The National tribune., 1892-03-24

BY FE IIX L. oSwAI ID, n. %.
CHkPsER EXXNV1.
EIaHI, WORK.

Can cur constitution adapt itself to the
habit of working at night ?" is a question which
a prominent modern Psychologist answers as
| fellows:
"R1pn, like the plurality of his fellow-crea-
| lures has adapted himself to the rule OF Sleep
| ing away ,he dark hours and rising with the
sun. By reversing that rule we have to strug-
gle against the current of .aherted tendencles
| and take the risk Of the Consequences
Still, it remains true tle night york Is one
ofthe unavoidable contingencies of OH complex
civilization, and for many city.dweiiers the
| only question is how to obviate the worst FISK
| OF a rcessary evil.
| Those. for Instance, who can devote at least
| portion If every night to sleep may often hesi-
tate between the alternative OF late aud early
| hours. Shai! they work beforc or after mid
| night?
Soldiers on guard duty have often the choice
| of what tho officers of the United States Army
| ca i the "nunber OF the relief" Every private
| soldier on guard is assigned to one OF three
| reliefs or watches, and in Summer, when the
| nights short, may have his cholce hetWeen
mounting post in the late evening, at mid
| night, or early in the morning. in som" Euro
pean armies and OIL board of most merchant
vessels the choice is moro limited, and turns
| only on the question of keeping awake before
| or after mid iSht 8 to l2 p. m., or midnight to
4 in the morning considerable plurality of
| men would prefer the former alternative. a
| fellow doesn't like to be aroused ont OF his best
| sleep; better get done with all bother and have
the rest of the night o ones self"
But where night vigils involve the necessity
| of brain work the preference should generally
| be reversed. At the end OF busy day the brain
| naturally resists the attempt to rouse its ener-
| gies, and but few can resist the temptation to
| solve that difficulty by the use OF stimulants.
| Lord Byron did most of his writing at MD
night He would sit down ut 10 or III p nj. to
L.. Int Ia
| be called it. After an hour of those prelimi-
nares he went to work in earnest and wrote on
| till the tide Of his thoughts began TO ebb, when
he would resort TO his specific OF setter and gin,
write himself into sort OF fever, and retire at
| 3 in the morning :" to dream more than TO
sleep" Al II he was generally up again, ana
| began his days work with a dose e. breakfast" "
| would hardly be the right wordl Of very strong,
| black tea without sugar milk, to straIghten
| out his hag-riddcn feeling; then mounted his
| horse. passed good deal of the afternoon in the
| saddle, and dined at seven. His extreme fru-
! gaity in the choice Of his solid food counter
! acted the evil consequences OF those habits TO
! some degree, but he always remained subject to
! fever, brought on by any kind of over-exertion
"a ofton As by climatic influences. and owed
| his premature death to a few weeks residence
| in a country frnged with coast-swanps, but
| not malarous enough to Affect the health OF
| his travelng-coupan
The German poet, Schiller literally worked
! himself to deathsby his habit OF locking him
| self up at 10 p M, with supply OF writing
material and strong, black coffee, to emerge, wan
| and exhausted. in the small hours Of the morn
| ing.
Thomas Carlyle contracted his dyspepsia in
| the same way, but changed his habits IN time
! to avoid more serious Consequences. and alter
the completion Of his fortieth year made it a rule
to finish the more labOrious part of his daily
task in the afternoon. The arrival of such Wis.,
! itors rs Emerson or Lord Jeffrey tempted him
| to change his usual ed-hours, and stormy
sessions" as he called them, were often pro-
tracted till long after midnight; but gIgIl5 OF
| that sort, somehow or other, rather stimulated
| him than otherwise, and he could get up at lU
| the next morning az if nothing had happened.
| Night-work, in the more liberal sense, on the
| other hand preyed on his vitality in way
| which he knew would have soon overcome the
resistance of his fought country Scotch consti-
| tuition.
| A number of Inquiries addressed TO promi
| nent writers by the editor OF literary journal
have however, elected the fact that many city
| bred men and women manage to reconcile the
| enjoyment Of fairly good health with the prac-
| tice Of retiring early aud rising soon after mid
| night to improve the silent hours" for BRAIN
work. In many of our large commercial cities
the racket Of street traffic continues till ii p.
m, but ahates after midnight, and between l
a. m. and the arrival of the first market
wagons a lover OF peace may rely on three or
| four comparatively quiet hours. There are in
| divduas to whom that advantage alone would
compensate the loss Of few hours Of sleep.
eff am listening 10 the shriekiug of engine
whistles and tie yclping Of omni present curs !"
| says the philosopher Schopenhaner, cannot
help suspecting that gardening and carpenter
! ing rather than DetaDh vscs is the natural
| occupation of bipeds OF our species. If we had
| really been created for abstract speculation
nature would have had the kindness to provide
| us with ear flaps, rs well AS with eye-lids."
| The plan OF utilizing the early morning
| hours saves thinkers of tnat type the necessity
OF taking refuge III the country (where, by the
way, their hopes may he disappointed by the
| serenadcs of "OmnipTe50nt ours y. and, more
| over, few hours of sleep in the evening gives
| the brain chance to prepare itself, in moro
| than way, for the coming task. The eXpe-
rience that our thoughts will arrange them
| selves by unconscious cerebfatOn" at night
is expressed in the phrase sleeping problem
| over" and the knowledge of that fact has saved
| many people from unnecessary worry.
| sensible business man o. Liverpool. England,
was informed that during his temporary
| absence his assistant had summoned detect
| i've to inquire into the mysterious loss of n
| bank vault key which one Of the clerks had
nislaid, but to save his life, could not have
| membered how or where. After few minutes
| interview with the young man, the manager
| in.chief was satisfied that the services of the
| police could be dispensed with. 1" am sure
that no one in this bank knows anything about
| this lost kew" he told the defendant, "aud you
| may have put il away somewhere yourself;
| but you have been worrying yourself so much
about it that you have forgotten where.
Don't fret about ii any more now. but 20 to bed
tonight with the assurance that il will be all
right; get a good nights sleep, and in the
morning you will most likely remember where
you have put that key" The reporter of that
| incident adds that the prediction was actually
| fulfilled the key " was found the next morning
| in some extraordinary secure place, which the
| clerk had not previously thought of but in
which he then feftt Sure he must himself have
put it,"
Tho aid of 3" cerefffation in sleep" can be ap-
| piled to problems of the Judgment well az
| of the memory. 1t way his habit" says the
| bographer of a famous inventor "wheuever a
difficulty, arose to carefully consider the exact
result he required and having satisfied himself
upon that point he would direct his attention
| to the simplest mode in which the end could be
| attained. With that Wow he would during the
day bring together in his mind all the facts aud
principles relating TO the case, and the solution
| of the problem would usually occur to him in
the early morning after sleep"
Persons who have any similar task in store,
such as the answering of letter requiring q
prompt reply to decide questions of ofimportance,
will find it ont and out the best plan to give
isI,,