Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-02
WEARING WEN OUT.
Business Habits nf This Age Are Lead
ing - Madness.

Business Hnbitsnf This Age Are Lead
ing - Madness.
From Cassell's Journal.
Business men are today being driven to
the madhouse as they were never driven be-
fore. And why? Chiefly because they can
not or will not allow themselves time in
which to refresh their jAded brains. Nature
has equipped us with oho more exquisitely
complex piece of mechanism than the brain.
1t Is capable of withstanding tremendous
strains, but because it does not always cry
out like our limbsg when it is tired, we are
apt to forget there is limit to it's endur-
ance. Like the pirate omnibus horse, it is
logged up hill and down dale until, after
mute protests, 1t finally collapses. How,
them can make tolerably sure of keep
ing sane? This question be best an
swered perhaps by citing few examples of
sane.
1Aere has lately died in the north of Eng
land a well-known accountant. who for
seven years never took holiday. In SPLEEN
did practice he was anxious to amasS
fortune and retire early. After being five
years in perpetual harness his brain began
to show signals of distress. He was not so
quick at figures as he used to be- nor so
accurate. 1t was plain that his mind re-
quired rest. He refused to obey the man
date of exhausted nature. however, and
brain gave way to such an extent that he
unable to repeat the multiplication ia
bic. Subsequently his mind became a total
blank: and, though perfectly conscious, he
died without even recognizing his wife.
Even doctors do not invariably keep sane.
popular member of the profession sue
cumbed to insanity last year. His brain
warned him of what was in store for him,
but he had jumped into big practice
which brought him big fees. The first indi-
cation of mental disturbance was his inabl-
ity to remember names of patients. I'm
paired memory Is certain sign of brain
exhaustion and want, of repose but the doc
tor disregarded it. The result was that he
developed into a hopeless idiot.
An enormous amount of insanity can be
traced to the habit INDUCED in by business
people of taking their work home with
them The men who achieve most success
in life and live to enjoy the fruits of their
labors are those who, combining their COM
mercial operations strictly to office hours.
devote their evenings to their families, or
to the pursuit of some hobby. The best
brain tonic is change of occupation. Yet
some of the richest men, while maintaining
their brains at concert pitch throughout
the day, spend their after-dinner hours in
devising plans for acquiring wealth The
disastrous consequences of their folly they
discover when it is too late.
One day about five years ago a city mer-
chant who boosted that he had never vast
ed an hour, ordered some soup at res
taurant. Strangely enough, Just as he took
the first mouthful his brain seemed to snap.
From that moment his gold might have
been so many bricks for all the use it was
to him, for he starved himself to death.
Nature had repeatedly held out the red
flag to this persistent money grubber. For
some time he had been unable to fix his at
tention on any subject: when writing his
flow of words was deficient and his spelling
inaccurate; but he preferred to thrash his
brain to destruction rather than lose few
sovereigns. Mind wandering is one of the
1lrst precursors of mental decay; but the
fault can be remedied by relaXation-by
forgetting the cares of business of even
ing and braciDg the ind with fresh inter-
estS. vi ar
Tradesmen are chronic sinners in this re-
spect EngrOssed with the idea OF get
ting ahead of their rivals, they can
scarcely help beingain these strenuous days,
they unnecessarily employ their evenings
in connecting new enterprises, overlooking
the fact that the brain is capa BILE of much
better things after it's fair share of rest
than when it is continually on the move. A
prosperous tradesman was placed in an
asylum a few months ago after threatening
to stab one of his most intimate friends
1t learned that he had long suffered
from headaches and that for a whole year
his mind had been occupied to the eXcu-
sion of everything else, in plotting how he
could crush an opposition shop In one of
his sane moments hes confessed that the
pressure his brain was such that he felt
it could only be relieved by the shedding Of
blood. 70
danger of overworking the brain-or rath-
er, concentrating it one spot so to
speak, for the brain is never overworked
If it is engaged on a variety of subjects
could be found than the case of a gifted
lady artist who, after shaving at a picture
for months and worrying about its ultimate
fate at an important exhibition, fell into
deep sleep which lasted nineteen hours
When she awoke her knowledge of art had
completely vanished.
One of the surest ways of ending ones
days in a madhouse is to stimulate tagged
brain by constant 'nips' of spirits. Over
indulgence in spirits injuries the memory to
an incredible degree. In years gone by no
person who was known to be of Incorporate
habits was permitted to appear as a wit
ness In the Spanish courts of justice, the
authorities maintaining that alcoholism was
so prejudicial to the brain that It was I'M
safe to accept the testimony of an inebri-
ate. There is a singular instance on record
of a merchant who grew 50 accustomed to
jogging his brain by brandy drinking that
unless he could procure nip he was ut
terly unable to work. Needless to say, he
generally left his office in a state Of intoxi-
cation. The day that his brain collapsed
he went home and insisted on putting every
member of his family to bed, under the i'm
preston that they, too, had drunk not
wisely, but too well.