eager audiences. One Worker tells of an overflowing room with sailors sitting on tables and radiators earnestly listening to the service. That not even quiet could be counted upon will be seen from a Worker's account of a service in Texas:
“We had a very splendid service at Travis this morning, there being ten soldiers present. The thing that impressed me was the earnestness of these boys, as there was nothing but the lesson to attract them to this bare corner of the Y. M. C. A. One could look out of a window and see a crowd of boys on a platform receiving instructions in boxing; from another window one saw a couple of privates beating up a week's accumulation of tin cans; off in the distance a band could be heard playing and inside the ‘Y’ proper a piano was being beaten, followed by a chorus from a crowd of lusty soldiers.”
Sometimes there was the most hearty cooperation on the part of welfare workers of other religious organizations to provide a comfortable room for our meetings. One of our Workers mentions the fact that a Y. M. C. A. secretary placed a large vase of flowers on the readers' table shortly before the service, remarking that they would brighten the room a bit.
At a port of embarkation where the services were held in the Jewish Welfare Board's quarters, the field representative of the latter organization, when a more pretentious home was erected, had special provision made for the Christian Science soldiers to hold their services there. One end of the auditorium was arranged to be partitioned off with folding doors. The first Wednesday evening meeting following the raising of the camp quarantine, however, was held in the cozy reception room of this building, before the fireplace, a Jewish secretary at the desk waving all other callers to a side door opening into the auditorium, in order that the service might not be disturbed. A week or so later the other room was used and it was thronged with men eager to give and hear testimonials. The room was partly filled with wicker furniture, still swaddled in wrapping paper, but the men perched around wherever they could find resting places.
A word must also be said of the services conducted in stockade or prison camps and in hospitals. Of the latter our Worker at Camp Fremont sends an interesting description:
“Seven men from Fremont, including the organist and soloist, went with us and acted as ushers, giving each man who came in a Quarterly and a little Song Book. While we had provided what we considered a generous number of Quarterlies and Song Books, we, in fact, had only about half enough to go around.
“The Chapel was practically filled, there being only about fifteen vacant seats. Several men came in wheel chairs, some on crutches, some with their arms held up by braces, and all clothed in the hospital garb of pajamas and bathrobes. Aside from one nurse, one enlisted man who is a clerk at the hospital, the six civilians who made up our party, and the seven boys who went from Camp Fremont to usher, every man present was a patient in the hospital,—in all about one hundred and ten.
“Most of them, doubtless, had never attended a Christian Science service or even read Christian Science literature, yet they were very attentive and entered into the singing with a splendid spirit, and throughout the entire service there was no disturbance whatsoever.”
At Camp Jackson, as elsewhere, our Worker was requested by the officer in charge of the stockade to conduct a Christian Science service. This was arranged for and the lesson read the first time to about twenty prisoners.
In a German prison camp in Tennessee some forty prisoners of war had been conducting a service in German until the visit of a Camp Welfare Worker. Thereafter it was read in English and in a most creditable manner.
Nothing has yet been said of the meetings held in literally hundreds of places where there was no Camp Worker to supervise and where the men themselves took the entire responsibility for the conduct of the services. In this country they were sometimes brought together through the activity of a visiting Worker. In the border camps in Texas, for instance, this was done in a number of cases. One man who was designated as a “soldier worker” wrote the following interesting letter:
“A few days ago I received a copy of Science and Health, a Manual of The Mother Church and a Bible, direct from the Camp Welfare Committee in Boston. I take this opportunity to convey to you the thanks of a number of boys in this camp who are interested in Christian Science. With the kind help of a Camp Welfare Worker we have been able to come together and are now holding Christian Science services every Sunday, for which privilege we are all very grateful. The above books have come just in time to meet a need that was beginning to make itself felt.
“We are also very grateful for the plentiful supply of Christian Science literature provided for us through the work of the Christian Science Camp Welfare Committee for Texas. The Monitor is especially appreciated by many of the boys who are not interested in Christian Science, as this paper always contains only reliable news.”
Another reports on a service as follows:
“Yes, we held our first service last night (Sunday) and it was a good one too for we held it in the stables near J.'s shack, just four of us.”
From another point in Texas comes this:
“Four soldiers in the quarantine barracks of the depot brigade read the lesson together. When they found that they could not get through the lines to attend the regular services at camp they got together and held a service of their own.”
The result of this training in camps in this country was made manifest as the time drew nearer for the passage of troops overseas. At the ports of embarkation the Workers met dozens of men who had served as readers at the various camps throughout the country and each of them felt a sense of responsibility in seeing that the work was carried on when the troops arrived in Europe. Quarterlies and little hymnals were asked for and provided in order that the services might be conducted on the transports going over.
One soldier writes:
“Upon my arrival in my final training camp I made inquiries as to whether there were any Scientists or no. I was told there were none. I made up my mind to take my stand, so at my first opportunity I had published a notice of Christian Science meetings in a Y. M. C. A. hut. Can you imagine my feelings to have waiting for me Sunday morning at 10:15, thirty-two men who had come through a drenching rain to attend our little service? We have held our service every Sunday since then and the average attendance has far exceeded that of the first Sunday. I have given copies of the Bible, Science and Health and Quarterly to over fifty boys. Many new men are becoming interested since the meetings started.
“By the way, a regular religious meeting is held every Tuesday evening at which chaplains, Y. M. C. A. Secretaries, K. of C., Red Cross, and Christian Scientists plan their program for the following Sunday. I am always invited to be present and our notice goes out with the rest, officially stamped. Christian Science is always spoken of very kindly.”
One boy who had formerly been First Reader at Camp Logan writes from France:
“We have held services right along and the last one was in a dugout six feet long and four feet high. We sat there, legs all tangled up and I read Science and Health while another sergeant read from the Bible. After that I read a clipping from the Sentinel about the protection afforded a British soldier through the study of Christian Science. Then we went to sleep and were awakened by a shell ‘strafe’ and gas attack. We came through in good shape as always.”
Another writes:
“We haven't missed holding a Sunday service yet and things will have to be pretty hot before we fail to do so. We held two services on the ship on the way over. The first Sunday we were on the very top deck in a lifeboat. We did not pick that out as a spot for refuge or protection but because it had seats in it. The second Sunday we experienced progress as is only natural and to be expected. We were given permission to use the dining room or officers' mess. There we found a piano and we had a boy who could play our hymns as well as I ever heard them played. I acted as First Reader and Sergeant X. as Second and we had a fine meeting. The first Sunday out two other sergeants did the reading. We had about fifteen present. Wasn't that fine?
“We are holding services over here near a hospital and most of our audiences are made up of wounded men who are dressed in bathrobes and hobble in on crutches. They sure do love our meetings and it is great for us boys to do our part in reading the lesson-sermons and in carrying on the meetings.”
From somewhere else in France a soldier writes:
“Many thanks for the Quarterlies. We were hoping for some. We started a little service with six present, held in a tent. A fine service it was too. The following Sunday two more were added. We have written to Paris for information as to the proper way to conduct the services. I am so grateful for these meetings and for the friendship of these boys.”
Another writes:
“We had a very nice little service on the ship coming over. Six of us got together in the Y. M. C. A. man's cabin and held it there. Had everything but the hymn and the solo and were all so grateful for the privilege of holding this service in the middle of the sea.”
From the same soldier a little later:
“We had a very nice meeting today in a little village. Went out into the woods and read the lesson and had prayer and the closing parts of the service. Had eight or ten present.”
From Santo Domingo a marine writes:
“I was greatly in need of the books, as we boys have started to hold meetings every Sunday morning and the attendance has become so large that it was impossible to get along with one book. We are getting along fine now, and in all the attendance at each meeting is generally about twenty-five. Among the twenty-five there are seven English-speaking Spaniards who seem to have taken a deep interest in the study.”
From Egypt a British soldier sends the following:
“Last night I attended a testimony meeting which was held in Mr. A.'s rooms in Alexandria, Egypt. There were about thirty people present and many beautiful testimonies were given.”
A lieutenant in France, stationed well up near the front lines, tells this interesting story:
“When I returned to Gondrecourt the problem solved itself. I found three of my sergeant assistant instructors were Scientists, also one Y. M. C. A. lady permanently on duty and one passing through. We all got together, met no opposition at all, published notices of meetings, and held nearly every Sunday morning an informal service, at which Mrs. R. and I acted as Second and First Readers, following the order of our regular service in an informal manner. We never had the same personnel there at every meeting but we always had about twelve present. The spirit and joy expressed by those who had just returned from the lines, all dirty with mud, some slightly shocked, according to material sense, cannot be described. Many had lost their books in the fight and were able to get others, for we always had literature from the War Relief Committee to distribute at these meetings.
“In addition we had a few Wednesday evening testimonial meetings. These could not be held regularly because of the school hours. The testimonies were very vivid and interesting and would leave no doubt in one's mind of the practicality of Christian Science under the most extreme test.”
Through the activity of a sergeant, Christian Science services were regularly held at Angers, France. One of the War Relief Workers who had the privilege of attending a Wednesday evening meeting there, describes it as follows:
“It was a memorable service, with workbenches for pews and a soap box with a square board laid across the top for a desk; but the atmosphere was indeed worthy of The Mother Church. The remembrance of the willing mind, obedience, dignity, poise, and gratitude of that service will long be treasured by those having the good fortune to be present. This is the first testimonial meeting ever attended where everyone gave a testimony. There were no pauses and no difficulty in occupying the entire hour and certainly everyone was refreshed with heavenly manna.”
In one of the most beautiful spots in France on the Riviera close to the Italian border, lies the little town of Menton, which was opened by the United States Government last December as a leave area. The Y. M. C. A. leased the beautiful and spacious Municipal Casino where a force of thirty-five secretaries entertained an average of two thousand men weekly.
Among the secretaries were four girls who were Christian Scientists and who met together whenever possible, reading the lesson and seeking spiritual guidance for their problems. Several other secretaries, seeing the way seeming difficulties were overcome by these girls, and remarking at the ability of those who were Scientists to stand up under work that to them was taxing and difficult, asked to know something of Christian Science, giving to it the credit and saying that they realized that Scientists had something which they had not. They began to join in the services and ask for literature, and others remarked at the change which took place in them.
A request to place literature in the library and to post a notice regarding Sunday services was at first denied, but soon after a change was made in the personnel and those placed in charge were favorable to Christian Science and granted the request. Services were held every Sunday morning, at which some soldiers and several “Y” secretaries were always present.
The Christian Science headquarters at Paris supplied Menton “Y” with plenty of literature, and the Monitor particularly always found a warm welcome from the boys in the library, as newspapers were very scarce. A Scientist, one of the women secretaries, was in charge of the information desk for some time, where she had an opportunity of distributing literature. Later this same secretary was transferred to “Mother's Corner” where still better opportunities presented themselves.
This “Y” gained the reputation of having the finest spirit in France and the Scientists stationed there worked hard to establish and preserve the spirit which was characterized by all as one of love and harmony.
A “Y” worker at Chaumont writes:
“During the third week in November, 1918, permission was given to hold Christian Science services in the hut for enlisted men at Chaumont, the General Headquarters of the American Expeditionary Forces in France.
“The services were held each Sunday evening in a small classroom in the rear of the hut, by a little band of Scientists. The interest has been continuous and the attendance regular. Each evening, literature furnished by the Christian Science War Relief Committee in Paris was distributed. Also during the week this literature was placed on the tables in the library of the hut.
“The work has been a great help to those who have been stationed here during the winter, and there have been many who have expressed gratitude for the privilege of attending services while in Chaumont for only a day.”
Through the activities of a woman “Y” worker, Christian Science services have also been held at Nice in one of the glass-enclosed jetties which extends out over the sea. Literature was supplied through the Paris office and distributed to the men passing through that rest area.
Services, of which this Committee has no knowledge, were doubtless held in many places in France by individuals and even by groups of men. When one realizes what it means that in ancient France,—whose history dates back to the days of the Romans and the barbarian invasions,—that on this historic soil the seed of Truth was sown broadcast from one end of the land to the other, one feels humbly grateful at the thought of the glorious harvest which will one day be garnered from this fertile field.
In concluding this chapter we quote in part from a letter describing the activity of some Scientists in the Army of Occupation in Germany. The letter, written to our Paris office from Diekirch, Luxembourg, says:
“Several days ago we returned to you the books which you so kindly provided, as this Division is about to embark for home.
“We wish to thank you very much indeed, for the books have afforded opportunities for several to renew their regular studies, and while the existence of the room was not extensively known, yet many found their way there.
“Through this room we learned of a French family who had heard of Christian Science and in sincerity wished to know more of it, and it was our privilege to leave with them a copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (French and English). They operate a really clean book and newspaper store, and we are confident that this work will bear none other than good fruit.
“We are all glad indeed that we took the step we did here, for it will unquestionabty encourage us to take our stand for Truth wherever we may be, that we may become channels for the good tidings of great joy.”
Truly we have cause for gratitude that our Leader ordained our impersonal pastors, the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures to “continue to preach for this Church and the world” (Church Manual, page 58).
“HE SENT HIS WORD”
Probably the greatest service rendered by the Christian Science War Relief Committee was the world-wide distribution of authorized Christian Science literature. Of this literature first of course, is the textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. In order that men in uniform might have this ever available “Chaplain” always with them, the Trustees under Mrs. Eddy's Will authorized its publication in vest-pocket size in the autumn of 1917. All are now familiar with this beautiful little book, but Christian Science students who have ready access in their homes to the larger editions, can realize but faintly what a joy this compact little volume was to the man in camp, trench, submarine, warship or aeroplane. Says a boy from Honolulu:
“The vest-pocket textbook came at the proper time, yea in due season as Love's gifts ever do. The entire Company is to start on a hundred-mile hike around the island of Oahu and I was just thinking I wouldn't want to be without my Science and Health and yet could not put it into the tight roll with the other necessities—when, as an answer to this prayer of desire, came this handy volume, ‘the little book.’ ”
The Trustees under Mrs. Eddy's Will contributed one-half of the cost of these books and the War Relief Fund of The Mother Church the other half, so that “without money and without price” our textbook was put into the hands of thousands of soldiers. To men in camp and training station, this distribution was effected through the Camp Worker, who endeavored to place the books only where there was a sincere desire for them and an assurance that they would be highly prized and carefully studied. There were, however, men all over the world, with no Worker to whom they could appeal, who themselves wrote earnest requests to this Committee for a copy of the little book. Among these the following letter from a sailor is perhaps of unusual interest. He says:
“One of my shipmates was sent a vest-pocket edition of the textbook. I have been reading it with deep interest and wish to own one, hence my letter.
“I enlisted from Boston but was brought up and went to school in Concord, New Hampshire, where Mrs. Eddy once lived. As a little boy I used to romp and play close by her home, Pleasant View, and I still remember her kind sweet face as she would ride by in her carriage. Sometimes she would even give us children a ride.”
Extracts from a few of the grateful letters received will indicate that the book was indeed sent to the globe's remotest bound, always bearing its message of healing and comfort.
A British soldier writes from Damascus, Syria:
“This is to advise you that the vest-pocket edition of Science and Health and the pamphlets reached me safely and were very much welcomed and appreciated.”
An English “Tommy” writes from France:
“I will say that my Science and Health has been with me all the time I have been out here and that my reading a little each day has helped me more than I could ever put into words.”
From Saugor, India, we received the following:
“Many thanks indeed for the vest-pocket edition of Science and Health. Also the copy of Quarterly and Song Book as well, which are much appreciated. They were sent on to me here from Bagdad and arrived in perfect condition.”
From London General Hospital, England:
“The soldier's edition of Science and Health came on the 21st and found me in the above-mentioned hospital. . . . The medical men and nurses regularly remark upon the wonderful progress I have made, which I personally attribute more than anything else to my slight knowledge of Science. I am very grateful for the book you sent; it has spoiled all the other so-called literature already.”
From Salonica, Greece, a soldier writes:
“I beg to acknowledge with grateful thanks safe receipt of your letter together with vest-pocket edition of Science and Health, Quarterly and Song Book, all of which I am glad to have.”
A former theological student in 71st Field Artillery, U. S. A., writes:
“I also wish to attempt to express my appreciation for your kindness in sending the longed-for book, but cannot find words to tell you how thankful I feel.”
Writing from Egypt a soldier says:
“I was most grateful last night to receive two copies of the vest-pocket edition of Science and Health and two Quarterlies. One I shall forward to my friend who is now out of the hospital but has not yet come up the line. I may say it is the first gift or parcel I have received at the front and one who is a Christian Scientist could not receive a more welcome package.”
A private with the American Expeditionary Forces in France writes:
“I received some few weeks past, the welcome textbook, which has since been a constant and most helpful companion. I can assure you that through all the hours that might otherwise be darkened, with such a pathfinder, one cannot lose one's self.”
Our records show that about 40,000 copies of the vest-pocket textbook were distributed by the Committee, and as soon as this edition of Science and Health began to be widely circulated there was an insistent demand from the men in the field for a small Bible to match. In the summer of 1918, this book was ready for distribution. It was deemed wise to ask those wishing this Bible to pay something towards its cost, and it was therefore provided to those in service for $1.50, the War Relief Fund adding the remainder of the cost. In order, however, that no man should be forced to do without a Bible, the War Relief Committee provided a somewhat larger black cloth edition without charge.
The vest-pocket “kit,” as the boys called it, was most heartily appreciated. A Canadian soldier writes: “The Bible I certainly treasure, and coupled with our dear Leader's word it is a wonderful possession.” Nearly 16,000 copies of the vest-pocket Bible were purchased by the War Relief Committee for distribution.
Besides the Christian Science textbook and the Bible, all of the authorized literature of The Mother Church was distributed to those in the service without charge. Of the periodicals, that which had the widest circulation was, of course, our daily newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor. It was very extensively distributed throughout the camps of the United States and Europe and soon came to be highly appreciated by those who were not Christian Scientists. This was because the Monitor was recognized to be a most reliable source of war news and because the men in camps found each copy to be a veritable mine of information on all the important topics of the day. Perhaps the reception which was accorded the Monitor in camps can best be estimated by quoting from an order issued by the Commanding Officer of a large Texas camp:
“The Commanding Officer desires and directs that the special attention of soldiers be called to the paper (The Christian Science Monitor) as a great deal of good, and a great deal of information can be obtained by reading and consulting this paper. Its objects are to give as nearly correct information as possible upon the events of the world, to set forth the best there is in the world, to encourage patriotism, loyalty and attention to duty.
“The action of the Christian Science Association in furnishing this paper to the officers and men of this command is thoroughly appreciated, but the best sign of appreciation is that it be read.”
The Monitor was distributed throughout the training camps in various ways. Permission was always secured from the officer highest in command and when this was granted our Worker had the paper delivered to the sergeant in charge of each company for the use of the men under his jurisdiction. In this way the various units in the camp were supplied regularly with several Monitors and those who were not Christian Scientists had the opportunity of reading the paper, if they so desired. Individual subscriptions to men who requested them were also supplied through the Camp Worker. These usually went to men who were Christian Scientists or who at least evinced enough interest to desire their own copy of the paper. Whenever acceptable, the Monitor and other Christian Science periodicals were placed in the reading and recreation rooms of such organizations as the Y. M. C. A., Red Cross, Jewish Welfare Board, Salvation Army, etc. Possibly some statistics showing approximately the amount of Monitor distribution made by this Committee, will prove of interest at this point. In France and England the Monitor was sent out in much the same way as in the United States, through Workers and War Relief Depots, although necessarily many men had to be reached individually.
The following figures are for September, October and November, 1918, the three most active months of the Committee's existence:
| September, 1918 | |
| England | 159,255 |
| France | 45,689 |
| United States and Canada | 936,840 |
| United States, Canada and Europe, total | 1,141,784 |
| October, 1918 | |
| England | 128,316 |
| France | 65,250 |
| United States and Canada | 1,088,541 |
| United States, Canada and Europe, total | 1,282,107 |
| November, 1918 | |
| England | 113,876 |
| France | 67,855 |
| United States and Canada | 864,008 |
| United States, Canada and Europe, total | 1,045,739 |
For those who receive their copies of the Monitor regularly, it is difficult to realize the joy and enthusiasm which a single copy of our newspaper brought to men in remote corners of the world. In a letter requesting a subscription to the paper from a soldier in Siberia, he says:
“It may interest you to know that last night I chanced across the Monitor of June 25 (his letter was dated September 29), which I have already read, but which bears re-reading. At the moment I am jealously guarding it, as it has merely been loaned to me, and will be passed around when I have finished. Where it came from I do not know, but imagine it was brought on the transport by one of the men.”
From France an American soldier wrote:
“I am now in territory that was occupied by the Germans and, as we fellows say, ‘away up in the woods.’ We are scarcely ever near a town and last Sunday several of us took a hike into the woods looking for what we could find and I was fortunate enough to pick up a copy of the Monitor. I was as glad to get it as a little boy is to get candy.”
One of our Workers in this country was pleased to have a burly Canadian veteran come into his office with the remark:
“I saw the sign across the street and thought I would come in. I was at Vimy Ridge and I want to tell you that yours was the only paper the troops received while there. We all used to enjoy reading it, for it is such a fine, clean publication.”
To the men with the Army of Occupation in Germany the Monitor has proved of inestimable value. What it meant to one of them is best told in his own words:
“The Monitor is truly doing wonderful things over here for me. It is in short my closest companion, keeping me in touch and acquainted with the outside world. Some of the men are taking- courses in the new army schools established by the government. I have chosen to take my college course through a careful and thorough study of the Monitor. The educational value of the paper is wonderful, covering as it does, in an intelligent way, the sum total of human activities, as well as containing a summary of the highest type of ancient and modern literature. Does not the Monitor whose tutor is Principle furnish us the most wonderful college course we can take in these times? I surely am grateful for the privilege and opportunity of reading it.”
The other periodicals were also widely distributed, though not in any such quantity as the Monitor, and were sent naturally to those who had expressed a desire for the religious teaching of Christian Science. From a lieutenant in a southern camp we received the following:
“A copy of the Christian Science Sentinel mailed by someone to the cantonments of the National Army was handed to me at my barracks and it has afforded me a large measure of interest and pleasure to pore over its pages.
“I have been for some time casually interested in Christian Science and would like to become better acquainted with it. Please place me on your mailing list.”
From Vladivostok a prisoner wrote:
“I have got by accident an old number of The Christian Science Journal in which I have read surprising things. Desiring to know the Christian Science please send me any number of your Journals and pamphlets. . . . I am a Hungarian and have learnt English in my imprisonment, and so I beg your pardon for the incorrectness of my letter. I know German better but I think to write English more proper.”
A subscription to Le Héraut de Christian Science was sent in response to the following letter from a French soldier:
“I pray you to excuse my bad English. I should be glad to read your magazine and even books about Christian Science—we do not know it well in France—if somebody among your readers was kind enough to send me free some of them.
“I am now wounded for the second time and I must stay at bed. Your magazine or books would help me to pass the long hours I must spend and to wait the day I shall be able to return to the front again.”
Besides the periodicals, the War Relief Committee distributed thousands of pamphlets on Christian Science. These little messengers of Truth could be slipped into a letter and they literally became leaves of healing to all the nations of the earth. Postal regulations prohibited the sending of packages to men with the American army in France, but these handy little booklets could always be included in a letter and were invariably much appreciated.
Selected at random from correspondence sent to this Committee, the following list of places outside of the United States will give some idea of the widespread distribution of our Christian Science literature to men in the service. Sometimes a textbook, sometimes a Sentinel, Journal or Monitor, sometimes a pamphlet was sent, but it was always the word of God of which the Psalmist said, “Their line is gone out through all the earth.”
| Canada | Samoa |
| Newfoundland | England |
| Alaska | Scotland |
| Hayti | Ireland |
| Cuba | Belgium |
| Canal Zone | France |
| Virgin Islands | Switzerland |
| Italy | Gibraltar |
| Prisoners in Germany | Egypt |
| China | Trinidad |
| Japan | Bermuda |
| Philippine Islands | Jamaica |
| Hawaiian Islands | India |
| Australia | South Africa |
| New Zealand | West Africa |
| Bulgaria | Russia |
| Macedonia | Salonica |
| Tunis | Syria |
| Malta | Palestine |
We are all familiar with the Quarterly in the vest-pocket size but probably do not appreciate it as thoroughly as this English soldier who wrote:
“It gave me great pleasure to receive the little Christian Science Quarterly you so kindly sent me, and you may be sure that it will be put to good use. It is further evidence of the immeasurable good performed in this world by our Leader.”
Mention must also be made of the small Song Book printed in vest-pocket size for the use of those in service. It was a selection of hymns taken from the Christian Science Hymnal and arranged for male voices, including all of Mrs. Eddy's hymns and a number of other well-known ones, especially those which are particularly helpful to a Christian warrior.
In connection with these little books, which met a most cordial reception everywhere, one of our Workers tells this interesting incident:
“One Sunday evening as I was passing the stockade I asked permission of the Prison Officer to offer each of the prisoners a copy of our Song Book. He looked it over carefully, gave his consent, and sent a guard with me into the stockade. All but four men accepted the book. Then something occurred that never happened there before. Someone found ‘Nearer my God to Thee’ and began to sing it. In less than a minute there was a great male chorus singing that hymn.”
Large numbers of our Song Books were supplied, at their request, to Y. M. C. A. workers, Song Directors, and other persons interested in encouraging the men to sing.
It would, of course, be quite impossible to recount in full the results accomplished by the Christian Science literature sent out by the War Relief Committee, or to quote from even a small number of the letters of gratitude received from recipients of this literature. Let one suffice to show what was done for a soldier in California to whom a copy of the vest-pocket text-book was given by one of our workers.
“I wish to thank the Christian Science Camp Welfare Committee for placing in my hands ‘Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures’ by Mrs. Eddy. I had suffered with kidney trouble for sixteen years and now by studying the little book and asking God to help me I have been healed in thirty days' time.”
WITH THE FORCES AFLOAT
The naval man's life differs from the soldier's in its greater restrictions. It possesses less variety in pastimes and associations. Often long periods elapse between his “shore liberty” and his touch with home ties. Indeed, contact with the normal life and daily affairs of the civilian or even of his army brother, is denied him. That the Christian Science War Relief Committee early recognized the need in the United States Navy and developed its naval Welfare work accordingly, was but a natural unfoldment.
The New Jersey Committee, its army Welfare work only begun, probably realized this when urgent request for the Committee's good offices came to them from within the navy itself. An officer in command of a ship, fitting out in a commercial yard in Hoboken, appealed to the State Committee in the interest of his crew. Hoboken had not then become the great embarkation point that it very soon did, though there was ample evidence of the Government's intention. There were no activities, as later, for the benefit of enlisted personnel, and there was sore need for some provision for those attached to ships. The response to this officer's request was prompt, and there was quickly opened a well-fitted and comfortable Welfare Room. The location of this room was close to the piers which were destined to become the great embarkation headquarters and docks, and adjacent to the then just established shipping rooms of the American Library Association. The cordial relations existing from the start between those in charge of the American Library Association and the Committee, opened the way for our Leader's writings to go overseas in each portable library shipped by the Association. This room at Hoboken at once met a need and was much appreciated by naval officers and men. Here was carried on an increasingly effective and important work, the room becoming not only a veritable haven for hundreds of lonely, homesick men, but a contact point and literature distributing center for the immense overseas forces which soon began to embark at this port.
The New Jersey room was the first organized naval work. The idea developed so rapidly, however, that early in April, 1918, a naval representative was appointed and sent from Boston to secure proper official recognition for Christian Science War Relief Workers and to establish naval work through a distribution of the Monitor on the vessels of the Fleet. The United States Fleet, in war time, is perhaps the most difficult of places for a civilian to gain an entrance. Uncle Sam guards all his property with care, but special precaution is exercised to protect the forces afloat. When the order was issued to mobilize the Fleet, all ship-visiting by non-military persons was strictly prohibited. Even the bases selected for mobilization were inaccessible without authority emanating from the Commander-in-Chief. Civilians were frowned upon and were always objects of suspicion. Thus it may be seen that when the War Relief Committee decided to extend its already well-established Camp Welfare work to the naval arm of the service, it did so, knowing that there is no barrier to Truth.
There was a primary and a secondary base used by the Fleet in home waters, the primary one being secret and located on the York River, off historical Yorktown. Its scant local population and remoteness from railroad connections made it an ideally isolated rendezvous. Here, behind lines of heavy submarine nets lay a constantly changing force of from forty to fifty major ships of the line with a personnel approximating fifty thousand officers and men.
Getting in touch at once with the Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet, the representative of the War Relief Committee, especially appointed for this purpose, was invited to a conference on the flagship, where the aims and the method of our work were laid before those in authority. So satisfactory were the plans outlined that this Worker was granted general and unrestricted permission to board any ship or unit under the supervision of the Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet, and was also given passes good in specified localities for assistants.
Within a week the first assistant was detailed to care for the ships at Yorktown and had his pass ready to begin operations. Though the Worker's pass permitted him the use of the Fleet's tenders or launches, it was felt by the Admiral's Chief of Staff that he would be more valuable and have a broader opportunity if provided with a boat of his own. The advisability of this was soon realized by both the Committee's special representative and the Worker, and efforts were bent towards finding a suitable launch. The boat known as “Welfare First” more than fulfilled expectations and the Scientist sent from Boston to operate it soon developed into a much-needed second Worker.
Welfare I was 35 feet in length, had a beam of 8 feet, and a draft of 2½ feet. Her engine was a 2-cycle, 2-cylinder Mianus, 15 horsepower, fully equipped with storage battery, generator, interior electric lights, and had a 14-foot cabin with a full equipment of life preservers, a painter, anchor, flag, boat-hook, etc.
Welfare I and Welfare II, subsequently purchased, were used for exactly the same purpose as automobiles in the camps. Of Welfare I the Worker writes:
“Daily she carried me out to the ships and around them. I always had some of the Comforts articles aboard and gave away from her decks altogether over 1100 articles, including 135 bedquilts, 420 pairs of socks and 350 sweaters. During the last month I operated her, she visited 226 ships, and I gave away personally on those ships nearly 10,000 copies of the Monitor, not including subscriptions.
“Welfare I visited the Hospital ship Solace every day and I had permission to go through all the wards and did so, giving away many Monitors. I always visited the neighboring lighthouses supplying them with literature. Three times a week we ran to the submarine nets at the mouth of the York River and furnished the fleet of chasers with literature.
“You can imagine it was strenuous work to take 100 to 150 Monitors under your arm, and, standing on the front deck, with spray and water breaking around your knees, run up to a gangway in a heavy sea, and just step aboard at the right instant, but I did it without mishap hundreds of times.”
The secondary base was maintained at Hampton Roads, where, in addition to auxiliary vessels, convoys and transports, foreign ships and many merchantmen anchored, and major ships from Yorktown came more or less regularly for brief stays. A submarine base up the Chesapeake and an outlying army post on Fisherman's Island, near Cape Charles, needed care from this base. The second Worker was now appointed, and another and larger boat known as “Welfare Second” was provided for service.
Welfare II was 46 feet long, with a beam of 14 feet and a draft of 5 feet. Her engine was a 3-cylinder, 2-cycle Kahlenberg, of 27 horsepower. She had four rooms, with a galley forward under deck, containing oil stoves, water tanks and a full set of cooking utensils. There were also berths for two men in the galley. Next came the pilot house, then the engine room. The cabin was well furnished with rugs, easy-chairs, a desk and berths. Welfare II was used for the naval work in and about Hampton.
Not long after Welfare I was purchased, the Worker wrote:
“You will be interested to know that the launch is becoming increasingly useful. Last night she carried an officer across the river after the ferry had stopped running for the night. Today, while I was aboard one of the battleships I noticed that the recreation party that was bound for the shore could not all get into the ship's launches. There were about forty very disappointed boys. One of them was a Scientist to whom I had been talking. I asked him what was the trouble and he said that they were only allowed three hours on shore and that he and the rest of the forty would lose most of that time because they would have to wait until the launches made a return trip, about three miles each way. I went to the officer of the deck and offered the use of our launch. He took the matter up with the Captain who accepted with thanks, and in a few minutes the whole forty were on board arriving very shortly after the first party. Going over I gave each boy a copy of the Monitor to read. I might add that in the party was the ship's baseball team and they commented highly on the Sporting page of the Monitor. ‘Henry’ in the camp sometimes used to carry eight or nine boys but his sister ‘Henrietta’ has him beaten. She is ‘some jitney’ according to the boys.”
Authority was also obtained from the British Admiralty office for the boarding of British vessels, which included a pass for the Worker.
The headquarters for the naval work at Yorktown and Hampton Roads was established at Hampton, Virginia, which served not only as an office, but as a Welfare Room for men from convoys and other ships, and for the soldiers from Langley Field and Fortress Monroe.
Transports leaving Hampton Roads docked for embarkation of troops at Newport News, Virginia, and the naval work was soon extended to these vessels. Like the Fleet, access to transports and transport docks appeared almost an impossibility, so strictly enforced were the regulations regarding civilians. The transport service, too, was under joint army and naval officials. The initial authority only permitted the placing of Monitors on board, to be distributed by a member of the ship's crew, and access to either docks or ships by our Worker was not looked upon with favor. So quickly was the value of the literature appreciated, that the Committee was soon granted an unrestricted pass to the docks and transports. This not only permitted the Worker to go on board daily with the Monitors, but gave him the unusual privilege of distributing papers and other literature, after the troops were embarked. This was the first transport work.
The largest embarkation point, however, was Hoboken, New Jersey. Here a very efficient work was accomplished. A daily distribution of the Monitor to the transports while in port was maintained, and so well did the New Jersey Committee demonstrate their way, and so grew the demand for the Monitor and other literature, that one Worker soon proved insufficient, and several were finally necessary to care for the transports alone. This distribution and relief work were extended to vessels leaving New York, and an extensive activity had been established when the armistice was signed.
It is scarcely necessary to give in detail the excellent work accomplished at the various shore stations. There were few places, ashore or afloat, where the cooperation of the naval authorities was not of the most generous and friendly order. Especially was this true at Newport, Rhode Island, Norfolk, Virginia, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In citing these specifically, no injustice is intended to officials at other points where a keen appreciation of the Welfare work was also shown. The value of the work at Newport, Rhode Island, was evidenced by the appreciation of it expressed by the naval officials at the Training Station. One has only to talk with any man confined in the hospital during the epidemic to understand the value of the tireless work, with “signs following” accomplished there. The entrée to the hospital, in itself, was something for which to be grateful.
In Norfolk, Virginia, a very active distribution committee had laid a fine foundation for an effective work at the several naval establishments. This pioneer effort enabled the War Relief Committee quickly to build an extensive Welfare work. The naval operating base, comprising a training station second only to the Great Lakes Training Station near Chicago, a flying school and hospital, was in itself a large field for work. Added to this was the navy yard across the river, and other smaller scattered bases or units. One Worker began caring for all, but so rapidly did the activity unfold that the naval operating base alone required the entire time of a Worker. The appreciation of the Monitor and other periodicals was expressed in a constantly increasing demand for subscriptions and an early request for services. Much interest was shown in Christian Science in the hospitals at the operating base, and many textbooks were requested. As at other points, healings resulted and gratitude and recognition followed.
The Great Lakes Naval Training Station was one of the three largest in the country and the need for an experienced Worker at this point was soon supplied. As the work of the Camp Welfare Committee progressed, services were established which were well attended by the men interested in Christian Science, readers being selected from among their number. The good accomplished through these services proved itself during the epidemic of fear, called influenza, which later invaded the station. The services proved efficacious to the men, not only in keeping their own thought clear, but in helping others to overcome their fear. Many men were healed without having to be removed to the hospital and others were able through their understanding of Truth, to work among those afflicted without manifesting any symptoms of disease, thus proving Christian Science to be preventive as well as therapeutic.
At Boston a large naval field, both shore units and ships, was well cared for; and New York also reached the shore stations and ships in that vicinity. Maine was not neglectful of the navy men touching at her ports, and the Philadelphia Navy Yard was one of our busiest distribution centers. Charleston, South Carolina, saw that literature was not lacking on vessels leaving there and the men at her navy yard found a helpful friend in the Worker. At Mobile, Alabama, many British warships were supplied with our literature, as well as were our own boats landing at that port. San Francisco discovered that the navy was not easy of access, but once admitted, received assistance and found quick appreciation of its work. The Washington State Committee maintained a Worker, whose entire time was devoted to the navy yard at Bremerton, near Seattle. The work here was productive of the most gratifying results and secured the entire appreciation and cooperation of the officers.
The work at the Portsmouth Navy Yard was the last to unfold and little is known of it. Therefore it will be spoken of in some detail. The variety and diversity of the units at this point rendered the work somewhat different from that of the other shore stations. The navy yard proper comprised the usual number of ships, coming and going, a large hospital, a marine camp, and the large naval prison. The latter had a population of twenty-four hundred men during the war. A naval Worker arrived in Portsmouth, at the time the so-called influenza was at its height. Upon reporting to the Commandant, it was learned that the hospital was congested, and there was a shortage of nurses, due to sickness and recent detachments, creating a serious situation. The services of the Worker were volunteered and accepted, and in the hospital spiritual work was combined with the material care of sick nurses and men in the influenza wards. Wards of terror-stricken men, witnessing the death of comrades, were calmed and encouraged, and many patients thought to be very ill were found up and dressed the following day. Sick nurses stopped taking medicine and in some cases requested the textbook. The death rate at once diminished and in twenty-four hours reached the zero mark.
Visits to the prison wards in the hospital led later on to “follow-up” work in the prison itself. The response to the truth was so great and the need so evident, that the effort to divide the time equally between the different units was finally abandoned, the prison becoming the scene of the Worker's greatest activity and the hospital being given such time as remained. Unlike most penal institutions, men in the naval prison number few criminals, most of the offenses being of a military character and not punishable by a civil court. Scarcely more than boys, many are mere youths who entered the service in a burst of patriotism, with an undeveloped sense of responsibility and unfortunately no great appreciation of the importance of obedience. Here is more ignorance than viciousness; more thoughtlessness than deliberate disobedience. The effect of a prison sentence upon this type of undisciplined, independent American young manhood, without a knowledge of real obedience and right government, and a true understanding of freedom, was distressing in the extreme, to put the case mildly. Here, therefore, was an opportunity to demonstrate practically that the truth does make free, opening prison doors. Soon some of these young men by reading the textbook for which they had themselves asked, found their real freedom, even before gaining release from confinement. The bettering of positions in the prison was the rule with the men who became earnestly interested in Science. Services soon followed the regular Monitor distribution. When the work was first started the Commanding Officer expressed to the Worker the desire that services be reestablished. They had twice before been held at the prison but had been allowed to lapse. It was considered, however, wiser that the demonstration of services be made within the prison. This was done. Within three weeks a list of thirty names of men who desired to attend Christian Science services was given to the Worker. A large percentage of the men who expressed this desire, and who further became interested, have since been discharged from the prison. The attendance at each service was always excellent and steadily increased, followed by numerous requests for the textbook, for literature and for talks with the Worker. Services were held in the prison Y. M. C. A. building. From the first, the work of the Christian Science War Relief Committee was generously recognized at this station, and cordial cooperation was extended by the naval authorities in every unit. Perhaps no finer recognition of Christian Science could have been accorded than that made by the prisoners themselves, and upon their own initiative, when the Worker was made an Honorary Member of the Mutual Welfare League and presented with the insignia. The League is a branch of the association for self-government formed by Thomas Mott Osborne in Auburn and Sing Sing prisons. The Christian Science work was considered of such value by the Commanding Officer of the prison that it was his desire, upon the resignation of the pioneer Worker, that a resident Worker be established at the prison, to live and be associated at all times with the prisoners. The Committee appointed a man for this position.
“Monday night I came into the prison as a prisoner and received my clothes (gray stripes),” he writes. “I have been assigned to a cell with a man who deserted from his ship.” Through the interest and cooperation of the Commanding Officer our Worker was soon given an office where he could interview the men and keep his supplies of literature and knitted goods.
To tell in any detail the assistance rendered to the men in the prison would make a long story. Cases of rheumatism, stricture, influenza, mental unbalance, cocaine habit, and venereal diseases are among the dark images of disease which have vanished before the sunlight of Truth. Depression, discouragement and despair have been lifted for many a man and he has been encouraged to go out, when discharged, to make a fresh start. Our Worker found several boys who felt their position to be such a disgrace that they had ceased to write to their families. Through his efforts letters were sent home. In one case a boy found in the “sick-bay” asked for Christian Science treatment. He then told our Worker of a sister who was a Scientist to whom he had not written for a long time. The good news sent her about her brother brought an immediate response and shortly after the boy himself wrote his sister a most loving letter. In another case a mother who had been sending her letters to an incorrect address, and consequently receiving no reply, was put in touch with her son. Our Worker endeavored to secure employment for those receiving their discharges and in one case was instrumental in sending a boy suffering from mental trouble back to his family for care and protection. The father wrote:
“I am certainly grateful to know that you found my boy and gave him a helping hand. I understand you found him reading Science and Health. Good, that is the only religion he knows anything of.”
Allotments to the home folks were straightened out. In one case arrears amounting to $500 were located. A lost Liberty Bond was restored. A boy who had lost all trace of his family, not even knowing his mother's present name, was put in touch with them, and a home is waiting for him when he cares to go to it. Our literature has, of course, been widely distributed and much appreciated.
Possibly the best evidence of the gratitude felt for our work is the following, cut from the Mutual Welfare News, the prison paper:
“The Mutual Welfare League takes this opportunity to express its thanks to the Christian Science War Relief Committee in general and its representative at this place in particular, for the great kindness and Christian charity that was demonstrated in giving to thirty of our discharged men overcoats to keep them comfortable. In addition to the above Mr. F. has neglected no chance to be of comfort or service to such of us as have been bereaved by loss of parents or friends, whenever the fact has come to his attention. He has exerted himself to the utmost to learn our prison routine that he might advise newcomers and prove the most good that was possible to all hands. Not content with donning grays, he has even spent a period in Third Class, that he might know exactly the conditions that exist there and elsewhere through the prison. For all this we thank him and we want him to know that his efforts are deserving of far greater thanks than our poor language can convey.”
Christian Science War Relief Building and Workers' Cottage, Camp Lewis, Washington
Auditorium and Reading Room, Camp Lewis, Washington
Corner of Writing Room, War Relief Building, Camp Lewis, Washington
Christian Science War Relief Room near Camp Taylor, Kentucky
Christian Science War Relief Rooms, Des Moines, Iowa
The Rooms in Hoboken, New Jersey
A War Relief Room and Automobile, Newport News, Virginia
The Fireplace in the Building at Camp Fremont, California
An arrangement for carrying literature in automobile
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| Rooms and Offices in Toronto, Ontario, Canada | ||
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| Christian Science Welfare House, Washington, D. C. | A spacious Welfare Room in San Diego, California |
War Relief Room, 512 Fifth Avenue, New York City
A Corner of the Rooms in the Little Building, Boston, Massachusetts
Christian Science War Relief Rooms, Chicago, Illinois
A Tent Room, Camp Logan, Texas
Inside view Welfare Tent, Camp Logan, Texas