The St. Johns herald., 1896-07-04
Captain BeDSOn'S Statement. A REMARKABLE AND INTEREST.
 ING CAREER.
A Member of the First Kentucky Bat tery Who Was in Twenty Seven Hard Fought Battles and
 Taken Prisoner at
 Andersonville.

l 1 Hard Fought Battles and Taken Prisoner at
 l Andersonville.
 From the CdpitdlJourndI, Salem Oregon
 Salem, Oregon, can boast of no bet
 ter known private citizen than Captain
 William Benson. To the old residents,
 as well as to the school children, his
 figure is as familiar as that of Mt.
 Hood or the State capitol.
 Captain Benson, of the First Ken
 lucky Battery, detached from the 112th
 Illinois Infantry, is now seventy -four
 years old, and has taken part in
 twenty-seven hard-fought battles, be-
 sides a great many interesting skir-
 mishes. He is pensioned for injury in
 the breast, from concussion of shell,
 and for wound in the right shoulder,
 caused by leaping from car while
 being taken as prisoner from Ander-
 sonville to Pine Forest. For the past
 twenty years he has suffered almost
 continually from malaria and shortness
 of breath, and has been afflicted with
 rheumatism in the legs and shoulders
 to such an extent that he had not seen
 a well day in all that time. He was
 also afflicted with constipation and
 piles. Eighteen years ago MT. Benson
 removed from Illinois to Oregon, on
 account of his failing health, and since
 the close of the war has not been able
 to support himself by manual labor
 hoc 1o1 n,
 attendance by physicians of practice.
 To see him now, tipping the scales at
 21O pounds, enjoying regular health,
 his cheeks mantled with a fresh, rosy
 complexion, walking off proud and erect, with fresh, firm, vigorous step for man in his seventy-fourth year, is enough to make one believe in the possibility of Ponce de Leon's fabled Fountain of Youth.
 Captain Benson is not only a hero of the Civil War, but man worth con- siderable property. He says he would part willingly with his interest in all his earthly possessions rather than be placed back in the debilitated condition where he fingered for score of years.
 ''I suppose" said he, laughing, that what you are after is an adver- itsement for Pink Pills, but I want to say that I am very glad to give you this testimonial, as I am convinced it will relieve a great deal of suffering, if it can become widely known. I am firmly convinced, after an experience of over fifty years with both patent medicines and physicians, that if every family could keep those Pink Pills ill the house they would never need doctor. ''I have paid out over $1 ,000 for doctoring with the best physicians at Salem, but not cent for myself since a year and half ago. It was then that first heard of Pink Pills. got the first box at drug store, and had not much confidence ill them when 1 began to take them. I took one box before got much benefit, but by the middle of the second box the pain in my breast began to disappear, and the in my shoulder went away The shortness of breath was alleviated, and I began to sleep like an infant. For the first time in twenty years 1 realized the luxury of sound sleep, and my system began to recuperate.
 ''By the end of the third box it had taken away all my rheumatism and stiffness in the muscles and joints, and I began to feel as nimble as boy, and could do as good days work as ever, but for my wounds. enjoy the best health I ever enjoyed in my life. My natural weight increased from ten to twenty pounds. My flesh is solid and my skin is as clean and fresh as a baby's. I had tried every remedy under the sun for piles, but without relief. At times they were near kill ing me. Sciatic rheumatism had laid | me up in bed for months at time. Pink Pills have cured all these things | and have not felt an indication of piles or rheumatism for eight months. l People who see me now cannot believe | that I am the same man. My face looked drawn, my eyes were blood shot, my skin was scurvied, and could | not have had worse appearance if l had undergone starvation on an arctic | expedition. 1 can now eat whatever l have relish for, and all want of it, and it don't hurt me.
 fused to be constipated continually, and have taken wheelbarrow loads of | other pills, but never got perfect relief i until I tried Pink Pills. l am now taking two pills week, and sometimes | I go without them for month, and, as I said, I enjoy continuous good health. have got rid of rheumatism and everything else. Pink Pills per- form wonders. They go to work and fix up the kidneys and back and the whole system. Three days after first taking them you feel the effect all over. The worst trouble with me was, l had got so I could not remember any thing. My mind was clouded. A month after began taking Pink Pills | I first began to notice my mind become clear and active, and my memory is perfectly restored, happy change from the feeling of stupidity l had suffered. This medicine has fixed me up and made a new man of me. It is only the other day that Dr. Reynolds, Dean of the Salem Medical College, to me that I was looking hale and hearty. I said Yes, and no