The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-01-17
WOMAN'S% AFTERNOON NAP.
<MyrH OFTEN PURsUED, ~ UT Sell
DOM OA 10 mr. AND tanned.

Erect OF = Nap n . wonsn Could Oniy
Take N-Experienes OF ons Womsr.
Women have their traditions. One Of them is
the afternoon NAP. This myth 10 an elusive.
will o. the wlsp sort Of thing. Women arc
always on the point Of capturing and domesti-
eating II, but II almost invariably gets away.
Still they keep on talking about II. They say
my afternoon nap - tif thsy owned and IL
could take It out daily ana enjoy II. But that
II all q pretence.
Occasionally they own up 10 the truth. wo-
men haven't so great . prejudice AGAINST truth
- they are discredited with having. Onco In
while they like 70 surprise themselves with an
absolute Truth. They like novel sensations.
But then. when they toll tho truth. they tell 90
much Of II, and so fall Into error, and repent
the day.
But, of course, this does not apply to the af-
tcrnoon nap. At least, not always. When.
however. q woman tells q friend. In q burst OF
conversation. that che 10 always cheated out OF
her afternoon nap; that somc ons calls. or the
plumber comes. or she has letters TO be written.
or somethingi and then, tho next time the
friend comes. has her sent away on account Of
being deep in the afternoon nap. she may as
we'll mako up hor mind 70 trouble. The only
way to do 10 to q advertise to your friends . theory
that your nap Ia inviolable. In that way II may
become q reality as wcll ~ . theory.
II would be rather interesting 70 know how
many women celebrated Resolution Day with
the following determination
"Thi year I mean 10 have my afternoon nap
regularly. no matter what hsppensl'
After obtaining Statistics on this point Il
would be amusing TO know In how many cases
this resolve has been realized. II would be like
tho proverbial stop from tho sublime TO the
ridiculous. only In this case IL would be to the
pathstlc. Women who have q regular afternoon
nap are like tho people who have seen ghosts.
You are always hearing about them. Your
friend knows some one whose mother has
q half hour dozs svcry day. Your husbands
grandmother took = fftcen.minute nap
every day Of her lifo. That was the secret Of
her extraordinary state Of preservation In good
looks and good temper. The boldness Of his
suggestion makes you do anything but revere
the memory Of your husbands grandmother.
The "woman's page" Of some paper relates
ecstatically how a famous dame Of fashion re-
CARDS her afternoon nap as sacred. II says that
tho divinity that doth hedge Z king 10 dimsy
fancy compared with that which surrounds this
society woman whom sho has an appointment
with her afternoon nap.
But that 10 tho way II goes. You are always
hearing about ghosts and reading Of haunted
houses. But nothing any more supernatural
than lobster salad ever troubles -FOUR own SUM
bers. The houses you live In ara never haunted
BY anything except rata and Croton water bugs.
And tho afternoon nappcrs are Just As hard to
locate. There are mono OF them In your own
immediate. living family or connections. They
have either died off-always, so you arc told. at
a good old aRe-or they live where you cannot
20 to verify the reports Of their slumbers.
Nc ono denies that tho afternoon nap is q
good thing. some people 90 into statistics and
say that so many afternoon maps OF fifteen
minutes each will add = rear to ones life" or
course. no one will be able either TO prove this
or dispute IL until souo ono succeeds In living
two simultaneous lives. with and without naps.
But whether It adds years to . life or not Il
certainly adds comfort and health to II. and no
woman ever gives up her hope of making It .
regular institution Of her daily existence.
The history OF tho afternoon nan is som ething
like this:
MoSDAy-Mrs. Busy. who lives In . New York
nat and has q cook. two children. and shusband
quitting them in the order Of their relative I'm
portance) thinks that she will make II . point
to take n nap every day this week. Her hus-
band is down town at business. The tsn-yesr-
old boy Harry Is ut school; he will DO homo at
$3.50. Tho siI-year-old boy can perhaps be con-
fined In tho dining room. whore tho cook can
keep an eye on him. Tho cook 10 informed Of
this plan aud says that II will DO all right.
And. Susan. you won't disturb me on any
consid GRAFTON. you understand"
Susan says she understands 'pairfect" Mrs.
Busy goes TO her room. 1t 10 next to the dining
room. She closes tho door. lies down with =
sigh of relief, and composss herself for slumber.
How simple a thing after all. this taking an
afternoon napl Just say you will do It and
thud! followed by a howl from the dining room.
She Ia on her feet with o bound and inside OF the
dining room door before her loosened garment
have had q chance to succumb to the laws Of
grav.tatlon. The six-year-old has climbed on
tho table In order TO mako . speech and has
fallen of. That's all. But II takes longer TO re-
pair the damages than IL did to fall OF the table.
and tho ten-year-old comes storming In before
peace is restored. wsll-to-morrow
TUEspAY-The same conditions; cook. chill
dren. and husband similarly distributed. This
time tho six year-old receives an unneco sAry
warning against mounting tables. The cook
again understands. Once more Mira Busy lies
down with q sigh Of relief. . little less confident
to-day. No thud. No howl. II 10 encouraging.
Still. she never had supposed the walls were 90
thin. She can hear Susan In the kitchen:
I'm . huntin' for dat bully
An he mus be foua,.
II she can hear Susan. who Is in the kitchen,
30 plainly As that. II does seem strange to her
that she can't hear anything ct all from the
8-yeAr.old who is In the next room. She lifts
her head from tho pillow: strains her ears.
Not a sound! How silly Of her. anyway Still
Il certainly Is q tribe queer. II she could only
She tries to think what psartluSisr oppor,unitis;
for mischief tho dining room anords. Al she
goes over them In her mind, they seom to bs
lnlimi,ed. Oh. well: why pIolons tho doscrlp-
crack. and finds thar tho o-year-old has ap-
propriAtod the only afternoon nap in tho fiat.
He Is stretched ont on the floor With his head
on q rug furnished by Susan, who announces In
l0-horsc-powerw whisper that she has sung the
little angel TO sleep.
Observation-Disclosures are changed. Mrs.
Busy, profting by tho oxperionce of the day
before. puts the 6-yoar-old into his own little
bod With injnnotions TO repeat the nap OF tho
day before. She INDUCES hersolf In tho dream
that sho can entlce two afternoon maps into her
household that day. The e-year-old'a room
opens FROM hers- He has insisted that tho door
BIO left open.
Ar you there. mAmmAf ="
Yes. 30 quiet now and go TO sleep"
shall l say my prayers nrstr"
hut I always say them before I 20 to Sleep"
"0h, very we'll; you may say them."
but you must coma aud hcar me-"
In order to save time, Mira. Busy superintonds
the derotions.