Page:Christian Science War Time Activities.djvu/234

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CHRISTIAN SCIENCE IN THE WAR

Rooms in Nantes were a center from which radiated healing, comfort and joy to the men in this area. They continued to do a splendid work until April, 1919, when the departure of the troops made their maintenance no longer necessary.

NEVERS

Christian Science War Relief Rooms were opened in the town of Nevers, France, in September, 1918. Situated at the confluence of the Nievre and Loire rivers, Nevers is almost the central point of France, being 157 miles from Paris. Its principal industry is pottery, which has been handed down from father to son since the seventeenth century. Aside from the pottery works and small mercantile establishments, Nevers is the center of an agricultural district. Like many cities of France, its history dates back to the old Roman times. The ancient Roman walls overgrown with ivy, the ducal palace of feudal times, the beautiful old cathedral of St. Cyr with its flamboyant Gothic architecture, the church of St. Etienne founded in the reign of Thierry II, King of France about the year 600, and several fine towers and gates, are all of interest to the visitor.

The Christian Science Rooms served not only the boys located in the Service of Supply branches of the American army in Nevers (locomotive repair shops, Quartermasters' Corps, railroad men, engineers and labor troops numbering about 25,000) but also the Hospital Centers of Mesves twenty-five miles north, Mars about ten miles south, Pouges les Eaux six miles north, and the Motor Repair shops at Verneuil twenty-five miles east. During the month of October,

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