The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-09-23

In Woman's World.


J, as useless; at once, the strain being taken
of, the worn-out brain takes its rest
/ the sleep which has been so longed for
comes at last. A great physician has truly
said: s"The body will always rest ii the
mind will let it."
Some years ago when house physician
| at a london hospital I used to expert
| ment on this subject. On my midnight
rounds I would frequently receive COM
1 plants of sleeplessness from weary pa
tents, often when there was no pain or
| other definit reason for it. I would say
to them:-"Oh, it doesn't really matter,
| you are resting all right; 1t won't do you
any harm; just lie awake and think how
| comfortable you are here" Or the weak
err natures / would say, Nurse shall
J bring you a poultice," or II will send you
!, something when I nav finished my
rounds Almost invariably on my re-
turn, In twenty minutes time, they would
be sleeping peacefully; no further remedy
was needed.
Every doctor Will tell you how often
some simple sleeping draught is sent and
never ken-nev needed The mere
fact Of knowing it is there is sufficient;
the anxious dread Of another sleepless
night has been taken away, the mind is
at rest, n sleep comes in the natural
way. And so 1t would seem that by far
the commonest cause for sleeplessness Is
the anxious striving to obtain sleep. 1t
follows, therefore, that all such devices
for procuring 1t, as counting an imagf-
nary flock of sheep. fixing the attention
on circulation. making an effort to stop
thought, are wrong theoretically, as well
as being usually worse than useless IN
practice. What, then, is the real remedy!
Why. simply to give up the attempt TO
sleep IL ones sleep does not come as
usual. Give up trying. II a sleepless
night is to be ones lot, one must accept
it as philosophically as one can, remem-
boring tina many and many a mar mas
had to lose a nights rest before and mas
been a little, II any. the worse for It. 10
the sleepless one I would say: Make up
you mind to stay awake for the night.
Nine times out of ten the blessing, striv-
en- for In vain, will come unsought, and
that almost Immediately. SO that on look
ing back the next morning the last thing
you remember will be your determination
to lie awake
Directly you cease to strive for sleep,
to wish ardently for 1t. the strain will be
taken off. the brain-the body-wfll rest
| DGtdQSc II iitii1u Is lO 0AoN
It, and sleep will be the happy result.
And to make the requisite determination
-or. / should say, renunciation-thts
thought may be a help to you. 1t is the
anxiety for sleep and the worrying about
its absence. far more han the sleepless-
ness itself, that cause the feeling of pros
tration which follows a sleepless night.
The man whose duty or occupation has
forced him to give up a nights rest is
in a far better condition the next day
than the man who has spent a restless
night in the vain and weary search for
sleep.
We all know her-the woman sensation
alist-we find, everywhere. that she is a
common figure in our midst. She 1t is
who tells of an ordinary incident that
has befallen her in such a manner that
she shines. Her Illnesses are a little diff
ferent and more painful than the all
ments from which other people suffer.
In speaking of the affection of a friend
for her she refers to it as an undying
love. Every man friend is magnified into
i a lover. If she goes on the street she is
sure to be annoyed by the intrusive adj
miration of some distinguished looking
stranger. If she carelessly mislays her
pocketbook she declares it has been
J stolen. Any noise heard in the night
heralds the approach of a burglar. And
so ON and on. Her whole life is tinged
with an unreal coloring that may be de-
lightful to her, but that is certainly both
amusing and annoying to the spectator
The sensationalist Graves sympathy, and
viii have it at any price. Her little an
noyances assume gigantic proportions as
she narrates them to an often bored
listener. She is positively jealous OF an
event In which she is not concerned, and
resents any attention or sympathy which
her friends may bestow upon any other
than herself.
She would almost be willing to have a
murder committed upon her doorstep for
the notoriety and commiserating SYM
pathy 1t would bring to her. And when
trouble touches her ever so lightly she
has a grief-stricken expression that pro-
claims to the world at large: WAS there
ever sorrow like unto mine?v
one wonders what method of expression
the sensationalist will have left with
which to show genuine sorrow when IT
does come to her. Perhaps. then, all her
superlatives exhausted, she Will at last be
dumb. But 1t seems hardly possible thai
any joy or grief can affect her to such an
extent that she will actually forget her.
self and cease to pose. One will not care
to continue such friendship for the sake
of watching developments, however, for
as we value peace of mind the first one to
strike from our list Of friends should be
the sensational woman.
THAT boys mother is to blame for his
unbearable conceit," said a n~eighbor re-
Gently. when one of the disagreeable urch-
ms of the ~neighborhood was brought up
for discussion. And 1t is too often the
case that the child is blamed for what
q merely. the direct result Of parental
blindness. This blindness Is one Of the
greatest curses which besets a baby's
pathwav. From the hour Of its birth II
IS the most wonderful, the most precious,
the most perfect child ever born, and as
It grows older tiny hints Of temper lit
tie signs of selfishness, subtle breaths OF
tyranny. are ignored completely or else
looked upon as delightfully."- precocious. As
4 result the child all at once wakes up
too old and too much established In his
character to be turned aside from any Of
} his original traits, and the world is not
going 10 be as charitable as the home
people were.