The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1889-08-31
THE WASTE OF NERVE FORCE.
Human Nature Nowadays UNDER
going a Heavy Strain.

Human Nature Nowadays Under
going a Heavy Strain.
Undoubtedly at no period Of the
worlds history has the physical sys-
tenn OF man had greater burdens i'm
posed upon it than during the present
generation. The pioneers in the set
Element Of this country had nature to
subdue, its forests to root up, Its soil
to bring under cultivation, and Its Wild
beasts to destroy; other generations
have the gigantic wars to carry on;
but these laborers required mainly an
expenditure Of physical strength
which, within certain limits, is easily
maintained. The invention in machin-
cry in almost every conceivable form
has lessened the draught upon bodily
strength, but many developments of
modern life have imposed the sew crest
strain upon the nervous system. The
constant excitement amid which we
live, the incessant activity and energy
which the ruthless competition OF
business imposes upon everyone who
would succeed, the noise and sense
lessness of cities. the haste, the worry
and the monotony OF daily life, added
to the thousand vexatious details
which enter into every busy
mans experience are comparatively
new elements in human life, under the
strain of which an increasing number
Of men break down every year, aud
which constitute burden which none
OF us find it easy to bear. Increasing
insanity, premature deaths, the early
loss of the signs OF youth, and rapid
ly enlarging list OF nervous disorders, /
are the certain indications that this
generation finds it difficult to adapt it
self to its environment, and that 1t Is
not engaging in pursuits and methods
of living unknown to its predecessors
without paying heavy penalties. From
the ranks of every profession, from
every department OF business, and per-
haps still moro from women and child
rem come warnings, while fretfulness,
irritability and silent misery in thou
sands Of homes, bear witness to the
heavy strain that human nature Is now
compelled to undergo.
Under such circumstances 1t becomes
necessary to give a wider publicity to
the caution which medical science is
all the time giving in private, but in
too many cases only after fatal conse-
quences have been incurred. The facts
seem to Indicate clearly that the ply
steal system can meet all the lawful
demands OF modern life, but that 1t can
not endure very much yielding to those
unlawful demands which man has here
tofore allowed himself under tho name
of pleasures, but which moralists have
called by the much less attractive
name OF sin. The lessons Of morality,
temperance, good nature and recrea-
ton are being t,ught to this generation
as they have never been taught before,
under the penalties of insanity, an in-
Vulnerable number of nervous disord-
ers or early death if the lessons are not
learned. The amount of lawful work
which healthy man can do is beyond
calculation. Up to a certain point
work, whether mental or physical.
simply increases ones power. Es-
pecially may the mental faculties con-
tinue to improve in quality far beyond
the three score and ten once marked as
the limit of human enjoyment. Over
work seldom Injuries any one. This is
only the excuse we make to others, or
by which we blind ourselves to our own
follies, or vices, or self-neglect. The
real cause of disaster is our narrow
range of pursuit, our intemper-
ance in eating and drinking, our
lack of timely recreation, our yielding
to anxiety or ill-temper. All these
thing are to the nervous system what
friction is in the running of machinery
"a tax upon power and needless
waste of strength. Let the man who
would live long and see his business
prosper reduce his friction to a mini
mum; let him avoid wearying mo-
notony by widening his range, by in
teresting himself in leisure moments
IN some of the many thousand delight
full fields of investigation which earth
affords, its science, literature, art or
music; let him keep his body pure, so
that his tastes, sensibilities and imag-
ination may be unimpaired; let him
avoid worry, learning, after having
done his utmost. to live by faith in the
Providence that watches over human
life. In such manner of life there is
no danger of premature decay of any
power. What the possible degree of
human endurance is can be seen In
such man as Lord Palmerston, who
said that an Englishman should be in
his prime at 80, in the case of Mr..
Gladstone, in Charles Drawn, who,
restricted by ill-health, performed an
amount of labor which would have
broken down man of narrower range
All the nervous disorders which are
SO frequent nowadays are the just PEN
alties of ill-adjustment. 1t may be
taken for granted that the present de-
velopment of civilization was designed.
that the physical system is abundantly
able to meet all its just requirements,
but it was also intended that man
should not waste his nerve forces by
subiecting them to needless strain, by
indulging in ill-temper. anxiety, dissi-
patton, or by combining himself, like u
slave, to restricted sphere. The
man who, in an age like this, under
stands but one subject, and loves but
one thing, ought to break down.
Some incurable and increasing nerv-
Gus disorder falling upon him in ma
lures proclamation that he is weighed
in the balance and found wanting. He
has made slave of himself when he
might have been free, has persued
pleasure at the expense of morality, or