HN OPEN LETTER ^ > DESCRIPTIVE OF DR. ^^fe^^^^^l^Ti^^) TREATMENT AND CURE DRUNKENNESS. The following letter was written by a gentleman in Boone Co., Iowa, to his friend in Virginia. Cass Co., Illinois. It was sent to us that we might vouch for its truth, and it so nearly touches the facts relative to our treatment for the Liquor Habit, that we re- produce it in type for the benefit of the many. The writer was never here, and we do not know him personally, but as above, his letter is a truthful recital of facts, and as such, we commend it to all interested for a thorough and careful reading. Dwight. 111. The Leslie E. Keeley Co. Boone. Iowa, March 12. 1891. Henry Coleman, Esq., Virginia, Illinois. Dear Sir : You will doubtless remember I commenced to tell you about some parties who went from here to be doctored for the Alcohol and Opium Habits, and that I was interrupted by some people coming into the office. You know what havoc whiskey has made in my family, and how it has affected my worldly prospects, aside from the care and worry of seeing two gifted brothers go to perdition under the influence of the hellish stuff, and you will understand why I take an interest in the matter and devote considerable time to writing- letters to those who will use the facts and information by placing them in the hands of people who have friends they would like to save — and can save if they will. Many people doubtless see the advertisements and circulars of Dr. Leslie E. Keeley, of Dwight, 111., and pass them by. thinking they are the advertisements of one of the many medical quacks who flood the country with printed matter, but it is a mislake. When the first patients from here came home Cured, it seemed to me to open up a possibility for doing a great deal of good by placing the facts in the hands of those who need help, provided that a thorough investigation showed even a reasonably large percentage of cures, but I wanted to be sure of this before mixing my name up with it in any way. With this end in view I made inquiries, — verbally and by letter — in every direction, and the more I investigated the more enthusiastic I became. I found that Dr. Keeley is a regular prac- ticing physician; with- over thirty years experience : was an army surgeon, and is now surgeon of the C. & A. R. R.: that his treatment for the Alcohol Habit is not a " discovery,'" in the sense that term is generally used, but is the result of long years of patient study and scientific research, commencing back during his army experience. He has all the regular physician's prejudice with reference to every- thing which in the etiquette of the profession is called quackery, and for years after it was demonstrated beyond any doubt that his treatment of the Alcohol and Opium Habits had been brought to perfection, no public announcement was made. In the meantime, the information that men were being Cured of these habits at Dwight was passed from one to another, and patients went from all parts of the United States. A light of such magnitude could not remain long "hid under a bushel,'' and about eleven years ago his practice became so large and his correspondence so heavy he was forced into print. Xow the pressure has become so great he has found it neces- sary to establish branch offices in several states, and place physicians in charge who have received a thorough trainiug in his Dwight office. To convey a general idea of what is being done, I will give you the history of a few cases. Wm. Marsh is the first who went from here. He had built up a prosperous business, and aside from his one bad habit, no one of my acquaintances had any brighter prospects. He informs me that he was for a long time on a cattle ranch out West, where whiskey was furnished by the barrel, and drank instead of water ; he always believed he had the habit under perfect control, but when he tried to refrain from drinking found that instead of having the habit, the habit had him. He became unfitted for business, but was utterly powerless to help himself ; says he has many times tried to get through a night without drink, but could not sleep, and before morning would be compelled to drink to get a little rest. By some means his wife happened to see the article in which Bob Harris, editor of the Missouri Valley Times, tells what was done for him, and this led to a correspondence with Dr. Keeley, with the result that Mr. Marsh went to Dwight. About a month later he came home and one of his nearest neighbors did not recognize him. I have dealt with him for fifteen years, yet when he spoke to me I supposed he was a stranger, and it was only when he laughed at my mistake that I recognized him. All the ravages of years of hard drinking had disappeared, and he seemed to be just as he was fifteen years ago. He has told me he would not, to save all the expense and loss of time occasioned by his visit to Dwight, go through the struggle he has many times made when trying to pass a single night without drink. He immediately went to work to induce others to go — and it is pertinent to this subject to say that now — eighteen months later — he is still working faithfully, and when necessary has given financial aid. The first one he succeeded with, was the son of one of our wealthiest men. A fine fellow who had become a complete wreck, and who, without the help that Dr. Keeley gave him, would have died. He came home a sober man, and to-day he is as fine a speci- men of manhood as can be found in our town. While talking with me he made a remark that will apply to the condition of ninety-nine out of every hundred hard drinkers. He said, "Ialwa^ys claimed, just as all drinkers do, that I could quit any time, but I knew better, and every man knows it who has the habit fastened on him." Now he says the smell of whisky has no more attraction for him than if he had never tasted it. These men then worked together and sent many others. No two men ever accomplished more real and lasting good than they have done here and elsewhere during the last eighteen months. Wm. W., one of the smartest and finest appearing conductors on the C. & N. W. K. R. lost his position through drink. He went to Nebraska, but it was the "same old story." Finally, one of his family went out and took him to Dwight. A few days after he wrote home that all the gold in Boone would not tempt him to leave until Dr. Keeley told him to go. On his return the Railroad Company gave him his old position, which he now holds. A professional man, a lawyer, who has^ no superior in central Iowa, had passed the point where ' ' self help " is possible. He too, went to Dwight, and on his return I consulted him with a view to sending a friend. He said, "send him along — its a sure thing." He said he went there skeptical — believing there was something back of it, but all doubts were dissipated when he saw what was being done. Referring to my brother who died here, he said, "if Warren were alive I would be willing to put up a thousand dollars and forfeit it if Dr. Keeley could not make a sober man of him." A neighbor of mine, Bob H., passes my house going to and from his business. One day I met him, looking more like the boy of fifteen years ago than the man of later years. As we shook hands I said to him, "what have you been doing to yourself? You look better than at any time during the last fifteen years." His face brightened up all over, and his eyes fairly twinkled as he said, "I have been over to Dwight getting the v/hiskey taken out of me ; say, don't it beat all that Dr. Keeley could take out of me in twenty-one days, what I have been twenty years putting in ? " I could fill a quire of paper with evidence of this kind, but I do not think it necessary, as one history would be a repetition of another. The net results in Boone and immediate vicinity are, that forty- one men — good men — who eighteen months ago were down — many of them to the very worst condition, physically, to which alcohol can drag a human being, are to-day bright, fresh faced men, with nothing in their appearance or actions to indicate that they were ever victims of the Alcohol Habit. They have the respect and con- fidence of all, for the reason that their looks and actions show that they are cured, and are using no will power to refrain from drinking. In communities where the facts are not generally known, the difficulty is to induce*the first one to go. Men who have the Alcohol- IJabit are invariably sensitive, and have a morbid dread of some- thing — they don't know just what — and they make excuses for delay. They are afraid their acquaintances will make slighting remarks; they have heard of inebriate asylums and hospitals, where patients are placed in confinement, and every article of food is satu- rated with whiskey ; they remember what they have suffered when vainly struggling to resist the horrible craving, and fear they will be forced to go through it again, etc, etc. This sensitiveness and morbid dread is one of the direct results of the use of Alcohol, and all of Dr. Keeley's patients laugh about it when they come home, and talk about their former condition and Cure as freely as though they had been doctored for a run of fever. They say that when they look back at their condition before Cure, it all seems like a horrible nightmare. No one will have slighting remarks to make : here, when a man comes home from- Dwight everybody is -ready to shake hands and congratulate him, just as they would if he had come from under a dangerous surgical operation. Yesterday a man just returned, came into my office, and while describing the wonderful Cures being per- formed at Dwight, said : "One thing here surprises me. Men who have not noticed me for years come up and shake hands and wish me all manner of good things." Many of our business men have given financial aid when needed, and all say. "G-od speed." Dr. Keeley is not running an asylum nor a hospital, and there is no confinement behind stone walls and iron bars. He is a regular physician, doing an office practice, and all alike — rich and poor — receive the same kind treatment and attention. His patients go to boarding houses, use his Remedies there, and report to him four times daily at his general office for Auxiliary Treatment, which is given hypbdermically. All enjoy the greatest liberty during the three weeks of their stay, and on their return have none but good words to say concerning the care and kindness received at Dr. Keeley's hands. Dr. Keeley does not shut his patients off from the use of whiskey in the commencement of his Treatment. He asks them for the vile stuff they generally g-o loaded with, but supplies them with what they need of pure whiskey and desires them to use what they must to keep them from being' restless and nervous. They tell me that after a few days they hand Dr. Keeley their bottles, saying they have no further use* for them, and then they realize they are getting back among men again. No one should hesitate, believing he will meet a gang of low- down roughs at Dwight. That is not the class of men that go there. It is the better class of men ; those who see they are being ruined mentally, morally and physically, losing their proper places and opportunities in the world, and want to get back where they belong. Men low by nature do not care how low the}^ get, and rarely ever make an effort to get Cured. All with whom I have conversed say that Dr. Keeley's patients are from the better class of men of all professions and lines of business. One of the best lawyers in Cen- tral Iowa, says he never met a party of seventy-five men who would average higher than those he met at Dwight. I have before me now a letter from a young friend under Treatment, from which I quote: "lam getting along splendidly, and find myself associated with as fine a lot of gentlemen as I ever met, and the time passes quite merrily. I took my whiskey regularly for two days and then refused it, and have had no desire since." The question is oftened asked, "Will it last?" All tell the same story, they are just where they were before they ever drank a drop, and that a man who has once been "downed" and got out of it will not deliberately acquire the habit again. They are older and have more stamina than when they first meddled with Liquor, and they have been through an experience from which they recoil with horror. The following is from a letter in my possession, written by one of Dr. Keeley's earlier patients : " If I had thefeelirg that I am using the least little bit of will power to refrain from drinking, I would be afraid of myself ; but on the contrary, I never think of it — no more than if I had never tasted whiskey/ 1 From another I quote, - T I have not one particle of craving for alcohol, and if I ever go back to drinking it will be from pure cussedness and no other reason." This last quotation tells the whole story of the very small number ( five per- cent ) who go back to their former' habit. They leave Dwight cured, and do not claim after their relapse that there was any return of the craving for drink. They go back to their old bad company, and being utterly void of respect for themselves or their friends, deliberately get drunk, as my correspondent puts it, "from pure cussedness and no other reason." Dr. Keeley cures the Alcohol Habit, but he cannot put dignity, self respect and love for home and family into a man who never had them, but if he ever had these qualities he will have them again with returning health. To the man who honestly wishes to get out of his trouble and lead a better life, the fear of a relapse will be no impediment. If he is willing to help himself, after cure, to the extent of avoiding alcohol the same as he avoids small pox or other diseases for which he has no craving, his self respect will help him in the right path to the end. Another question asked is, " What are the after effects of the Treatment?" All the evidence goes to show that it effects a com- plete renovation. While Dr. Keeley's Treatment is entirely for the Alcohol and Opium Habits, many who go to him have other ailments — aggravated by indulgence — which disappear with the Habit for which they take the Treatment. We know that a great physical change takes place, for this reason : A man with the Alcohol Habit has distorted views of everything ; an unpleasant way about him that everyone recognizes, but difficult to describe. The common expression, "a complete wreck," tells the whole story of his mental and physical 'condition. Keep liquor away from him twenty-one days and he will be half dead. "When Dr. Keeley's p'atients return after twenty-one days' treatment, they look and act as though they had been made over; complections fresh, all that bloated, care-worn look gone, and in manner pleasant, companionable gentlemen. They all tell about how good they feel. Simply breaking off from whiskey that length of time would have just the opposite effect, and in many cases would result in death The results show they are men again, just as God intended them to be. From the foregoing you will get a good general idea of the Keeley Treatment and its results. If you have a friend who is within the" power of that worst of all curses — alcohol — make him understand that help is within reach, and that the doubts and mor- bid fear that hold him back are utterly without foundation; that the friend who urges him has no selfish motive, and will ask him to do nothing that will ever be a source of regret ; that he is not in a condition to be the best judge as to what should be done, and in this way persuade him to place himself in the hands of his friends, satis- fled, they are working for his welfare. After treatment, health, energy, courage and self respect will return, and his family and friends will have a hope and trust in him they could not have under the old order of things. I have given you no fancy picture, but cold, hard facts, the truthfulness of which can be tested by correspondence with those whose names are freely given by The Leslie E. Keeley Co. This is a practical temperance work, and its results are tangible, sure and permanent, carrying joy and comfort into homes where all is gloom. The happiest families I know, eighteen months ago could see nothing ahead worth living for. The record of what has been done by this work, is an almost endless story of men and women re- deemed from a fate worse than death, and from hundreds of happy homes all over this broad land goes up the petition that G-ocl, in His wisdom and mercy, may grant long life and strength for his noble work, to the gray haired old physician at Dwight. Yours Very Sincerely, F. M. HAVENS.