The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1882-11-23
A Plea Fer Sleep.

The truth is that the very rapidity of
our life, the wakcfulness and waseful-
ness of our times, the strain and drive
OF all pursuits, make longer periods Of
sleep necessary for us tn people liv-
ing in more quiet countries and at a
slower rate. We get tired enough if we
are well. and if we don't get tired
enough to sleep all over and clear
through, 1t is asgn of nervous disorder.
Sleeping is something more than n luz
ury for Americans, though the very op-
poSlto would be Inferred from our
habits. There is no way by which the
wear and tear, the drain and strain OF
American life can be ncutralzcd but by
large fcasls OF S!CoN every now and then,
| and generous allowance evc'v twenty
tour hours. Four hours work of q man
who is thoroughly awake and vitalizcd,
at the top of bis fnrult es, are worth
| more for all practical business or liter
airy or social purposes than fourteen
hours o weary muscles and aided nerves
and tlaccd impulses. The man at his
best IS worth 100 per cent. moro than
the same man fatiEucd, depressed and
dcmoraizcd. If he has no vital cleo
| tririty playing through him, he is a
WEAKNESS to others anu burden to his
own soul, if he is conscious of having
one. And to keep at this top condition
of fiber and faculty, he must be good
sleeper and sleep well. When Mr.
Eeecher was asked how he managed to
keep his congregation So wide-awake at
second service, he replied: "By tax
ing big dose of sleep in the afternoon.
1t is my sleeping that keeps my congre-
CATION awake" The time given to
SI I- Nf 4, 6
much gained, and at doubly enhanced
valuation.
1t is easy to say "slecp much and
Well;' but there are many unfortunate
people who cannot sleep much, and the
little sleep they get is disturbed and
"nrcSttul. How to sleep is n question
which, III some instances, taxes the skill
OF physicians to the utmost to answer.
Persons afflicted with insomnia are
often great sufferers, and their lives arc
shortened with the disease There are
persons who re ,uirc lch less sleep
than others, and it is useless ior them
to woo soft slumbcrs to their pillow,
for they will not come. a pccularity
| OF constitution is not disease and should
| not be doctorcd. with the disorder
known aS insomnia we shall not VEN
turc to deal But with the majority of
people sleep is regulated by habit, con-
vcnience, whim. They make it yield to
every consideration. People who would
not omit meal on any account will
throw away half their allowance of sleep
for the mercst triilc. They DO not feel
the importance Of giving the system its
fill Of unconscious refreshing, and hire
entertainers to clip of two or three
hours from the needed restorative in
the evening, and set an alarm clock tc
cut away an hour or more at day-break.
They seem to think that they can steal
from sleep with impunity, when it is
pretty much the only thing that pun
ishes ever, piIlcrcr of it as he goes
along. Others destroy the possibility
OF sleeping well by carrying all their
cares and troubles and gricts and am
bitiOns TO bed with thr1H, and one might
rs well seek rest on rack as with Such
bcdfcllows. The ability to lay off cares
| and pcrplcXitics, like one $ clothes, and
| dismiss everything that can excite the
| brain or disturb the emotions. may be
| gained by continuous clort even when
it is lost - Tn" RcUJ.' W.clW.