, 1886-03-23
A TIRED-OUT PEOPLE.
BUSINESS DEMANDS, ExAcTINe Gil
MATE, AND ovER-woRK.
Our National Nervousness and Restless
ness-we Do Not Sleep Enough-Pity
for Tired Mothers and Housekeepers-
A Deadly Poison at Work.

Our National Neryousness and hestieea-
nsss-we Do Not Sleep Enough-Pity
for Tired Mothers and Housskeepers-
A Deadly Poison at Work.
Day after day one meets wearylooking
men and women, with faces so wan and
haggard that pity is the only instinct, and
not till we have said; Poor things, how
badly they looki' are we ready to ques-
ton, why are they sol Demands Of bust
ness, exacting climate, over-work and
general pressure In every direction has
heretofore satisfied us as an answer, and
In this as in a thousand other matters we
have folded our hands quietly, and been
content with merely wondering II any
remedy lay within our power.
In the meantime, however, an enthusiast
has been at work. Thank heaven we
are not yet too tired out TO produce them,
now and then, and that some of them will
let -protoplasm" alone and condescend 10
investigate the @plasms" OF everyday Iiv-
ing. He claims to have discovered a new
substance in the blood-a curious ONE
thing called fatigue material" and gener-
ated by over-action of muscles and nerves.
This enemy to sound growth and repair of
wasted tissue can only be destroyed by the
action Of the oxygen of the blood during
bAtDDf III ~ " AAoi ~ AAAAVAAd
and restlessness come from
the fact that we do not sleep enough to in
sure the destruction OF this ever-feeding
vampire. Thus far the statement can
hardly be said to have been scientifically
formulated, but whether true or not, the
fact remains that we take only about half
the sleep actually required
OLD n U SIN ALIKE.
That our ancestors in some points were
far more robust than the present genera
ton, came in great part from the fact
hat only the rarest occasion Of business
or pleasure kept them out OF bed after
midnight. Now, young men and maid
ems, old men and children's sin alike. Nine
o'clock may be the children's hour, but
what average American mother does or
der her 15-year-old son or daughter to bed
at that timer A Shrek OF remonstrance
goes up. School girls must study. At
least they call 1t study, but often the novel
shows its seductive pages behind the
grammar or dictionary. Parties, thea
tres, concerts make their demands,
and every call Is needed save that
OF poor Sleep. whose first sweet bloom
fades after midnight, as she fits away
among the melancholy ghosts, with
shrouded head and hollow voice crying:
"Custom hath murdered Sleep"
Tired mothers and housekeepers who
seek to meet all the demands OF this most
exacting time deserve only pity, and yet a
shade OF reproach must mingle with it,
for Is not the remedy nearer than they
think A little less rufhing and tucking,
fewer pies and cakes, fewer tides and
specimens Of bead-work and all other
works. 1t is these things that help to kill
the nursing babies, and 1000 times more
surely than marasmus and scarlet fever
and other disorders whose name is legion,
but should be only sleeplessness.
NATURE WILL HAVE HER REvENGEs.
The present generation inherits chronic
fatigue and Is not responsible for ii. But
for the coming one they are. The
climate Is exacting. The demands ON even,
quite, ordinary living are enormous; its
temptations equally SO. Tired nerves are
spurred TO activity by sensational methods.
Life becomes false, unnatural, full of vain
strife and hopeless hunger. Then follows
some great crime, and men wonder. Daily
they are growing more common. There is
faithlessness in high places, cunning and
trickery in the Notwithstanding institu-
ton, unnamable crimes where one looked
for honor and faith. The poison is work
ing more deadly, as II Is more subtitle than
anything more tangible. II sound
nerves and bodily fiber are eaten up by its
action, how is high purpose or faith to re
main unharmedy There is not a mother
in the land who should not take this to
heart, and with the gospel Of cleanliness
and simple living preach also that of sleep.
Emergencies demand its sacrifice at
times, and how can one make the offering
with no reserve force to draw uponi The
present time requires late hours, but let
the need Of pleasure or work be the excep-
ton and not the rule Of living. Nature
will have her revenge, and the time comes
when poisoned blood and nerves sin the
poor body in a deeper slumber han human
power can bring.-"C. w" in Phrenolog-
cal journal.