The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1900-01-13

ferent affairs are arranged In my head
as in drawers. When | wish TO inter.
rupt one train of thought, l close the
drawer which contains that subject and
open that which contains another
They do not mix together or inoonveni.
ence me. have never been kept awake
by an involuntary preoccupation OF
mind. When ! wish for repose, shut
up all the drawers, and am asleep.
have always slept when | wanted rest
and almost at WILL" But think in
most cases we feel tina, sleep is not the
result of a resolution, but direct gift
from God. You cannot purchase il. A
great French tinancier cried out: Alas
Why is there no sleep TO be sold?"
DO not take this divine gift as mat.
ter of course. Your seven or eigh,
hours of healthful Inconsistencies is
blessing worthy of continuous and
emphatic recognition. Praise the Lord
for 3G5 resurrectioDs In a year! Arii.
fetal slumber can be made up by the
apothecaries, but natural sleep is q
balm, panacea. catholicon that nc
one but God can mix. With it he
battles your eyes and brain and nerve
and bone. 1t is soft robe woven in
Heaven, with which lie wraps your
body, mind and soul. The more scien.
lists explore this mystery Of sleep the
more profound il seems. God tells us
many things, but that is a secret lie
keeps to Himself. We philosophize and
guess about this phenomenon, but will
never know just what sleep is until
we are told about il when we get
through the last sleep. Thank God
morning, noon and night for this
strange quietude, this refreshing dis
missal, this recuperating absence, this
reinforcement of energies, this mighty
benediction.
Consider among the worst crimes
the robbery of ourselves or Others OF
the mercy of s!umber. Much ruinous
doctrine has been intoxicated on this
subject. Thomas Moore gave poor ad-
vice when he said: The best way 10
lengthen our days is TO steal few
hours from the night" We are told
that, though they did their work at
night, Copernicus lived TO be - years
of age and Galilei IS years and llerschel
81 years. Yes, but the reason was they
were all star hunters, and the only time
for hunting stars is at night Prob
ably they slept by day. The night was
made for slumber. The worst lamp a
student can have is the midnigh
lamp" Lord Brougham never passed
more than four hours of the n ght abeG
and Justinian, after one hour of sleep,
would rise from his couch. But you are
neither Justinian nor Lord
BrOugham. Let not the absurd apoihe-
osis of early rising induce you 10 the abb
breviation of sleep. Get up when you
are slept out, unless circumstances
compel otherwise. Have no alarm clock
making its nerve tearing racket at four
O'Clock in the morning, unless special
reasons demand the forsaking of your
pillow at that hour. Most of the the
cries about early rising we inherited
from times when people retired AT eight
or nine O'Clock in the evening. Such
early retirement is impossible in our
own times for those who are taking
part in the great activities of life.
There is no virtue in the mere act of
early rising. 1t all depends upon what
you do after you get up. IL would be
better for the world if some people
never Weakened at all.
But most Americans do not get sleep
enough. The sin of late retiring is one
most widespread and ruinous. What
is much needed is that in all our cities
those who. are leaders in social life
turn back the hour of drawing-room
assemblage from ten and eleven TO
eight or haf-past seven, so that the
guests at ten or haf-past ten may meet
sleep at the right hour in their own
dormitories. Two or three social
heroines could do that in all the towns
and cities. Thousands of men and wom-
en- are slain each year by late hours.
Five years is more than the average
of endurance. The vitality of men and
women is depleted, and they go into
chronic ailments, if they 90 not die
Of dyspepsia or consumption or nervous
prostration, and the beauty goes out
Of the cheek beyond all restoration of
cosmetics. Late retiring is the mother
of premature wrinkles. Lack of sleep
assassinates social life. A reformation
is needed, and If the customs of the
world could be changed in this matter
and the curtains of social life could be
ruDg down at q reasonable hour of the
night 20 per cent. would be added to the
worlds longevity.
All those ought to be comforted who
by o,erwork in right directions have
come TO insomnia. IN all occupations
and profess ions there are times when
special draft is made upon the nervous
energy. There are thousands of men
and women who cannot sleep because
they were in jured by overwork in some
time of domestic or political or relig-
ious eXigency Mothers who, after TAX.
ing a whole family of children through
the disorders that are sure to strike
the nursery. have been left physical
wrecks, and one entire night of slum-
Der is to them rarity. II not an i'm
possibility. The attorney at law who
through long trial in poorly venti.
lated courtroom has stood for weeks
battling for the rights of widows and
orphans or for the life of a client In
whose innocence he is confident, though