Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1889-11-28
VICTIMS OF INSOMNIA.
They Form Very Large Majority Of
Daily Brain Workers.
Torturing Decisions That Haunt the Sleep
less Whom Wooing Tired Natures Restorer
Afflicted Wretches Who Would Give
Worlds for a Spora

eiupto uuu NNsicSh luilp III tht WpIlu
This Is the popular Wow OF going to
sleep. And yet this popular view is
not of universal application. There
are those to whom the attainment Of a
substantial snore IL what tho coy eyes"
Of sweet young thing is to tho impas-
stoned lover.
The man who doesn't sleep either
rotires very early or very late, lie
adopts tho latter under tho vain de-
fusion that the longer no remains from
bed the more no narrows tho space
which separates him from dreamland.
This Is no more sensible than the act
OF tho intoxicated person who leans
against tho corner OF his room waiting
Tor his bod to come around whore he
Is.
Sleep seems to have tho ability to alt
and stay awake as long as you. The
man afflicted by insomnia. who Is tho
last To go TO bed, late at night Is no
nearer sleep than he would have boon
had he gone six hours earlier.
The sleepless victim who retlres
early 10 tho less coward, He faces his
fate boldly, II he gain no sleep by 1t
no has ut least the merit OF not at
tempting to dodge his enemy. lle 10
careful not TO disturb this bit OF
somuoloncy He disrobcs himself as
gently rs II no were II slumbering In
liant He tries not to think. .iIo often
falls into do2o when he has gotten
into bod, when he awakos In u second
or two with the idea that he's about to
go TO sleep, u conviction which Ghocks
like u piece OF Ice on his spine. He
comes in an instant TO full conscious
ness, His eyes unclose and are glued
open, IL may be that he has not slept
. single minute during tho proceed ing
threo nights, and yet no Is rs wide
awake and no more sleepy than II he
had just been aroused from u sound
slumber OF ton hours duration.
Now, the man who doesn't sleep finds
himself with wide staring eyes; and he
1T once commences, soriatm u
thousand idiotic operations. | have
lain and counted. ! have counted all
there Is 10 count, forward and back
ward, by tlvcs, tens, ilitios and in
every other possible way. have add
cd them, subtractod, multiplied Thorn
aud extracted tholr square and cube
roots.
have started sheep over fen co
counting each rs IL sprang over. |
have continued this till the sheep
counted would more than cover farm
Of 10000 acres nm fully prepared
TO swear that tho sheep counting BUSH
ness, rs means inviting slumbcr, is u
mean humbug. With me IL is played
out.
Another cure for insomnia IL TO fast
en- tho eyes immovably on u speck in
the wall. At u hotel one night, had
exhausted the sheep aud pulse business
md all other available remedies savo
the speck-curc. AS n dernier resort |
foil back on this remedy. Conveniont-
ly and directly above me on tho cell
ing caught sight OF what seemed the
black head OF n nail. On this fasten-
ed my vision with the intensity that u
mariner would Tx his gazo on Il lamp
in u distant lighthouse, TO lose view
of which would be instant destruction.
The man who doesn't sleep Is never
ut the end Of his resources. Trying
to look mentally at the end OF his nose
Is one Of the panaceas highly recon-
mended TO produce sleep Another
method is to tic u handkerchief about
the hand.
All! the indcscribablo wretchodness
and horror OF chronic insomnia! II Is
filled with torturing delusions. The
wido-a-walSe victim will hear tho clock
strike tho hour, and after mn age will
fall into slumber He awalSes sud-
denly with gl,td feeling. He has slept
for hours. II must be daylight, and
he looks eagerly Mt the windows to SOC
II there are any Indications Of dawn.
Tho solemn clock begins to strike.
I he last hour struck was 10. "Onem
10 is o'clock, sure! He has slept
nearly two hours. "Twov' He has
slept three hours. Glory, halleluiah!
Three 1t is 3 o'clock, aud his
heart swells with satisfaction. "Fourm
Better and better! The horrible night
mare which has bound him is suddenly
wrenched from him Ms were the tenta-
cles Of the devil fish which inclosed
the body OF Giliatt. "Four" lie Is
cured. "Five!n Six hours sleep! His
soul ovcrllows with an ecstatic JOY.
six" Why, it must DO past day
light. Tho curtains must be all closed
so MS TO shut Off the light"
"Sevcnm What. no light yetp lie
eagerly scans the blacknoss. Let mo
once more see the blessed day. Ilo
rushes to n window, pulls back the
curtain and gazos. Nothing but dark
ness, profound, impenetrable. A pres
sure falls on his heart and groves
weghtior as the memorable clock
strikes Eight Miner "Tenrn
..Eleven!" "Twelve!" 1t is mcknight
and his sleep. his remumerative slum-
Der, did not extend over u single min
ute
Insomnia Is not pain; that is, ply
steal pain. IL Is something In the ma
turc Of u blank, u dead, level, sandy
desert on which there rests dull
glare. One thinks incess lntly and in
cohcrently. An impression inserts
itself in the vagrant thoughts to the
effect: III i don't sleep soon, IL is
idiocy, heart disease, or DEATH" I'm
der the influence OF this impression, the
insomnia, which, mt the start, was the
symptom OF some local disorder, be-
come itself disease
One lies with open eyes staring into
the darkness. The dire possibilities OF
the future, the interruption to business.
the ardent, intense desire TO sleep, all
fit through the night, like dim and
rienacing phantasm5. The days arc
oppressive. The BODY is weak. tn Q
brain confused. the blood sluggish
An overpowering tendency to sleep
possesses the tired frame. He throws
himself down on a bed with the i'm
preston that he must and will sleep
for weeks; he drops into doze and an
instant later wakes with u start, and
then Is MS wade awake as ever; II wick
ed man he filings off the covering with q
bitter malediction, and with a tired
frame and dulled soul resumes his
daily task.