Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1871-06-28
Concerning Sloepr

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There arc thousands of busy people
who die ovory year for want of sleep
1t may be that too much sleep Injuries
some; but in an excitablc people, aud
in our intense business habits, there is
far more mischief for want Of sleep
than from too much Of it. Sleepless-
ness becomes disease. 1t is the pro.
cursor of insanity. When it does
not reach that sad result, it is still ful!
of peril, as well MS ofsuifer;ng Thou
sands of mon have been indebted for
bad bargains, for lack of courage, for
inelfcotiyeness, to loss of sleep l.ttI
1t is curious that all the popular
poetical representations of sleeping
and waking are the reverse Of the
truth. We speak Of sleep as the
image of death, and Of our waking
hours as the image of life. But tho
activity Is the result Of some form OF
decomposition in the body. Every
thought, still more every motion, any
volition waists some part Of tho ner
vous substance, precisely as flame is
produced by wasting the fuel 1t is
the death OF some part Of the physical
substances that produces the phenom-
ena Of intelligent and voluntary life
On tho other hand, sleep is not like
death for il is the period in which
the waste of the system ceases, or is
reduced 10 its minimum. Sleep re-
pairs tho wastes which waking hours
have made. 1t rebuilds the system.
The night is the repair.shop of tho
body. Every part Of the system is
silently overhauled and all the organs,
tissues and substances arc replenishcd
Waking consumes, sleep replaces
waking exhausts, sleep repairs, wax.
ing is death, sleep is lite.
The man who sleeps little, repairs
little; if he sleeps poorly, he repairs
poorly. If lac uses up in a day less
than he accumulates at night he will
gain in health and vigor If ho uses
up all that he gains at night hc will
just hold his own. If he uses more by
day than he gathers at night he will
lose. And II this last process be long
continued. he must Succumb. a man
who would be good worker must see
TO it that lie is u good sleeper. Hu.
man life is like a mi,i sometimes the
stream is SO copious that one needs
care but little ahont his supply. Now,
often, the stream that turas tho mill
needs to be economized. A dam is
built to hold large supply. The
mill runs the pond pretty low through
the day, but by shutting down the
gate, the night reflls the pond, and
the wheels 90 mcrrily around again
the next day. Once in a while, when
spring rains are cop.ous and freshets
overflow, the mill may run night and
day but this is rare. Ordinarily the
mill should run by day and the pond
fill up by night
A man has as much force in him as
he has provided for by sleep. The
quality Of action, especially mental
activity. depends upon the quality of
sleep. If daytime is the loom in
which men weave their purposes,
night is the. time when the threads
are laid in and the filing prepared.
Men need nan average eight hours
Of sleep n day, or ono.thlrd Of their
whole time. A man of ymphatic
temperament may require nine. A
nervous temperament may require
but seven, or six, and instances have
boen known in which four hours have
been enough The reason is plain.
A lymphaiic man is sluggish in all his
r,,,s,5.'.H. O.. .~ ~...s, stp'sii" thinISs
slowly, eats slowly, digests slowly,
and sleeps slowly, that is, a!l the res
torativc acts OF his system 90 on slow
ly, in analogy with bis temperament.
But nervous man acts quickly in
every thing by night or by day.
When awake, he does more in an hour
than u sluggish man in two hours;
and so in his sleep. He sleeps faster,
and his system nimbly repairs in six
hours what it would take another one
eight hours to perform.
Every man must sleep according to
his tcmperant But eight hours is tho
average. II one requires a little more
or II little less, he will find it opt for
himself Whoever by work, pleasure,
sorrow, or by any other cause is reg
ularly diminishing his sleep, is de-
stroying his life. A man may hold
out for a time, but Nature keeps close
accounts aud no man can dodge her
settlements We have seen impover-
ished railroads that could not keep the
track in order nor spare the engines
to bc thoroughly repaired. Every
year track and equipment deteriora-
led By.and.by comes n crash, aud
the road is in n heap of confusion and
destruction So it is with men.
They cannot spare timo enough to
sleep enough They slowly run be-
hind. symptoms of general waste
appear. Premature wrinkles, weak
eyes, depression of spirits, failure of
! digestion, fcchlencss in the morning
and Overwhelming mcldhcholy-these
and other signs show general diapi-
dation. If, now, sudden calamity
causes an extraordinary pressure, they
20 down under it, They have no re-
sources to draw upon They have
been living up to the verge of their
whole vitality every day
There is great deal of iutcmper-
ance besides that of tobacco, opium or
brandy Men are dissipatcd who
ovcr.tax their systems all day and
under sleep every night Some men
are dissipaled by physical stimnlauts,
aud some 10y social, and some by pro
frssiunal and commercial. But u man
who dies of dcirum tremens is no
moro q drunkard and suicide than
the lawyer, the minister or the mer.
chant that works excessively all day
ard sleeps but lilllc all night.
Many a discouraged mother folds
her tired handS at night, and feels as
it she had, after all, doue nothing al
though she had not spcnt an idle
moment since she rose l. it nothing
that your little helpless children have
had some onc to come 10 with all