Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-01-24

cramps. One must give thing the bene-
fit Of the doubt"
Have you tried making q light meal
OF crackers and cold meats just before
retiring?' asked Mrs. Gotham, returning
to the charge
Eyes. indeed! That's my favorlte
method. 1t never puts me to sleep, but
the meat tastes good. My favorite re-
firing dish Is lettuce and celery salad,
with a simple French dressing. That
ought to put me to sleep II anything
would, but instead IL always sets me to
think OF the way our garden out In Osh-
kosh used 10 look about the middle OF
May, and--proof! every bit of drowsiness
flies In a trice. But l haven't told you
some of the eccentric things 1 have been
induced 10 try. What, for instance. do
you say to large pan OF water set on
table near the bed? That was recon-
nended to me as a soporhc. Why, it
like curing the rheumatism by carrying a
potato in your pocket
did you try itY' asked Mrs. Gotham.
"Why. yes" admitted the western wo-
man alphabetically. you see, | had 10
out Of consideration for my friends feel
inss. / asked her, though. where was the
philosophy in it. She said there wasn't
any; didn't pretend there was any. She
wanted to know II there was any philoso-
that there wasn't rhyme or reason in IT,
livery wellr she said. You seel It's
q case Of set a thief to catch thief!
II don't think that the quotation was
very pat. but / tried the pan Of water,
Just the same. didn't catch anything,
except my pet mousse and / was rather
sorry about that. When | was lying
awake in the middle OF the night, the
mouse made 1t seem less lonely and dull
He used to nibble cheerfully at anything
he could find, and was really quite COM
panionable."
Mercy said Mrs. Gotham. Maybe
that was what kept you awake, having
a mouse gnawing and squeaking around"
mo; 1t wasn't; for after he came to
an untlmely death by falling into the pan
OF water I didn't sleep any better than
before. Somebody else said that If
would tie a feather Gust an ordinary,
goose-feather. you know to the end OF
string, and hang the string from the
ceiling, so that the feather would be
about a foot above my face, and then lie
there and watch it sway back and forth
"a l breathed on It, I would soon drop
off to sleep. Well, 1 said that l couldn't
possibly go TO sleep with a light in the
room; so the woman said that 1 could
hang up the feather just the same. and
then imagine l saw It floating backward
and forward.
81 thought I'd try It. There wasn't
| any way of hanging the feather from tho
ceiling, so I tied the string to the handle
| OF my umbrella and stuck that over the
| top Of the headboard. I got the feather
I'm what j considered the proper position.
| and then I put out the light and crawled
| in. l put up my hand cautiously, to
| locate the feather, and settled myself
underneath Wall pavar co
interested in anything in my lifel First
I would give a godd. strong blow-breezy
again, you see-and then / would put
up my hand to try to discover what the
fea ther was doing. You wouldn't believe
the tricks that feather played. I'd be
sure IL was off I'm one direction, when K
would be of in the other. Then / would
put my hand out al a certain point and
try TO blow the feather against it. Then
l tried TO bat the feather from one hand
TO the other II was so exciting, and
the fact that il was all I'm the dark, made
It doubly attractive. But 1 didn't go to
sleep.
Finally, realized that wasn't doing
Just the square thing by my friends sus-
gestion so l settled down TO let the
scheme have a chance. 1 was really get
ting sleepy, too, when 7 turned over with
little too much energy, and down cam
feather, umbrella, and ALT I tried II
the next night, and the next; but, either
the whole thing tumbled down, or slipped
enough to let the feather come down
and tickle my nose and ears; so / gave
It up.
81 tried another scheme OF my own
invention. The theory was all right, but
Il didn't work out as well as / should
have liked You know how soothing is
the sound OF the rain on the roof? Well,
my idea was TO attain the same end by
different means. 1t seemed simple
enough just left the door into the bath
room open, and then arranged the fau-
Gets 80 that there was a continual shower
In the tin tub. BY the way. you see there
are some advantages In not reaching
Cleanliness b. way Of china"
Mrs Gotham looked puzzled.
81 don't think / understand" she said.
'What has china to do with cleanlinessT'
Nothing at all, Mrs. Gothaml You're
perfectly right. was oniy-I was only
YOU didn't see the connection. but really
IL wasn't so bad. You know I haven't
porcelain tub. Well. porcelain Is china,
YOU see. so naturally / don't take my
baths I'm china Chats an improvement
on the way put 1t firsD You see now.
don't your =.
.Why, II think-of course. know"
"Tin tub" explained the western wo-
man anxiously. Not porcelain, conse-
ouently not china-oh. WE'LL never mindl
Talk about eating the bitter fruit OF ones
transgressions." she murmured to herself.