The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-20
TRICKS TO WOO SLUMBER.
SURE CURES FOR INSOMNIA TRIED
M THE WESTERN WOMAN.
A.. Many OF Then as There Are Ways o!

she not only looked IL, out sno was IL, and she
gave her friend, Mrs. Gotham, to understand
that unless something happened. and happened
soon, something else would be sure to happen,
and she knew i'll Mrs. Gotham said she under
stood perfectly. 1t was too bad, she agreed, and
she offered the Western woman the address of
n lady physician " who was splendid.
ut amt q physician l need. !" said the Western
woman YEARLY; Its sleep. II / could sleep
the way l used to In Oshkosh I'd be as good as
new. But l can't. Tile awake hours and hours,
and, as l said. IL something doesn't happen, l
don't know what's going to become of me!'
"Iknow," said Mrs. Gotham briskly. you're
going to have nervous proutration, and thatll
run into melancholia, and then you'll commit
suicide. That's what will become OF you
The Western woman gaspod.
is this ono Of the programmes which are
subject to change ?" she asked with a quizzical
smile. You seem to be so we'll informed"
Change? or course you can change 1t! All
You need to Ito Is to drink a glass of hot milk
before you 20 to bed. You'll sleep like a baby"
The Western woman made o gesture OF pro-
test.
But l cant drink milk she said. "lt dis
agrees with me, and would keep me awake II |
were fairly dead sleepy"
oh" said Mrs. Gotham. She was taken
aback. but 1t was only for a moment. We'll
u shlu, hhNo you tTIcu COuulluE
The Western woman gave her n rcproachful
look.
Have | tried counting ~ she said. "Wun-t-
three-fr-ive- why. I've counted millions. and
the more | counted the wider awake ! got"
"Oh. but you mustn't count fast like that.
Hon must go s~-l-o-w-l-y."
know. | know! Observation-Disclosures
oh, I've done that till was black In the face. -
And 1t didn't do any good ! Well. SEQ you
are an obstinate case. What you need is to
count this way, inhalinR and cxhalink slowly
on the same count: Wu-un. two.oo. threc-ue,
fo-our, and so on"
L TO twenty-five" interrupted the Western
woman. Yes, | know all about that, ana
know a still better plan. You inhale and exhale
the same way. but instead of counting straight
ahead, you go this way: One, one, two; one.
two, three; one, two. three. four. and so on.
That will always put you TO sleep If you are
sleepy enough. WHAT | want is something that
would make the pictures on the walls doze off,"
Well have you tried hot footbaths
Yes. hot ones, that blistered my joints and.
in addition to that, cold ones that chilled my
very marrow. And I've even tried putting one
foot in a hot bath and the other in a cold one ut
the same time. didn't know but I might hap.
pen on the very thing | wanted: but 1t didn't
have any effect except to give me chllls and
fever next day"
Mrs. Gotham looked downcast.
I've tried everything that anybody sug-
gested," resumed the Western woman YEARLY,
and nothing does any good. DO these thiLg Is
ever do any good? Did you ever hear OF any
body's putting himself to sleep by any OF these
tricks? | believe people who can't sleep lilo
awake making them un. and, l must say, some
Of them are fairly diabolical. For instance.
some one of an inEeniously cruel turn of mind
told mo that l must elevate my feet higher than
my head If l wanted to go to sleep. l took the
suggestion in good faith, and that night l put
my pillow under my feet instead Of in its Gus
tomary position. Well. after / had stood on my
head for an hour or two l did go to sleep at last.
But such sleep! l dreamed that a big green
dog was sitting on my chest and bowling alter
nately in one OF my ears and then in the other"
"1don't suppose you did find that pleasant"
said Mrs. Gotham sympatheticaliy.
No, but l found IL pleasanter than l did my
next experience. You sec, l told the woman
who had suggested the plan what | thought of
1t and of her. and. il you'll believe me, | was
goose enough TO let her bamboozle me again.
She told me that l ought to have left the pillow
under my head, and then have put my feet on
something a good deal higher. Well. l thought
that maybe the fault had been mine. It sny
rate, l was willing to make another trial. So
that night, when | went to bed. / cast about in
my mind for something to put my feet on. l
had only one extra pillow. so that would not be
enough. There wasn't u hassock In the room.
80 ! concluded TO pile up II lot of books in the
foot Of the bed and put the extra pillow on top
OF them. and my feet Oil top OF the combination
How Ingenious" said Mrs. Gotham. Did
1t work p
"Well. not any to speak Of. | did most of
the work. AS often as the books topplcd over
which was pretty often piled them up and
got myself into sleeping order again. or course
l didn't sleep. ] didn't have a chance to. But
1t wasn't monotonous. 1t was too exciting in
fact. and finally l concluded to abandon my
library attachment and try the footboard.
This wasn't easy because it necessitnted my
hanging the clothes over the foot of the bed in
stead of tucking them In.
II will say this for myself" continued the
Western woman after n pause. II thought il
would happen. When l got back into bed and
Rlngerly drew the covers up as far as | dared. ]
felt morally certain that they would never stay
whore they belonged. And they didn't-they
didn't! think | had worn myself out the early
part OF the night taking care Of my circulating
library. AT any rate. whether it was from sheer
exhaustion or not. fell asleep with my feet up
on tho footboard. | suffered various tortures
without waking up entirely. but, finally. when
| dreamed that my feet were frozen tight In an
Arctic iceberg and my head was being rapidly
buried by a Sahara sand storm. il seemed TO DO
high time for me 20 got back 10 my proper
senses. did. and it was Just IN the NICK OF
time To escape dying the death ct DrSdemonH.
The covers, OF course, had stenlthily crcpt down
from the mountain top OF my toes and settled in
drifts in the valley where my head lay"
What II breezy way you have OF putting
things" said Mrs. Gotham.
DO you think soy That comes OF living in
Oshkosh. We have cyclones out our way, and
we get into the habit of being breezy. But any
way, my experience In trying TO sleep has been
enough to wake any one up. There. | didn't
mean thnt literally, hut II Is true just the same.
! Der another method was advised To
try; it. WAS to lie fiat an my back. with my arms
down Mt my sides. then bend my feet slowly up
ward and DOWN. ard from the ankles, was 20
bend them as far as | possibly could and Ighalu
aud cxhRle rs | did it,
" Was the plan u success y
on, IA glowing success! But in tho wrong
direction. 1t produced the most eXcrucluting
cramps IN tho sOles OF my feet and the calves ot
my legs, 80 that | didn't get 10 sleep until morn
Ing. But, OF course. there's no telling how 1t
wOuld have worked IL | hadn't had those cram ps.
One must give II thing tho benefit OF the doubt"
Have you tried making alight meal OF crack.
ers and cold meats Just befors retiring ~ asked
Mrs. Gotham, returning 10 the charge.
Yes, indeed! That's my fayOrite method. 1t
never puts mo to sleep, but the meat good.