1 
 
 BF 
 
 1301 
 
 .675 
 
 By A Sol<! 

 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 SAN DIEGO
 
 THE UNIVERSITY UBftAfr 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO 
 LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA 
 
 
 01201 
 
 6F 
 ISal 
 
 5715
 
 GONE WEST 
 
 by a SOLDIER DOCTOR 
 
 EDITED BY 
 H. M. G. and M. M. H. 
 
 With a Preface by 
 
 FREDERICK W. KENDALL 
 
 New York 
 
 ALFRED A KNOPF 
 1919
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY 
 ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC. 
 
 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES Or AMERICA
 
 To the heroic women of the world, 
 the mothers, wives, sisters and sweet- 
 hearts who bravely sent us forth to battle 
 for a great cause: we who have crossed 
 the Great Divide salute you.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 It is quite as foolish as it is unneces- 
 sary to argue the question of communi- 
 cation between the living and the so- 
 called dead. So many eminent men, sci- 
 entific and otherwise, like Sir Oliver 
 Lodge and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for 
 instance to name two who are prom- 
 inent in the public mind have, after 
 years of investigation, expressed their be- 
 lief in the truth of this communication 
 that we do not go far astray if we assert 
 the establishment of this fact as a fact 
 However, it is not my purpose to make 
 any argument on this point; either one 
 believes or he does not, and that is all 
 
 [5]
 
 Preface 
 
 there is to it so far as the individual is 
 concerned. And yet I would like to give 
 to those who may read this little book, 
 personal assurances from one who has 
 no material interest in its publication 
 that these messages were obtained abso- 
 lutely in the circumstances set forth by 
 the writers. And whether one believes 
 or does not, I am sure that there is re- 
 vealed in them a suggestion of a philos- 
 ophy which can not but help those many 
 thousands who are so heavy of heart be- 
 cause of what they deem the losses which 
 the Great War has brought to them. 
 
 These letters, or messages, from a doc- 
 tor-soldier who has been serving through- 
 out the war on the spirit side, make the 
 plea in behalf of and at the suggestion 
 of those brave lads who have Gone West 
 for a more rational acceptance of the 
 thing we call death. This he urges, not 
 [6]
 
 Preface 
 
 only for the sake of those who are left 
 behind, but more for the sake of those 
 who have gone beyond and who, when 
 they come back to the old scenes, are 
 shocked and saddened by the despair and 
 the grief they find, by the refusal of their 
 dear ones to realize that life is continu- 
 ing and continuous and that death is only 
 a change and not the end. 
 
 My own observation and my experi- 
 ence with others have convinced me that 
 there is not only a great need for these 
 messages but a great demand for them. 
 I find so many parents whose soldier boys 
 will not come back to them in the flesh 
 who are seeking in all directions for 
 some word that will help them, so many 
 who are striving, more or less blindly, 
 for the right attitude, an attitude that 
 will bring them some surcease of sorrow 
 and that will at the same time enable 
 
 [7]
 
 Preface 
 
 them to be of help to those wno have 
 gone on. 
 
 It has been my privilege and my pleas- 
 ure to have enjoyed a long personal and 
 intimate acquaintance with both the mes- 
 sage-giver and the message-bearers. The 
 doctor-soldier was a man if I speak of 
 him here in the past tense it is only be- 
 cause I yield to convention of unusual 
 solidity of character, scientific in his hab- 
 its of thought, of fine perceptions and 
 eminently successful both in his profes- 
 sion and in business. His strong person- 
 ality stands out in these recorded ob- 
 servations as distinctly as it was ever 
 manifested while he was a part of this 
 earth life. The associated earthly au- 
 thors of this book are women of culture 
 and the highest principles, they have long 
 been students of psychical matters and 
 there can be no question concerning their 
 [8]
 
 Preface 
 
 honesty of purpose or of the circum- 
 stances surrounding the production of 
 their MS. 
 
 FREDERICK W. KENDALL, 
 
 Literary Editor, 
 Buffalo Sun a' ay Express. 
 Buffalo, N. Y., March 10, 1919. 
 
 [9]
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 On Lincoln's Birthday 1915, a noble 
 gentleman passed into the unseen life. 
 A soldier of the Civil War later a 
 physician now again a Soldier Doctor 
 in the Great World War. 
 
 A month after his crossing the "Great 
 Divide," messages began coming back to 
 the two women whose friendly guide he 
 had been since childhood. 
 
 The "wireless" machine was only a 
 pencil. The methods of sending, tele- 
 pathic. The proof of his identity, con- 
 vincing to those who had known and 
 loved him. 
 
 At intervals during the three years fol- 
 lowing, the pages of this little volume 
 were given, together with many more
 
 Foreword 
 
 communications of a wholly personal 
 nature. 
 
 When the war was nearing its end the 
 Doctor urged his friends to give certain 
 parts of his story to the world, hoping 
 to assuage the grief of sorrowing mothers 
 and to add a bit of cheer to the 
 first months of his homesick boys "Over 
 There." 
 
 For those who must be assured of iden- 
 tity the little episode of the ring (P. 42) 
 may prove convincing. None of the 
 Doctor's intimate friends however has a 
 doubt about his return, so many and so 
 individual have been the proofs of his 
 personality. 
 
 A great soul who faced the unknown 
 bravely with an open mind, he has the 
 courage to tell the truth as simply and 
 fearlessly as he spoke and lived when 
 on earth. With undimmed eyes and 
 
 [12]
 
 Foreword 
 
 straightforward words he gives his con- 
 tribution to a sorrowing world, hoping 
 his experience in The Great Adventure 
 may give solace to some, a bit of cheer to 
 others, and teach all to keep hearts and 
 homes happy with a cheerful welcome 
 for the unseen guests our soldier boys 
 who have "Gone West."
 
 Part First: Pre-war Letters
 
 MARCH 7, 1915 
 
 When you are ready to write I shall 
 be here to give you all the glad hand, 
 and glad it is. I never believed you 
 really did this writing. It takes two 
 worlds to convince a hard-headed old 
 doubter like me. 
 
 One day in March, 1915, the amanuen- 
 sis of these communications was sitting 
 at her desk writing letters. Suddenly 
 her pen was seized by an unseen force 
 and the preceding words were written. 
 
 The Doctor had been dead nearly a 
 month. Though believing intercom- 
 munication between two worlds possible, 
 his friends hesitated to make any efforts 
 to hear from him, knowing his attitude 
 of mind while here was skeptical and 
 
 [17]
 
 Gone West 
 
 feeling sure his desires and scientific turn 
 of mind would make him investigate as 
 soon as he was able. 
 
 He experimented with automatic 
 writing. At first he tried to use the 
 hand. The chirography was not unlike 
 his own which he describes as "shaky " 
 owing to a nervous infirmity. 
 
 Impatient to communicate faster he 
 asked the help of a spirit friend, Gerome, 
 who was experienced in the telepathic 
 method, and later the Doctor mastered 
 "the wireless" as he calls this means of 
 sending his messages. 
 
 From a mass of material, conversa- 
 tional in character, his friends have culled 
 out the following at his request, and give 
 it in the form it was presented to them. 
 The italics show their questions and in- 
 terpolations. 
 
 Repetition, change and growth of 
 
 [18]
 
 Gone West 
 
 opinion are obvious, but it seems wiser to 
 let him present the story of his adven- 
 tures as he gave it. 
 
 MARCH 8, 1915 
 
 My hand is still pretty shaky. Re- 
 ferring to the appearance of the writing 
 when he tried to use the hand. Never 
 mind, I can talk, and it's mighty good to 
 know you know I am here. I have been 
 with you so much I wonder if you have 
 sensed it. Thank Heaven there isn't 
 that awful feeling of separation I feared. 
 It was my only reason for not wanting to 
 leave my tired old body; and, my dear 
 girls, when you come, see that the old 
 garment is cremated, it's the only way. 
 I have met people who have been here 
 for years and they have the most peculiar 
 clinging to their earthly bodies. It's a 
 terrible drawback. 
 
 [19]
 
 Gone West 
 
 Can you see us? Surely I can, as 
 plain as day. 
 
 Did you know the day you died that 
 you were going to die? Yes, I knew it, 
 but my first consciousness of the transi- 
 tion was when I saw you standing by me 
 holding my hand and crying. Then I 
 said to myself "I am dead, I surely am, 
 and I feel more alive than I have felt in 
 years." It was mighty good not to have 
 that awful breathing and feel those mis- 
 erable legs refuse to carry me. I next 
 saw M. and H. and J. and C. all looking 
 at me crying and laughing. It was a re- 
 union I can tell you. I was not very 
 strong for a few days but I was so deter- 
 mined to be well that I am well now. I 
 feel humble about offering opinions but 
 when I could see myself grow vigorous 
 by thinking of health I wondered if I 
 could not have done it before. The sci- 
 
 [20]
 
 Gone West 
 
 entific use of thought is necessary here to 
 conduct one's life. I don't know much 
 yet but wait a bit. I'll have worlds to 
 tell you. Isn't it going to be fine? lean 
 pass on all I learn. I think in my sleep 
 I have been peeping into this life for 
 some time, so many things seem familiar, 
 and they tell me my transition was mar- 
 velously easy. 
 
 MARCH n, 1915. GEROME WRITING 
 
 It has never seemed feasible to me to 
 put into words our life over here. I 
 couldn't see how it was going to help 
 those on your plane, but of course it will 
 help. I want to add a few thoughts of 
 my own. One of them is this when you 
 come over don't try to get in touch with 
 every living soul you ever knew. You 
 meet them fast enough, those waiting for 
 you are sufficient at first. Doctor is 
 
 [21]
 
 Gone West 
 
 crazy to look up all his relatives, friends, 
 acquaintances, God knows who all, and 
 I tell him to hold on a bit. He is living 
 in eternity and there is plenty of time 
 coming. Now I want to help him to 
 communicate before he is too far re- 
 moved from earth thoughts, then his fu- 
 ture experiences can be given back to 
 you. If he doesn't learn this lesson now 
 he may never be able to make his knowl- 
 edge of any value to you. 
 
 DOCTOR WRITING 
 
 I have had a wonderful adventure. I 
 went with M. to a temple. I supposed 
 it to be a church but it was more on the 
 order of a college. There was the great- 
 est motley array of people and costumes 
 I ever beheld. They were apparently 
 of all nations and all ages. 
 
 I was given a seat and told to make 
 
 [22]
 
 Gone West 
 
 no sound. They were thinking in uni- 
 son and what do you think it was about? 
 That the war should cease on earth. 
 They believe they can stop the European 
 war that way. I have never supposed 
 one could hear and see thought but above 
 the heads of the congregation there arose 
 a cloud of something like a vapor. It 
 was gold in color and floated away in the 
 direction of the war zone. They told 
 me it would interpenetrate the layers of 
 war thoughts and eventually dissolve 
 them. It looked mighty fishy to me, but 
 I left the Temple and tried to follow 
 it. 
 
 I could see it settle in camps in the 
 midst of France and a still queerer thing 
 happened. It was as if two opposing 
 armies of people met, only it was merely 
 a mist. The gold mist began to dissolve 
 the dull red and purple mists and when 
 
 [23]
 
 Gone West 
 
 I left I could see spots where only the 
 gold remained. 
 
 Now I cannot tell you I believe this 
 was the thought force of that throng, but 
 they tell me it was, and that these people 
 meet every midnight for this prayer serv- 
 ice. 
 
 GEROME COMMENTS 
 
 You see the Doctor is still skeptical 
 about the invisible realities but when 
 enough of them become visible to him 
 he will decide there is something to 
 them. 
 
 That Temple is called "The Temple 
 of Light" because it is there great uplift- 
 ing forces are started for reforms on 
 earth. If they meet sufficient response 
 a great movement is born in the world. 
 The Reformation is a sample and right 
 now we are seeing the most wonderful 
 
 [24]
 
 Gone West 
 
 spiritual awakening the world has ever 
 known. 
 
 Even the beginning of the Christian 
 era could show nothing greater, for now 
 a large proportion of the people on earth 
 will comprehend it. We call it the age 
 of spiritual consciousness. Materialism 
 is to grow less and less and the spiritual 
 verities will become more evident. 
 
 DOCTOR CONTINUES. APRIL 5, 1915 
 
 You will have real fun when you get 
 here. Things won't surprise you as 
 much as they do me. Our life is very 
 normal. I heard you talking about our 
 apparent freedom to do as we please. 
 We do and we don't. To be sure, we 
 have not the same family responsibilities 
 but the more developed a soul is, the 
 m&re he realizes his part in the great 
 scheme of the universe and the more
 
 Gone West 
 
 sacred his sense of duty to perform it. 
 
 The thing that interests me most now 
 is the law of vibration. It is necessary 
 to understand it to see how our worlds 
 intermingle and still do not collide. 
 The Astral Plane this is called. 
 
 I am beginning to sense more and more 
 its possibilities and beauties. I shall 
 soon have duties enough. I begin to see 
 where my work is needed. 
 
 You girls must study thought and 
 thought action constantly. If you could 
 see the thought vibrations they would 
 astound you. It is appalling to find that 
 every single thought does something just 
 as definitely as when you sew stitches in 
 a garment. 
 
 I took a lesson the other day in con- 
 structive thinking. We were told to vis- 
 ualize a plan for a garden, see the paths, 
 trees, flowers, etc. We closed our eyes 
 
 [26]
 
 Gone West 
 
 and concentrated upou the plan, opened 
 them and there it was before us, not the 
 gardens but complete plans for them as 
 if we had drawn them upon paper. I 
 could take mine in my hands and file it 
 away for reference it became so stable. 
 It is no more surprising than that an 
 architect should make such a plan and 
 put it on paper with his hands, only we 
 need not use our hands if we know how 
 to utilize the sensitive plates for register- 
 ing thoughts which we project. 
 
 Because of my interest in scientific 
 things I have found the laboratories my 
 first interest. Others would not be look- 
 ing for just such things and would tell 
 you different stories of their experi- 
 ences. 
 
 One discovery I have made is this. 
 On your plane you make too hard work 
 of doing things. You think you must 
 
 [27]
 
 Gone West 
 
 carve out everything "by the sweat of 
 your brow." Well, you need not "sweat" 
 so much if you would think more and 
 rush around less. The only trouble is 
 that you do twice as much destructive 
 thinking as constructive. A mason who 
 lays five hundred 'bricks, then pulls down 
 four hundred wouldn't get his building 
 very fast. 
 
 If you want a thing, picture it, hang 
 to the invisible pattern no matter what 
 your eyes see, and the pattern must be- 
 come materialized in your vibration. 
 
 
 DECEMBER b, 1915 
 
 My birthday seems to have come 
 around again. I had almost forgotten 
 it for I have another birthday in Febru- 
 ary which is more important now. It 
 has been an exciting year as I look back 
 upon it, unbelievably full of events. 
 
 [28]
 
 Gone West 
 
 When I wrote last, you will remember 
 I had been idly traveling, but one day 
 last Spring I ran up against some real 
 experiences that set me back on my old 
 trail of doctoring. I never thought I 
 should be at my profession again, did not 
 suppose it would be needed here. That 
 was one of the lessons I had to learn, 
 everything counts. 
 
 One day I was called upon to go to 
 France and help on the battle-fields. I 
 had selfishly avoided them, thinking I 
 could do no good and they would only 
 depress me. 
 
 That night I had my awakening. It 
 was after an awful battle. The boys 
 were lying out on the fields waiting for 
 help from God, Man or Devil. When I 
 heard that despairing call I buckled on 
 my mental armor and said to myself, 
 "Back on the job, old man, you have no 
 
 [29]
 
 Gone West 
 
 excuse in frailness now." I was never 
 stronger nor more equal to the task. 
 
 I am not going into details about these 
 last months, you couldn't stand the hear- 
 ing nor I the telling. Hell! Hell! 
 Hell! only there has been a certain joy 
 in it all. Being of use is the secret of 
 happiness and my small part may have 
 helped some poor lad to leave your world 
 with less anguish. It's the leaving that 
 is the hardest part of it all, leaving what 
 they think is life and what they suppose 
 to be their only bodies. And do you 
 know my experience as a physician has 
 taught me much about this second birth, 
 for birth it surely is. 
 
 All great Doctors are conscious or 
 unconscious psychologists. The actual 
 physical help is trivial compared to the 
 mental therapeutics. After my first les- 
 sons in thought force I could see the an- 
 
 [30]
 
 Gone West 
 
 alogy. My lessons have been very prac- 
 tical ones. Any one would learn them 
 in this school. 
 
 After I had my bearings it wasn't so 
 hard and would be intensely interesting 
 if I didn't feel all the time what folly 
 there is in the world to have caused this 
 war. Good must come out of it, but 
 don't delude yourselves that war is nec- 
 essary; there is the better way, and the 
 world must learn this or cease its progres- 
 sion. 
 
 I had too many years of enforced rest, 
 now it is time for me to give out again 
 and a big Duty is calling. If you want 
 to talk to me, make appointments; a Sol- 
 dier Doctor, you know, must be on duty 
 most of the time. I can come about once 
 a week.
 
 Gone West 
 
 JANUARY, 1916 
 
 The psychic senses can be cultivated, 
 give them a chance. They say the new 
 race is to have them developed to a mar- 
 velous degree. Perhaps we shall all 
 want to go back. I'll wait for you and 
 we will talk it over later. 
 
 I'm off duty to-night and feel like a 
 boy out of school. We don't call you, 
 fearing to interrupt vital matters. 
 That's right, don't do it, time enough 
 later. You know time becomes elon- 
 gated here. We do not fuss about to-day 
 and to-morrow and it saves a lot of worry. 
 Half of the trouble in the world, as I 
 think it over now, was caused by fussing 
 over the things we didn't get done that 
 day. That is one of the silliest notions 
 of your old world. 
 
 Do you want to talk about the war? 
 
 [32]
 
 Gone West 
 
 It's hard to talk about it; we are too near 
 its carnage. At last I am beginning to 
 get some other points of view At first 
 all I could see was the useless butchery. 
 Now I understand more of the causes 
 and though I do not believe such things 
 should be, I know what has brought them 
 about and where the world is trend- 
 ing. It is the birth of many things 
 and the death of many curses to man- 
 kind. 
 
 // is suggested that Lincoln is watch- 
 ing over our country. Yes, that I too 
 have heard. I have seen him once, but 
 I felt so great an awe of him I could not 
 greet him. He appears a much more ex- 
 alted soul here than while living on 
 earth. 
 
 Are you 'working in France? Mostly, 
 but not entirely. I have offered my 
 services as a physician should, where 
 
 [33]
 
 Gone West 
 
 they are most needed. Last month I was 
 in Serbia. 
 
 I am Ipoking forward to the day when 
 these trying events will be over and we 
 can go on with our communications. 
 They will become easier as time goes on, 
 because of conditions with which we 
 have nothing to do. Instead of getting 
 farther apart we shall draw nearer. It 
 may not be this year nor next but it is 
 coming. 
 
 FEBRUARY 26, 1916 
 
 This wireless communication is not as 
 strange as it seems and is a great comfort 
 for the few of us who can use it. I was 
 telling some people here about it the 
 other day and you should have seen their 
 amazement. Just as incredulous as they 
 are with you. It doesn't make much dif- 
 ference where you live. Knowledge 
 
 [34]
 
 Gone West 
 
 does not come because one has lost his 
 earthly body. Were it not for H. I do 
 not suppose I could have had this pleas- 
 ure and it is the greatest comfort. We 
 get as homesick as you. I have even 
 been guilty of wanting to go back into 
 my old cumbersome body which would 
 never obey my wishes. Not now how- 
 ever ; when one finds out how to use this 
 more ethereal body it grows in wonder 
 and delight. I ran about at first for the 
 mere pleasure of running, more cor- 
 rectly, thought myself places. It took a 
 time to find out how it was done, but 
 when I grasped it there was nothing gave 
 me so much pleasure as the annihilation 
 of distance. 
 
 In answer to a question regarding a 
 battle. It looks as though the Germans 
 were winning, but all the time we are 
 told the Allies will come out ahead. 
 
 [35]
 
 Gone West 
 
 Those on my plane of vision get very lit- 
 tle more light than you, though there are 
 seers who prophesy. I suppose they see 
 more or else they guess better. 
 
 We are not only kept busy helping 
 people to be born here but in enlighten- 
 ing their minds as to the causes and re- 
 sults of their righting. Our chief ef- 
 forts are to change their hatred into tol- 
 erance and understanding. They are in- 
 structed, thousands at a time. 
 
 I told you I was going to take Peggy 
 to the battle-fields. Well, I have done it 
 and she was a little hero. I really 
 dreaded the first sight of war for her, but 
 we began with the hospitals. I then 
 handed over a patient or two to give her 
 mind definite work that the horrors 
 would not be so overwhelming. She is 
 a wonderful girl and will be a real god- 
 
 [36]
 
 Gone West 
 
 send. I need not have worried. She 
 will spend only a part of her time with 
 us but will do her share from now on. 
 
 Peggy <was a young college girl of 
 'whom the Doctor 'was very fond. She 
 died about six months after his death. 
 
 Since my enlistment I have gone only 
 where I have been most needed. We 
 are organized for work and I have given 
 my aid to severely wounded soldiers who 
 were having difficulty in being released 
 from their bodies. Some are killed in- 
 stantly and others aid them. Then there 
 are many kinds of prolonged dying. I 
 have had some very trying cases where 
 it was nip and tuck which way they went. 
 When their bodies are too shattered I 
 help to release them. Yes, it is queer 
 but not more so than birth into your 
 world. The whole amazing process is 
 
 [37]
 
 Gone West 
 
 queerer than queer. One might as well 
 decide everything is natural; the more 
 astounding the more natural. When the 
 war is over I shall have time to go on 
 with my investigations. I had enough 
 shown me to find out I knew nothing at 
 all. Apparently we start school in the 
 kindergarten grade when we leave the 
 earth. 
 
 MARCH 18, 1917 
 
 Here we are again around the yellow 
 lamp. I like to come to the old house 
 the best of all. I feel more at home 
 here than anywhere on earth. It is 
 queer how places cling to one. I haven't 
 much feeling about the other houses 
 where I lived. I suppose because no 
 one I care for is in them now. I often 
 drop in and sit in my old chair. I can 
 still feel and enjoy it. 
 
 [38]
 
 Gone West 
 
 MARCH 25, 1918 
 
 During the Spring Drive when sons 
 of his old friends were leaving for 
 France. 
 
 I have given my time since I came 
 over to helping any one who needed me, 
 but now I shall have my adopted family 
 of boys. It will be a joy to me and per- 
 haps some comfort to you mothers. 
 
 You might as well give up having 
 nerves over the war news. It is going 
 to be worse and this is only the beginning 
 of terrible battles. No human being 
 can stop it, but Right will prevail. The 
 end is not in sight from my limited vi- 
 sion; we get rumors from high sources 
 and there may be wise ones who know, 
 but I am not one of them. . 
 
 Be as philosophical as you can, know 
 it is a Holy War, that the lads coming 
 over here are living their lives just as 
 
 [39]
 
 Gone West 
 
 surely, and because of their sacrifice in a 
 much finer sense, than could be achieved 
 by two lifetimes on earth 1 . They will 
 know what the wisest Masters have taken 
 centuries to learn, the supreme good of 
 self-sacrifice. That is the great initia- 
 tion which only those worthy are permit- 
 ted to take, and whether they live on your 
 plane or this, they will never be the same 
 again. 
 
 The boys will keep their own spirits 
 pure for the service they are called upon 
 to give. They must go as the Knights of 
 old, with but one vision before them, 
 "For God and Country." This sounds 
 like preaching, but, my dears, it is a sol- 
 emn hour. 
 
 I now know this war is a privilege, not 
 the calamity I first thought it. The race 
 is permitted to have its Gethsemane and 
 Crucifixion, but the hour of Resurrec- 
 
 [40]
 
 Gone West 
 
 tion is nearer than you dream. It is 
 good to live and have enough knowledge 
 to see it. Keep the eyes of your soul 
 clear. Don't be blinded by the visible, 
 you are not living in a material but in a 
 spiritual universe.
 
 RING EPISODE 
 
 One evening when H. expressed a de- 
 sire for more proofs of identity not too 
 personal to be included in this book the 
 Doctor wrote, 
 
 "Many years ago I gave a stone to M., 
 telling her to have it set in a ring for one 
 of her children. She is not thinking of 
 it now; see if she can revive her mem- 
 ory." 
 
 Surprised she had never heard of this 
 bequest, from her friend, H. made in- 
 quiries. 
 
 M. corroborated the statement, told the 
 interesting story connected with the stone 
 and asked H. to go to her safe deposit 
 box, which she did with a witness and 
 verified the existence of the diamond, 
 
 [42]
 
 Gone West 
 
 read its history and the directions for its 
 resetting. 
 
 It had been given the mother in trust 
 for her daughter ten years previously; 
 it was referred to just before the Doctor's 
 death and its history written down and 
 placed in the safe deposit box with the 
 stone about a year before the above com- 
 munication. 
 
 [43]
 
 Part Second: The Message
 
 Up to this time the writings given were 
 conversational in nature and the Doctor's 
 friends did not seriously consider pub- 
 lishing them. In October, IQl8, he 
 again wrote after six months of silence, 
 due largely to his intense and absorbing 
 labors on the battle-fields of France. 
 
 At this time he signified a desire to 
 write "A book for his boys" as soon as 
 leisure permitted. This did not occur 
 until after the signing of the armistice, 
 November Ilth. 
 
 For a few visits he seemed too weary 
 to begin this definite work and confined 
 his communications to personal affairs, 
 but on the evening of November 2$th he 
 began to write the following series of 
 messages. 
 
 [47]
 
 NOVEMBER 25, 1918 
 
 When a great cataclysm occurs the 
 world begins to take cognizance of itself 
 and wonders why and wherefor and 
 whither. In our easy thoughtless living 
 before this great war not many of us 
 thought o'f a next chapter. We died of 
 course, but when we go out single file, 
 as it were, we are not brought up stand- 
 ing with the chasm opening wide before 
 the whole nation. To see our lads in the 
 very beginning of life, with every reason 
 for living, suddenly face about and take 
 what appeared to be a plunge into obliv- 
 ion, made even the most complacent of 
 us take stock of our beliefs to see if we 
 had a faith which could penetrate the 
 great mists surrounding the mystery and 
 
 [48]
 
 Gone West 
 
 carry us beyond our vision into a land of 
 reality. 
 
 We, from our side, have felt as per- 
 plexed as you, knowing full well the 
 agony, for we see it doubly; the aching 
 hearts among you and the homesick boys 
 here. All the more tragic because 
 "Here" and "There" are so inter- related 
 there really is no separation. 
 
 That is my reason for asking you to 
 write down a few chapters of comfort 
 for the mothers and fathers of our so- 
 called dead, which may awaken them to 
 a consciousness of the reality of their 
 boys' nearness, and help the boys through 
 the first months of sorrow over the sepa- 
 ration. 
 
 That is not an orthodox view, I know; 
 until coming over I had supposed one 
 would be in a state of coma or blissfully 
 happy in a condition totally unlike any- 
 
 [49]
 
 Gone West 
 
 thing on earth. Neither is true, and 
 though the truth may not please those 
 who have hard and fast opinions, I know 
 there are many hungry souls wanting 
 only the truth and glad to get it even at 
 the expense of a lost conviction. 
 
 The war had been going on over a year 
 when I first went to France for definite 
 work. I frankly confess I dreaded going, 
 fearing what I knew so well; seeing lads 
 dying on the battle-fields and feeling 
 helpless to aid them. The memory of 
 my own experiences in the Civil War was 
 still vivid. 
 
 I had, as you know, been a physician, 
 but how that profession could now allevi- 
 ate pain, I a "wraith" ministering to a 
 physical human being, I could not un- 
 derstand. 
 
 You girls remember my own passing. 
 I have given you my impressions as they 
 [So]
 
 Gone West 
 
 came to me. When I found myself out 
 of my old body but still walking about 
 in one quite as good, I felt like the old 
 lady in the nursery rhyme, "Lauk a mercy 
 on me, this can't be I." It was surely I, 
 the very same man slightly improved 
 when I considered my past infirmities 
 and my present freedom from earth lim- 
 itations. You have the MSS. of those 
 experiences, use them as you like. You 
 know how I gradually found myself; 
 how my powers returned only greatly in- 
 creased; my first lessons in thought force; 
 my visit to the Temple of Light and then 
 The Call. My guides insisted I must 
 soon go to France. When I was told the 
 day had arrived I shall never forget my 
 consternation not that I was unwilling, 
 but because of my misgivings over what 
 I could do to be of service. 
 One night (we have day and night as
 
 Gone West 
 
 you do) my guide announced I was 
 needed and would be given my commis- 
 sion in the army of workers. Then for 
 the first time I realized that work on this 
 side was organized even more carefully 
 than on yours. I was given a uniform, 
 a title even, as an experienced physician, 
 and told to take an apprenticeship 
 course before going over seas. 
 
 After that I found myself following 
 my guide on what seemed a long journey; 
 it now appears to be as swift as a wire- 
 less message. 
 
 I was given hospital duties, next was 
 taken to the fields after the battles. 
 Then as my experience gave me courage 
 I went through the battle with the boys, 
 doing my small part to guide them, care 
 for them when fallen, and prevent disso- 
 lution when possible. All of this may 
 seem the ramblings of a lunatic to some, 
 
 [52]
 
 Gone West 
 
 but when one begins to realize that law is 
 law, here or there, it may not seem so 
 strange, for your world and ours are so 
 much alike our boys often do not know 
 in which they are living. 
 
 A physician has a wonderful oppor- 
 tunity to know the psychology of it all 
 and from mysteries one begins to see an- 
 alogy, and that life is simple. It is only 
 our bewilderment that makes so great a 
 complexity out of every-day happenings. 
 
 This life is more interesting and vital 
 than yours for one marked reason, we 
 .are not so continually thwarted in our 
 plans and aspirations. Not but that one 
 must give up one's desires and follow 
 some Divine plan, but our plans seem to 
 coincide with the Divine plans more 
 often than when in the earth life. Still, 
 it may all be a state of mind, for I re- 
 member one man who had a continual 
 
 [53]
 
 Gone West 
 
 grouch because nothing was the way he 
 wanted or expected it to be. 
 
 That is the secret of happiness, to keep 
 the open mind and obey the law. The 
 more prejudices and false conceptions in 
 your life the harder the readjustment 
 here. 
 
 I often wonder how people get on at 
 all who come fully expecting to meet 
 God face to face, to be sent to a comfort- 
 able Heaven or an uncomfortable Hell. 
 It must be discouraging to find out you 
 simply go on from yesterday very much 
 as you did from other yesterdays with 
 one marked difference you can imme- 
 diately see the power of thought. One 
 speculates upon it when on earth. Here, 
 one is always conscious of it. Many 
 come who are not developed sufficiently 
 to understand so it may seem incompre- 
 hensible to them. 
 
 [54]
 
 Gone West 
 
 Our worlds are really one, we see the 
 astral or real side of the same objects you 
 behold and even enjoy many of the same 
 pleasures, notably music, though our ears 
 are attuned to many higher vibrations of 
 sounds which are not revealed to you. 
 You can never know what Divine har- 
 mony is, till you come over. I want you 
 to see that life is life wherever found, and 
 to-morrow for you, here or there, will 
 only be changed as you interpret the 
 changes by the development of your own 
 souls. 
 
 I plan to give you a few tales about my 
 boys you can put each one in a chap- 
 ter if you like edit them as seems best, 
 only I beg of you give enough to a starv- 
 ing world to comfort some poor soul, and 
 let me be able to tell the boys I have done 
 my best. 
 
 [55]
 
 Gone West 
 
 One night shortly after taking up my 
 post near the front lines I noticed a man 
 in distress not far from the German, wire. 
 On going over I found an English boy 
 still alive who, in the darkness, had not 
 been discovered by the aid sent out to 
 search the ground. It was one of those 
 cases I have told you about, where the 
 spirit had really left the body, but the lit- 
 tle thread had not been broken. 
 
 Here was my first experiment alone; 
 heretofore in reviving a patient I usually 
 had been able to work with some physi- 
 cian in the hospitals, a much simpler 
 task. 
 
 There was nothing to do but go to 
 work. I shall not explain the process, 
 for it would have little meaning to you 
 now, but I brought him back, was able 
 to impress a Red Cross stretcher bearer 
 with the idea of making a search in this 
 
 [56]
 
 Gone West 
 
 particular spot and the boy was rescued. 
 
 How that experience did hearten me 
 up! From that day on I have had cour- 
 age to tackle any job given me, but I re- 
 gret to say I have not always been able 
 to keep them in their bodies after the 
 separation has been prolonged or the 
 body made useless by too violent shock. 
 
 As I look back over my years of army 
 service I now think the simple work of 
 helping keep soul and body together the 
 easiest I have had to accomplish. 
 
 The hardest has been when lads would 
 come to me knowing they could not go 
 back, and sob their hearts out with grief. 
 
 Death is painless particularly when 
 not combated, and that does not happen 
 in battle, but the mental agony of coming 
 away from one's world of pleasures and 
 friends and all one holds dear is pretty 
 severe. 
 
 [57]
 
 Gone West 
 
 After my first days on the battle-fields 
 I found I was up against the hardest 
 problem I ever tried to solve. Boys 
 would come to me for advice and infor- 
 mation. Were they dead when they felt 
 just the way they did last night before 
 the battle knocked them out? 
 
 Their bewilderment when I explained 
 the transition was pitiful, but they are 
 plucky fellows if ever such have lived. 
 
 I finally decided hedging or evading 
 the question was not the kind thing so I 
 boldly told them they had lost their old 
 bodies; that they were still living in one 
 they had brought with them, for the soul 
 is always clothed, and they were never 
 more alive in this or any other world. 
 
 Death has no terrors for most of these 
 lads, but this new condition is always per- 
 plexing and is made doubly hard by their 
 relatives at home. In the first place they 
 
 [58]
 
 Gone West 
 
 are too sad to give any comfort to their 
 boys. Then very few know what you 
 knew when I came over. And worst of 
 all, even if they do sense a word spoken 
 by their boys, they don't know they 
 are speaking and very few give them any 
 chance to make themselves known. 
 
 It is hard to tell a mother her son is 
 dead, but I believe it is more difficult to 
 tell that same boy he has passed out of 
 earth life when he doesn't recognize it 
 for himself, which is a very usual occur- 
 rence. One night a whole company of 
 boys found themselves together after a 
 battle and seriously believed they were 
 still in their old condition, until one of 
 them discovered his coat was not torn as 
 it had been an hour before. He began 
 investigating his raiment and finally 
 startled the whole group with "Say, fel- 
 lows, we're dead." I wish you could 
 
 [59]
 
 Gone West 
 
 have seen how mad they all were, only 
 they thought he had gone insane. 
 
 After awhile the truth dawned upon 
 them and I explained how natural the 
 transition was. 
 
 They do not all have the calm resigned 
 attitude toward the change that is com- 
 monly attributed to them. I have found 
 the first thing which rouses them to any 
 interest in their new life is to show them 
 how easy it is to transport one's self from 
 one part of the world to another. That 
 is a joy and at first a constant wonder 
 to us. 
 
 After the boys make that discovery 
 they very naturally want to go home and 
 see their families. I always dread that 
 moment, for if anything is distressing in 
 life it is to be near those we love and not 
 be recognized. 
 
 Although I do not believe constant in- 
 
 [60]
 
 Gone West 
 
 tercommunication is advisable, I do 
 think a certain amount of it is legiti- 
 mate and should be cultivated for the 
 time when separation from our dear ones 
 seems unbearable. You know how much 
 easier it was for you to stand our separa- 
 tion because of your certainty I was near 
 and could talk to you. It takes the hor- 
 rible, haunting fear of silence from our 
 hearts. Even with the chance of occa- 
 sional errors I believe it to be a worthy 
 study, for the hour will come to every 
 one of us when this touching of thoughts 
 is a real life saver. 
 
 Most families can get into communi- 
 cation with their boys and give them the 
 cheer and comfort they need if they will 
 only give up their blind prejudices. I 
 know many believe spiritistic communi- 
 cation to be of the Devil. Why not try 
 the Spirits as Paul advised? 
 [61]
 
 Gone West 
 
 Of course everybody is not a medium 
 but after hundreds of experiments I am 
 inclined to think that nearly every one 
 has the power latent in him, and many 
 are highly developed who do not realize 
 their powers. Take this crude little 
 table: when two or more form a com- 
 plete circuit of electric current we can 
 use it easily. Of course the difficulty 
 then is in being sure of identity, and also 
 the conversation must be limited to 
 "Yes," "No" or "I don't know," except 
 for the varied vibrations which you have 
 sensed. Sit quietly find two who can 
 get some response from the table tipping, 
 then do not accept every tip as the gos- 
 pel truth. There are thousands of 
 chances for errors, but test out your an- 
 swers. Gradually agree on signals to be 
 given by your own friends and always ex- 
 periment with the writing. 
 
 [62]
 
 Gone West 
 
 As you know, we do not use your hand, 
 only surround you with the currents of 
 ether which clarify our messages, then 
 give them telepathically. 
 
 I prefer the writing, but there again 
 I find only a few know they have the 
 ability and there is every chance for de- 
 ception. But wanting a perfect instru- 
 ment, should we despise what we have? 
 I for one think not. 
 
 I have never seen any harm come to 
 any one, beyond an occasional deception, 
 by trying these experiments, and I know 
 as a fact that hundreds of our boys have 
 been made supremely happy and content 
 to go on with the great life before them 
 because their dear ones recognize, help 
 and sympathize with them. 
 
 You should know how to protect your- 
 selves from mischievous spirits after a 
 little experience, then for God's sake let 
 
 [63]
 
 Gone West 
 
 our boys have the comfort of knowing 
 you want to feel the touch of their hands 
 and the communion of the spirit which is 
 all that holds the universe together. 
 
 Beg your friends to give up some of 
 their old fears and false ideas and let in 
 the sunlight of truth. 
 
 It is not necessary to go to public me- 
 diums, I would say it were better to avoid 
 them. 
 
 Let me give you the story of John. 
 That isn't his name but it will do for the 
 little tale. I found him one day look- 
 ing disconsolately at his old pals who 
 could not see or recognize him. Taking 
 him by the arm I said we'd have a little 
 talk. "Don't you want to go home and 
 see the folks?" I asked. He sadly shook 
 his head; "No use, even mother just sits 
 and cries and won't or can't see me, and 
 the whole family is so covered with 
 
 [64]
 
 Gone West 
 
 gloom I'd rather stay here; the fellows 
 are cheerful at least." "All right, old 
 man, but you may be able to change that. 
 Come along with me." I took him to 
 the house one of those nights when I gave 
 you some bits of my life here. You 
 never saw such a change in a fellow. 
 His one idea was to have his family know 
 they could get the same sort of messages. 
 He begged me to tell them to tell you 
 to make somebody write a book. Well, 
 this little volume is really the outcome 
 of the chat we had that night, and when 
 the book is published he and I will see 
 that his mother gets it. 
 
 I think I have said enough of the 
 why-fors. Now I shall go on to some 
 little tales of life's continuing, for, as I 
 said, we are just the same the day after 
 we come over as the day before on earth. 
 In fact we are on earth, only we are not 
 [65]
 
 Gone West 
 
 hampered by your vibration of material- 
 ity; ours is finer, more tenuous, and is 
 not interfered with by your solidity. 
 
 Our world seems as real to us as yours 
 does to you and as far as I can learn it is 
 more enduring. Of course we do not stay 
 eternally on this Astral Plane, but as long 
 as ties bind us, and work calls us, we con- 
 tinue our lives very near you in reality, 
 as well as mentally and spiritually. The 
 only cause of the separation is the mental 
 attitude of the people on earth. Beg 
 them to ponder on that. 
 
 When the boys first come over we take 
 them to a beautiful place to rest up a bit. 
 Many souls need a long period for this 
 recuperation, but I find most of the sol- 
 diers ready in a few days to go back to 
 duty. 
 
 One interesting psychological study for 
 me has been the spiritual advance the 
 [66]
 
 Gone West 
 
 boys have attained in making the supreme 
 sacrifice. It is as if a bit of heavenly 
 grace had been cast upon them, and I am 
 told by the Masters that many a soul 
 has progressed more through that one 
 achievement by way of spiritual growth 
 than in several incarnations. 
 
 As you know, I have had little time 
 or opportunity to delve into the deep 
 problems of life's progression, but soon 
 I am to begin the study for which I have 
 longed ever since coming over. 
 
 A soldier here is as a soldier with you, 
 under orders. I have not yet received 
 my discharge. 
 
 I wish you could see the little group 
 of boys who are here to-night. They are 
 so hungry for a human word from your 
 world they begged to be allowed to stay. 
 I have told them to keep quiet as mice 
 
 [67]
 
 Gone West 
 
 and I'll permit them to hang about for 
 awhile. They find a home with some 
 women folks in it and even a pussy cat, 
 who recognize that they are here and 
 give them a welcome, such a wonderful 
 experience they would stay forever. 
 
 It is hard for us to remember how 
 stupid and blind we were before coming 
 over. Of course we have the advantage 
 of seeing you and hearing your voices. 
 I often wonder how it is possible so few 
 of you can sense our nearness, but I be- 
 lieve you deliberately kill that heavenly 
 gift. 
 
 Children and animals are more sensi- 
 tive than older people, but a child who 
 plays with an invisible companion is 
 usually laughed out of its knowledge and 
 enjoyment of its psychic experiences. 
 
 Now for another story from real life 
 believe me it is much more real a life 
 [68]
 
 Gone West 
 
 than yours. We do not have such im- 
 possible barriers separating us from our 
 past and future as you have, or have made 
 yourselves believe you have. 
 
 This boy's experience made a deep im- 
 pression on me because of the way he 
 died; perhaps not unusual but worth re- 
 cording. 
 
 It was during a battle he was struck by 
 shrapnel, and while still running, came 
 over. He continued his flight toward 
 the enemy, whom he soon met coming to- 
 ward him in the same aggressive way 
 two combatants met and thought they 
 were in deadly battle when they discov- 
 ered they had lost their earth bodies. 
 Each made the discovery about the same 
 time. Their astonishment caused a ces- 
 sation in hostilities and I met them look- 
 ing at one another in a bewildered sheep- 
 ish manner. Finally the Yankee held 
 
 [69]
 
 Gone West 
 
 out his hand and the German took it 
 sadly. 
 
 "How foolish it all is," said my Amer- 
 ican friend "Ja, ja, Gott help us poor 
 fools," was all the German could answer. 
 
 Somehow in that little interchange of 
 thought I found the whole sum and sub- 
 stance of the inanity of wars so terrible 
 and so utterly foolish. 
 
 If it were not for the future I see 
 ahead of our boys because of their 
 sacrifice made for the great ideals I 
 could never feel reconciled to the hor- 
 rors I have witnessed. 
 
 Boys are just boys, of whatever nation- 
 ality, and I have begun to feel deeper 
 sorrow for the German lads than for any. 
 They fought because they were forced to 
 it, and so far can see no reward from any 
 source. 
 
 I don't want my little stories to grow 
 
 [70]
 
 Gone West 
 
 too gloomy, and picture only the unhappy 
 side of our life here. Whenever you go 
 to a professional medium and ask for a 
 departed friend, I remember the unfail- 
 ing answer was, "Yes, I am happy." 
 I would not make your losses seem 
 greater by telling you the boys are 
 wretched because they are here. That 
 is not true. Life here is glorious. Each 
 day has its delights, greater than on 
 earth, for one is not weighed down with 
 so many perplexing duties. My only 
 reason for dwelling on the unhappiness 
 I have witnessed is to try and change the 
 attitude of mind and the appalling lack 
 of sympathy the families left behind ex- 
 hibit. Now some will say I am heart- 
 less. Far from it. I must arouse some 
 enlightened people to their duty and this 
 little plea is only for a fair investigation. 
 Keep the open mind. 
 
 [70
 
 Gone West 
 
 How many shut their vision in behind 
 shutters of ancient prejudice until no 
 light can penetrate. Strange to say it is 
 usually the most intellectual who so 
 greatly lack wisdom. 
 
 I cannot think of a more important 
 subject than to explain something about 
 the first problems which confront us 
 here. One comes over with preconceived 
 ideas which are mostly false. That is 
 where a baby arriving in your world has 
 the advantage. He isn't expected to 
 know anything. 
 
 We are just as we were a few moments 
 before making the great change, and the 
 fact that conditions are different is not 
 apparent to us at first. The beliefs we 
 bring with us color our first experiences 
 and often make rapid growth impossible. 
 For instance, do you remember how Mrs. 
 
 [72]
 
 Gone West 
 
 M. believed she could not walk? Hav- 
 ing lived in a wheeled chair for years 
 it was no wonder her belief did not 
 change until it was proved to her she was 
 no longer bound by earth conditions. 
 The same was true of me in regard to lo- 
 comotion and also in the fulfillment of 
 my desires. 
 
 I had regular lessons in the use of 
 thought as a force. First I was shown 
 how one could see thoughts they are 
 visible, colored vibrations. Then I was 
 given experiments in using the power to 
 materialize objects. 
 
 Perhaps I was more stupid than others 
 or my scientific education compelled me 
 to see the wheels go round, anyway I had 
 to have each step explained and proved. 
 
 Most of the young men who have been 
 coming in such numbers have not the 
 same Missouri attitude toward life here. 
 
 [73]
 
 Gone West 
 
 They accept the change more naturally 
 and their class work is a delight. 
 
 Once in awhile for a furlough I have 
 been permitted to take a group in hand 
 and I give my raw recruits their first 
 lessons. Army discipline still prevails 
 and it is well. Much homesickness is 
 avoided when one has companionship of 
 one's own age and kind. 
 
 I am still in the primary class in the 
 use of thought forces and in most of the 
 great studies which appear to be the vi- 
 tal philosophies here. As I have told 
 you, I only await my release from duty 
 to go on toward the heights which I know 
 await me. 
 
 Most of the boys accept the situation 
 simply and respond cheerfully. Not 
 many feel rebellious, and when they dis- 
 cover the great handicaps of time and 
 space limitations have been removed, 
 
 [74]
 
 Gone West 
 
 they feel as I imagine an aviator feels 
 when taking his first successful flight; in 
 fact the flying corps is the advance guard 
 among the new arrivals. They know 
 much intuitively. Most of them are 
 fellows who did not wait long between 
 incarnations, I am told, and those here 
 are preparing to aid the young aviators 
 on earth. They seem to think there is a 
 wonderful development just dawning on 
 earth for that field of study and they see 
 how their work here can help it along. 
 
 I once supposed this life was one of 
 perpetual rest. It was a surprise to find 
 it a life of perpetual work and activity. 
 Every day brings newer and more de- 
 lightful problems to be solved and I 
 often feel like the children on Christmas 
 Eve, I can scarcely wait for the new rev- 
 elation. 
 
 I have a feeling I may have over-em- 
 
 [75]
 
 Gone West 
 
 phasized the depression our boys exper- 
 ience when they discover the blindness 
 and deafness of their loved ones on earth. 
 I can't change my statements in that re- 
 gard, but I want to tell you one more 
 story to show you what happiness a little 
 recognition gives. 
 
 The other night when I permitted a 
 few lads to observe our work they could 
 scarcely contain themselves for joy. 
 One of them announced he would make 
 his sister hear him now if he had to move 
 his house to do it. He went home and 
 began a series of experiments that have 
 had the effect of starting his whole fam- 
 ily investigating the possibility of inter- 
 communication. It is something to have 
 given one boy this encouragement and 
 many more are to feel the influence of 
 your work; you see there are several 
 kinds of war work. 
 
 [76]
 
 Gone West 
 
 You have always mourned your inabil- 
 ity to go to France and minister there. 
 You will find your evenings, given so 
 willingly, will shed a far reaching bless- 
 ing. It is another case of pouring the 
 precious oil. You mothers have the 
 Mary's privilege. 
 
 I have been thinking over the title for 
 my book and consulted the boys about it. 
 They were unanimous for "Gone West" 
 and I grow to like it more and more. It 
 implies what our transition is another 
 big adventure, and the Great Divide is no 
 more appalling from our side than the 
 one which separates your continent East 
 from West. 
 
 One evening just as the sun was color- 
 ing the western sky with a great blaze of 
 glory some of the boys and I watched the 
 pageant from a hill top and talked of 
 
 [77]
 
 Gone West 
 
 life before this rebirth, and the meaning 
 of it all. One of them made a remark 
 worth recording. He looked first at his 
 comrades then far away as if seeing an- 
 other different scene and said, "The girls 
 and boys at home are now having their 
 evening meal. They are wondering if 
 they will know me when they come over 
 and I can hear little sister ask if I wear 
 wings. They think of me as some an- 
 gelic creature, I suppose. Wouldn't it 
 be an awful jolt if they could see me in 
 my uniform, dreaming pipe dreams just 
 as I once did at home! That is one good 
 thing about this condition, it is a place 
 where dreams come true. I begin to see 
 how some of mine are already realities, 
 and more only wait around the corner 
 for fulfillment. I never had a chance at 
 music and it seems to be the most every- 
 day experience to hear marvelous orches- 
 
 [78]
 
 Gone West 
 
 tras. I loved pictures, particularly the 
 ones of exquisite colorings, but I never 
 dreamed of such colors as we know exist 
 all about us. That field of flowers has 
 no counterpart on earth, or else my eyes 
 did not behold its glories there." 
 
 I explained to him that particular field 
 was one on earth only now his eyes were 
 capable of discerning so many finer vi- 
 brations of color that he could see the 
 glory not perceived by those in the earth 
 life. 
 
 We continually find ourselves feeling 
 sorry for you because your limited senses 
 do not permit you to see, feel or smell 
 some delightful object which lies right 
 in your paths. I often feel you do smefl 
 our perfumed flowers but do not know 
 from whence the exquisite odors come. 
 
 The boys have asked me to emphasize 
 one point in regard to psychic investiga- 
 
 [79]
 
 Gone West 
 
 tion. There might be danger of course 
 in giving up one's self too completely to 
 spirit control, but that is not necessary. 
 Use common sense. 
 
 If you were investigating electricity 
 you would not put the volts through your 
 body to see how many you could stand 
 without being killed. You would not 
 devote all of your life to that one study 
 to the detriment of every other interest. 
 But if you found it a vital, absorbing, 
 useful study you would give it the time 
 and mentality you felt its worth deserved. 
 
 That is my plea for psychic research. 
 Some people have gone insane over it. 
 So some have over every other interest- 
 ing subject. There are always unbal- 
 anced people investigating intercom- 
 munication as well as physiology, geol- 
 ogy or any other ology. That doesn't 
 prevent the sane minds of rational people 
 
 [80]
 
 Gone West 
 
 from giving each the investigation it 
 merits. 
 
 We only ask the same consideration for 
 this most vital question that you would 
 give to the study of the development of 
 a bug or a tree. When you think of it 
 there is nothing so certain to be experi- 
 enced by every individual as Death. 
 Why not find out how simple a life epi- 
 sode it is and help the race to overcome 
 its hideous fear of this bugaboo? That 
 is all it is, and as I can prove after going 
 through the experience, there is really no 
 such thing just Life and then more 
 Life. 
 
 I find the usual results in telling our 
 experiences here, have been to call a 
 world of scoffing criticism upon the 
 courageous souls who have been willing 
 to make public their knowledge. 
 
 Why is it absurd to believe you are 
 [81]
 
 Gone West 
 
 still you, no better and no worse by losing 
 the frail earthly garment? I found I 
 still wanted my same old pastimes and 
 more, my dear old friends. We did not 
 find ourselves in a Heaven of golden 
 streets; just a world of beautiful fields 
 and forests, streams and lakes as you 
 have. In fact we have a super enjoy- 
 ment of your nature world. How long 
 we stay near you is still unknown to me. 
 
 We go beyond the earth environment 
 I know, when our work is completed 
 here, but can come back when called, and 
 I for one shall keep a keen interest in all 
 affairs touching my dear ones as long as 
 they remain on your plane. 
 
 Love is the great magnet through all 
 eternity; we can never lose one another. 
 
 It is difficult to decide what are the 
 most vital things to give in so small a
 
 Gone West 
 
 volume as this. I have consulted the 
 boys and followed their suggestions as 
 far as possible. The whole burden of 
 their song is "Tell our folks we are alive 
 and have not changed since they saw us." 
 
 I feel more is needed however and that 
 you should have a more definite idea of 
 the experiences that await you when you 
 take the little journey into the unknown. 
 
 You will find your world seems wholly 
 artificial and this one the only reality. 
 That we can make our environment is 
 more apparent to us here, but that is a 
 lesson you are already learning on earth. 
 "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he" 
 is beginning, after many centuries, to be 
 taken literally. 
 
 I applied some metaphysical princi- 
 ples without understanding the law when 
 I was practicing medicine on earth, but 
 I now realize I could have accomplished 
 
 [83]
 
 Gone West 
 
 vastly more had I obtained even an ink- 
 ling of what I now know. Not that one 
 should neglect one's material body, far 
 from it, but one should recognize it for 
 what it is, a grosser vibration of spiritual 
 force than any other body we use. All 
 through eternity as far as I can learn we 
 have a body, and several of them are 
 worn while on earth, if one can speak of 
 so integral a part of a human being. 
 
 I have just been telling a class of boys 
 something like this, and one of the chaps 
 said it gave him the tired feeling he had 
 on a march with all his accouterment on 
 his back. Well, it is like that just the 
 same. It is probably fortunate we are 
 not conscious of all the facts all the 
 time. 
 
 I hear you debating how we live and 
 whether we eat and drink and earn our 
 living. At the risk of giving false im- 
 
 [84]
 
 Gone West 
 
 pressions let me tell you we have sensa- 
 tions. Every sense you possess is con- 
 tinued in a higher vibration. We eat, 
 drink, and we work that is all who are 
 progressing do not for a living how- 
 ever, but because work is the law of prog- 
 ress, and excepting those who come over 
 in a state of inertia, all have an increased 
 desire to do something. 
 
 There is much to learn at first, always 
 in fact, only the majority are wholly un- 
 prepared for the naturalness of life and 
 need to have the most simple acts of 
 every-day living explained to them. I 
 have known people who refused to walk 
 because they were angels and should have 
 wings. I have known others who be- 
 lieved they were immediately to be es- 
 corted to a grand throne room to present 
 their books of character. They were 
 rather nervous about it, too, and with
 
 Gone West 
 
 reason: to find they must just go on liv- 
 ing, working, serving, growing in godli- 
 ness through all eternity was a terrible 
 blow. 
 
 The first instruction we receive is in 
 the use of our new bodily powers. We 
 are not helpless infants, but are more in 
 the; condition in which an invalid finds 
 himself after a prolonged illness when 
 again attempting to walk. You know 
 many have the experience of learning 
 over again. With their mature minds it 
 is a question of days not years so it is 
 here. We come over with our mental- 
 ity as matured as when we left earth, but 
 with bodies in which we have been living 
 but not using, so we often need to go to 
 school or have special instructors. 
 
 When one dies naturally in one's bed, 
 friends here usually know the hour of 
 leaving and are prepared to receive and 
 [86]
 
 Gone West 
 
 assist the newcomer, but in the holocaust 
 of battle this is not often possible, there- 
 fore the organization and continued army 
 life is essential. I knew a boy who came 
 over prepared for harps and streets of 
 gold and resigned to his fate apparently. 
 Not finding them was a blow at first but 
 finally he cheered himself with the 
 thought he could still play hookey from 
 camp and jolly his mates. He says he 
 prefers an orthodox Heaven, it relieves 
 one of much responsibility, but he is en- 
 joying the shock he expects to give his 
 relatives when they come; a sense of hu- 
 mor, you see, is not lost because one 
 changes one's outer garments. 
 
 In the case of one coming over with 
 impaired mentality the period of rest and 
 awakening takes longer. 
 
 Some come with enlightened minds 
 knowing something of what the new day 
 
 [87]
 
 Gone West 
 
 of life must be and their joy is fulfilled 
 for our opportunities are great, our 
 teachers of the world's elect. When one 
 sees the depths and heights of knowledge 
 and blessedness to which one can attain, 
 the struggles we have made on earth seem 
 worth while. 
 
 The soldiers come in the prime of life 
 with all powers keenly alive therefore 
 need but little time to get their mental 
 balance, and when they come in compan- 
 ies as some have done in the worst battles, 
 each seeing no change in the other, the 
 adjustment is easier. Then too these 
 lads come without iron clad prejudices 
 and their growth is astounding. Not 
 many have been permitted individual 
 separate living because we needed to 
 keep up the organization spirit as long 
 as the war lasted. 
 
 I believe now we also shall be demo- 
 [88]
 
 Gone West 
 
 bilized and allowed to seek the goals of 
 which we long have dreamed. 
 
 One boy who came over not long ago 
 told me he was a "Down and outer" on 
 earth. "Why," said I. "You don't look 
 it." "No, Doctor, I had my big chance, 
 and thank God, I took it. I need not 
 have gone to the front. The family had 
 influence that would have given me a 
 safe chair in a war office. I had my 
 fight out with myself one night, chose the 
 army, was sent over with the first contin- 
 gent and in my first night 'Over the Top,' 
 'I got mine' and I found myself. I sup- 
 pose Dad is mourning because he let me 
 do it, but if he only knew he helped make 
 a man of me he would be happy instead 
 of sorrowful." 
 
 After four years of this life I find my 
 old outlook becoming vague, this life is 
 so absorbing and natural. 
 
 [89]
 
 Gone West 
 
 I have been thinking of our little book 
 and what I should tell and leave untold. 
 It is difficult to judge of the importance 
 from a reader's point of view, but all I 
 want "to put over," as the boys say, is the 
 reality of our living here and now and 
 the fact that the life being continuous 
 brings this next chapter of necessity close 
 upon the last one, so we can touch minds 
 and sometimes hands and always hearts 
 if the old world will only wake up and 
 open its eyes to the reality. 
 
 Am I repeating this too often? For- 
 give me, I still remember an aching heart 
 for many years upon earth. If I can re- 
 lieve that pain one day for one sad soul 
 the mission of my little tract will be ful- 
 filled. 
 
 We have colleges, universities and 
 schools of all sorts to meet every need 
 
 [90]
 
 Gone West 
 
 and the lads are usually glad to put them- 
 selves under the masters who can give 
 them more knowledge. The lack of 
 preparation for this life makes it abso- 
 lutely essential that nearly every one 
 have a teacher. To be taught all of 
 your earth life the delightful but un- 
 truthful conception of the after life, 
 which makes it a state of eternal bliss 
 without effort or striving of any sort on 
 the part of the sojourner, then to find you 
 must start in at once to learn how to ad- 
 just yourself to an entirely different exist- 
 ence, more natural though it be, is often 
 perplexing and many times absolutely in- 
 comprehensible, especially to those who 
 have died at an advanced age. 
 
 The boys take more for granted, and 
 I have found most of them delighted to 
 learn that they are still boys with the 
 same good and bad propensities.
 
 Gone West 
 
 At one of the schools the other day a 
 group of fellows was watching the devel- 
 opment of the chemical action of a pecul- 
 iar gas on a garden on the earth. We 
 often try such experiments, and when you 
 see a man unusually successful in horti- 
 culture you would find he has the added 
 assistance of a group of students here. 
 He probably is receptive to their sugges- 
 tions, or else his garden offers some spe- 
 cial opportunities for experiments. 
 
 To do any work successfully on the 
 earth plane demands cooperation. 
 Many of your great inventors are con- 
 scious or unconscious mediums. I give 
 this slight suggestion to show you what 
 Work we often follow until time and ne- 
 cessity and our own spiritual develop- 
 ment make us go to other fields "Other 
 Mansions." They are waiting through 
 all eternity. 
 
 [92]
 
 PEGGY'S LETTER 
 
 One evening the Doctor brought his 
 young friend Peggy to hear his book 
 read, and Peggy adds a letter. 
 
 I have been listening to Doctor's book 
 with perfect delight. Isn't it splendid! 
 I am wild about it but there is one point 
 he must make stronger, and that is in re- 
 gard to what the families of the boys 
 should do. It's pitiful the way most 
 people are treated when they come here, 
 positively brutal, if you didn't know how 
 ignorant they on earth are and how un- 
 intentional it all is. 
 
 There is S, his mother mourns so 
 dreadfully he hates to go home! Can't 
 some one tell her to stop it and talk to 
 him like a human mother? 
 
 [93]
 
 Gone West 
 
 I've made the first trip home with 
 many boys. How I always dread it I I 
 can greet them as they come over with all 
 the smiles in the world and we have had 
 some very happy awakenings, but when 
 the homecoming begins I want to run 
 away. 
 
 Now, you dear ones made a party for 
 me, at least you kept a continual house 
 warming and I never felt left out in the 
 cold. 
 
 Of course we don't enjoy funerals and 
 crepe and tears, who would? If the 
 families would occasionally leave a chair 
 at the table for us have a fete day of 
 good times in our honor, in fact give us a 
 birthday cake once in a while we'd want 
 to stay at home more. 
 
 I have in mind a boy I saw some 
 months ago. He was such a dear jolly 
 thing, all jokes and full of fun. We had 
 
 [94]
 
 Gone West 
 
 a regular frolic over the fields out to the 
 lovely place where he was taken to rest, 
 and he confided to me that his dad was a 
 regular pal and his mother was the dear- 
 est girl and his sister the sweetest bit of 
 joy a chap could ever want to know. He 
 said they were a plucky lot, too, never 
 cried when he went away so of course 
 they'd feel more pride than sorrow that 
 he won his croix de guerre and then came 
 West 
 
 I was sick at heart when I found I was 
 the one who had to go home with him. 
 First place, every mortal in that town 
 must have decided to give him a hand- 
 some funeral, even if they couldn't get 
 him in a coffin. The house was reeking 
 with flowers, nasty old flowers too, with 
 funeral bows on them; not one lovely 
 field fairy he loved. 
 
 Well, his mother and even that dear
 
 Gone West 
 
 little sister were draped in black and the 
 father had a gold star on his sleeve. 
 That nearly finished the boy. 
 
 He couldn't see how natural it was. 
 He asked if every fellow got that sort of 
 a welcome home and actually he was ill 
 for weeks and no coaxing could get him 
 back to his old home. 
 
 I feel terribly for the mother, she has 
 put all the barriers she can between them 
 but what can one do? They think they 
 are not treating their boys with due re- 
 spect when they welcome them like hu- 
 man beings. 
 
 If Doctor can get the least glimmer of 
 an idea into any one's head that the door 
 is being successfully barred to any return 
 of the boys by such misery, this book will 
 more than fulfill its mission. 
 
 I wish every mother, on Christmas Eve, 
 would burn a candle in the window for 
 
 [96]
 
 Gone West 
 
 her boy and all boys, and I promise you 
 wherever it is seen there will be a happy 
 gathering this Yuletide. You dear peo- 
 ple must have a Christmas Eve party for 
 all lonesome boys and let me invite them. 
 What loves you are, anyhow. 
 
 PEGGY. 
 
 [97]
 
 DOCTOR CONTINUES 
 
 I hoped I had made the boys' point of 
 view strong enough, but Peggy's letter 
 makes it so much stronger I have begged 
 her to let me insert it as it was given you. 
 She is willing, for the dear girl has been 
 much wrought up over the affairs of the 
 boys. She has had more of that work 
 to do than I have, so grasps the need. 
 My time has been taken more with their 
 awakening and first adjustments. I have 
 not had quite so many harrowing experi- 
 ences. She knows whereof she speaks 
 for it fairly wore her out in the early 
 days. 
 
 I once ordered her home for weeks be- 
 cause she could not endure the mental 
 
 [98]
 
 Gone West 
 
 suffering. She has attained much poise 
 and is a power and rock to lean upon, I 
 do assure you. I wish you could see how 
 my lads adore her; they call her "Ma- 
 donna." 
 
 DECEMBER 6, DOCTOR'S BIRTHDAY 
 
 Now the war is over, strange vibra- 
 tions of disturbing and inharmonious 
 conditions on earth are seen and felt by 
 us. There are most peculiar color com- 
 binations visible when one gets a view of 
 the earth in perspective. It is an inter- 
 esting experience to do what I was led 
 to investigate a few days ago. 
 
 My guide asked me to take a journey 
 around the world to observe the group 
 emotions made visible in color. It was 
 an experience not unlike the journey I 
 made from the Temple of Light. We 
 had to avoid certain enemy sections but 
 
 [99]
 
 Gone West 
 
 I saw Turkey as a land of clouded reds 
 and purples, dull, horrid colors. Bel- 
 gium was pure blue and Rumania the 
 most exquisite turquoise. These colors 
 it seems are symbolic of the cosmic con- 
 sciousness controlling the minds of those 
 countries. I would like to tell you all 
 I heard about the immense value of the 
 sound waves emanating from the United 
 States. The community sings are hav- 
 ing a great psychic significance. They 
 are attended by crowds of people from 
 this life, and particularly by the soldiers 
 who have come over. 
 
 They say they get more comfort from 
 those big musical fetes than from any- 
 thing that is being done for them on 
 earth. The usual memorial service they 
 avoid as they do a cemetery. If any one 
 wants to hold a memorial service for our 
 lads who have given their lives for their 
 [100]
 
 Gone West 
 
 country, and wishes them to come to the 
 meeting, tell them to make it as gay and 
 joyful a sing as possible. 
 
 As I think over the pages of my little 
 book they seem most inadequate. I can 
 tell so little and perhaps not one thing 
 sorrowing mothers want to hear, and 
 what I have written may be misleading. 
 Just suppose you had never left your 
 house and you asked ten different people 
 what the world outside was like: would 
 their answers be much alike? I am giv- 
 ing a few impressions gleaned from my 
 own experience and some day I might 
 change many of them, but this is the way 
 life looks to me this December of 1918 
 after four years spent mostly on or near 
 the battle-fields of Europe. 
 
 My first horror has long been passed. 
 I have a saner outlook on this cataclysm. 
 Never ceasing to regret its happening, 
 
 [101]
 
 Gone West 
 
 but now understanding it had to be; for 
 all life is law and when nations disobey 
 the law, they must suffer or the world 
 would go deeper into a slough of misery. 
 
 Life is one life, death is the opening of 
 the windows of a darkened cell. 
 
 I have good news for you, it comes as 
 a birthday gift. I received my dis- 
 charge to-day. I am now on the reserve 
 list, as it were, ready to be called in time 
 of need but my badge for honorable serv- 
 ice has been given to me, and I am now 
 privileged to conduct my life again ac- 
 cording as my desires dictate. You 
 know how happy I am to begin my stud- 
 ies again in the great sciences which most 
 affect mankind in its journey through the 
 many planes of its progression. 
 
 I hope to go far in my research and 
 travels, but know always I shall hear the 
 call of my loved ones, and a need or wish 
 [102]
 
 Gone West 
 
 to speak to me will bring me from the 
 uttermost parts of the universe. 
 
 I shall often drop in for a family chat 
 and for many years I shall devote much 
 time to helping my boys if they need me. 
 Even here we are not beyond the neces- 
 sity of a friendly lift over crooked stiles. 
 
 This is only good night. A star beck- 
 ons me on. When you gaze at the sky at 
 night, know the universe is as full of 
 friendly souls as the heavens are of stars. 
 Au revoir and God bless you. 
 
 THE END
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 Box 951388 
 
 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 
 
 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. 
 
 MAY 1 2007 
 
 C/39 
 
 UCSD Libr.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000 807 323 1
 
 Universit 
 
 Southe 
 
 Libra