, 1890-12-04
A Noted Authoress Speaks
in Its Favor.
IT ALMOST WORKS MIRACLES
The Changes Wrought by Ev
One.Half Hours Quiet Slum-
Der Through the Day.
GElla Wheeler Wilcox.l

OtneT uWy VI loW ii,tic Siccp sue re-
auired. 81 was out to u reception
the other night" she said, "and did
not retire until after . o'clock. But
| was up at 8, as usual. think 1t
Is all nonsense to get into habit
of sleeping rs much rs some people
do. 1t Is II waste of precious time.
l never sleep in the daytime, and I
do not require more than six hours
of sleep at night at most" ..
Now, | had known this young
lady since she made her debut, and
I had known that she was not ex.
cessive In her social dissipations.
She was not in the habit OF over
weighting herself with heavy gar
ments. She did not indulge in in-
dIgestible food. Yet | had been sur.
prised to sec her fade and lose her
beautiful complexion and round
contour before she reached II.
An American girl who takes
proper care Of herself has more beauty
at - than she has at is, Among
my ucquaintauces | can think of
scores of girls who were uniformed
and uninteresting Mt Is, and who
were charming at "A and %. There
fore, could not understand why
this lovely girl had already begun
to wear the appearance of flower
which has been nlpped by frost.
But when she made her state
ment regarding her habit of late re-
tiring and early rising | understood
1t all
/ never yet heard woman de-
clare herself poor sleeper or an
early riser under all circumstances
who did not wear jaded and Worn
appearance.
never yet saw woman who
was renowned or remarkable for
having kept her youthful looks and
her health who was not good
sleeper and who, If she lost her early
hours in the night by social pleas
ures, did not make up for them in
the daytime.
All the cosmetics, all the massage,
all the beauty baths and physical
culture in the world can not do for
tagged checks and hollow eyes and
fatigued -blanched face what one
good hour of sleep every afternoon
will do.
Yon may tell me that you can
not sleep in the daytime; that you
are too nervous; that you are not
sleepy, only nerve-strained and are
excited. l tell you that the only
tonic for such complaints Is sleep,
and that you can sleep If you make
up your mind to do so and resolute-
ly lie down and compose yourself for
it, Perhaps the first day you will
not sleep, but IL you force yourself
to lie still you will rest and the next
day you will sleep.
Don't try TO talk with everyone
while you lie down---don't even try
I TO listen. When the nerves are
overtaxed IL Is very fatiguing to lis
ten to anything. l can recall occa-
sions where. after having been de-
prived OF the early night hours of
\ rest, | have composed myself for an
afternoon siesta and endeavored to
/ listen to reading or conversation,
and the effort has produced an al
most hystcrlcal state of the nerves.
| When 1 relInquished Ii and gave up
| wholly to the repose | needed, the
/ sensation was like falling through
miles of space into miles of downy
| space.
! 1 have seen pinched cheeks, hol-
low-clrcled eyes and blue lips trans
formed into plumpness, bloom and
brilliancy by even half an hour Of
sleep.
The two most beautiful women L
ever saw were the most devoted
worshipper of sleep. One of these
was u woman we'll past 40, and the
mother of five children. She had
retained the bloom of early youth
in her checks--a color 30 beautiful
that 1t was the wonder of all who
knew her casually. But her in
innate friends knew how resolutely
she guarded herself from tagged
nerves and wasted vital forces by
much sleep. Her five children and
her servants were taught that even
If the heavens showed symptoms of
falling her afternoon napwas not to
be disturbed.
] hear II great many ambitious
women complain that they have no
time to sleep. There Is so much to
do In the way of culture, pleasure,
charity, progress, etc.
We may as well decide early rs
late that we can not do everything
in this life. We must give up some
things. We can not acquire all the
accomplishments, all the languages
attend all the receptions, theaters or
lectures, sell tickets for all the bene-
fits, wait on all the bazars. So we
may as well resolve to take our
morning or our afternoon maps Mt all
events, and then do what we can
with the remainder of the day.
And If we get enough sleep we will
be surprised TO find how much we
can accomplish In IA few hours.
And If we do not sleep enough we
Will wonder why we are so languld
and why everything goes wrong.
The parents OF young daughters
are making u criminal mistake
when they urge their daughters up
in the morning after night broken
by social pleasures. Nothing they
can do for their daughters afterward
will recompense them for the In
jury thus inflicted OH outraged ma
turc.
| think some enterprising being
ought to rise up, and supplement
our physical culture" and "Del-
sarte" and 'massage" schools, by q
'slumber school,, where people will
be taught how to go to sleep at will
with an oiler of prizes To the pupils
who can fall asleep the most readily.