The evening times., 1899-01-14
A sLEEPLFss MILLIONAIRE.
4 Niscou~in Man of Fortune and
Method Who Could Not sleep.
LIIom Nd lMIC3g0 IrlhuncI


For fifteen years Edward Balm the mil
lonafre wagon manufacturer Of Kelosha
Wis. who died on Sunday at Pasadena,
Cal, never occupied a bed or wCosd s.eep
by assuming a reclining posture. Sitting
bolt upright in a high backed chair. or ly-
ing back in chair which tilted at a
slight angle, he let his head fall upon his
breast and dozed away for the few min
utes Of half-sleep which il seemed his
body was generally content with having.
Sometimes he did not sleep more than
thirty minutes in The course OF a night,
dividing this into snatches Of five. seven
or ten minutes, and rising in the frequent
intervals TO take long walks about Keno
sha. There was however, nights when he
secured nearly the average quota of
sleep. possibly an hour at time, rising at
the end Of that time for relaxation before
returning to the laboTious eudeaYor TO
entice forgeIfulness.
Four times a millionaire, by the estl-
mate, of his friends. he did not use b s
Golfers 10 help him in the contest he
waged against the houTg ass. He did not
seek variety: instead he assigned TO every
part of the day a particular routine.
schedule which he never broke. II was
this pecuIiarity of method. the result of a
merciless self-discipline that brought on
in the first instance. says his physician,
DIR, G. H. Ripley the malady which was
destined TO be his constant companion.
Bv method. also. he in all probability ios-
tered the disease. Always nervous man,
he found after sixty years of hard labor
that he could not sleep. Previous TO that
time he had never tried TO sleep.
Then suddenly he found himself man
of leisure The Balm Wagon Company be-
came in 1882 a corporation and he its presi-
dent. AS Edward Balm, the proprietor
there had been never ending employment
for him; as Edward Balm. president, ne had
nothing TO do but attend an occasional
meeting OF the board OF directors anu VI !"
his dividends.
DR.. Ripley asserts insomnia was not the
result of any discernible physical i'll. The
mechanism of the mans brain appears sim
plv to have undergone a subtle change that
made it an example of continuous motion.
Mr.. Balm constituted himself his own
doctor and seems 10 have reasoned that
system might again restore him TO nor
nal state He did not care to return to
work but he sat about celebrating daily
time card For six months of the year
the period he spent at Kenosha, there was
no shifting of the programme for any
cause whatever.
Awakening from his nap with the ap-
pearance of the first light in the east, he
was hurried by his attendant TO bath
fresh garments. In matters of attire he
was scrupulOus TO the last detail. After q
light breakfast he walked from the house
a short distance to a horse block where
his buggy awaited him.
On the outskirt of Kenosha Mr.. Balm
owned large tracts of land, fenced into
farms, and for the most part cultivated
| The gates opening from one field to anoth-
| er were Of the sort man in carriage OF
wagon can open without alighting. Fol
nearly four hours MIR. Balm drove from
! farm to farm locking at every object, but
! never speaking to his tenants.
At 10 O'Clock every morning he was sci
| down on the platform at the Chicago and
Northwestern depot. An employe took the
| rig home and Mr. Balm and the attendant
! came into Chicago. From 1880 o'clock
! the time of the trains arrival at the Wells
! Street station, until 3 O'Clock in the after
neon, he was on board street car. He
rode for one hour and forty-fve minutes
in one direction, timing himself. and ther
returned by the same route 10 the depot to
| step upon the train which bore him back
| to Kenosha.
During his street car rides Mr. Balm sat
always on the right side of the car. Al
| the halfway point he secured his lunch
a glass of some mild beverage and sand
wich. When he reached Kenosha at about
4:30 o'clock in the afternoon the buggy
was awaiting him at the platform. He
climbed into it and made the same round
! Of the farms he had made in the morning
| He took dinner with his family in the
evening and after the meal came down
| town. going either to the Grant House OF
to one of the saloons. He did not drink
but took a seat and talked with his friend:
| and neighbors.