The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-02-22
REST, not DRUGS A CLUB PILGRIMAGE
Motto of the Popular Rest Cure Of
Minneapolis.
NEW QUARTERS PURCHASED
Many Who Take the euro Are So
ciety Women Worn Out by
Social Duties.

Far from the madding crowds ig-
noble strife" in Minneapolis little
colony of people, afflicted with what the
patent medicine "ads'' would call THAT
tired feeling are being nursed back to
health and strength by the great life
giving principle OF rest. The first pre-
scription and most binding obligation on
one who enters there, is: go to bed"
To the patient whose acute nervousness
manifests itself by q continual desire to
be walking about, this injunction comes
hard at first. In the rest cure" it is
Il condition precedent to a regular course
of treatment. and so you have the I'M
usual spectacle Of a person who is
ordinarily we'll enough to be about though
ever ailing, calmly deciding that he or
she is sick and going to bed.
They don't go to bed for day or a
night. Three weeks is about the time
In which patient is required to remain
recumbent, and in individual cases the
treatment may be kept up longer. 1t is
a fact not generally known that an In
stitution dedicated to the rest cure has
had local habitation and name In this
city for several years past. 1t has &C
complished such wonders In restoring VI
tality to enervated sufferers who found
no relief in drugs that the present quar-
ters are no longer adequate for the &C.
commomdati ion of the growing demand
for a treatment whose basic feature is
absolute repose.
1t IS a significant fact that most of
those, seeking the treatment are society
women. The physicians agree that Of all
no In
create pronounced case of neurasthenia
on short notice, the social whirl has
prominent place.
The treatment at the homo is as
simple as 1t Is effective. It combines re-
pose and light, nourishing, digestible
food with systematic exercise and mas
sage along hygienic lines. 1t is general
ly found that patients with the greatest
aversion to being put to bed for an In
definite period are the ones who take
most kindly to this do nothing" exist
ence. Even when the occasion no longer
exists for their remaining in bed, the
sensation of complete rest from life's
ftful fever Is such a delightful one that
they hate to get on their feet again
Drugs Have No Chance.
Few drugs find place in this institu-
ton. Save for the use Of few simple
correctives. designed to give tone to the
accrue from rest, the management has
gone back to first principles. Nature
furnishes the medical attendance.
Some patients are not even allowed to
feed themselves. They undergo what IS
called the 'twenty-four hour treatment
They are subjected to different treatment
each hour Of the day, save when they are
sleeping. sponge bath stimulates their
circulation the first thing In the morning.
An hour later comes breakfast. The next
hour is for rest, followed, after a proper
interval by a cold bath. After hard rub
down the patient comes In contact with an
electric battery. After another recess he
is taken In charge by the Swedish move
ment operator who gives him vigorous
massage. paying particular attention to
the joint movements.
This treatment is applied In lesser
degree to all patients at the home. Inc
majority Of them are kept On steady
milk diet. Those who cannot stomach
milk as q regular ration are given orotns
and liquid foods.
The after cure Is fully as important as
the tuning-up Of the nerves. 1t consists
OF regular exercises carefully gradu-
ated and adapted to the Individual needs
of the patient. At first the patlent
is allowed to sit up five or ten minutes
a day. This treatment is gradually IN
creased until at the end Of the twentieth
day the patient is allowed to leave his
bed for five hours. All the while the
patient Is being given course IN nghC
gymnastics. With returning health and
strength he Is finally allowed to renew
his social ties and his relations with his
family and friends, from whom he mas
been cut off in the meantime as complete
" as though he were In prison.
With this strict regard for the laws OF
health and insistence on regularity OF
habits. nervous dyspepsia, sleeplessness
and kindred ills are, as rule. speedily
overcome.
Solitaire n Favorite Game.
The house is situated on quiet resi-
dence street far removed from the clang
of street car gongs and any OF the 1arrlng
notes Of city life. About the only amuse-
ment in which patients are allowed to
indulge is solitaire, and care Is taken to
see that they do not work themselves INTO
a fret In the attempt to make this fas-
cinating game come out right. The whole
idea of the institution Is to get the
patients away from the discords and the
irritable environments Of the atmosphere
in which they have previously moved and
had their being.
New Building Purchased.
The rest hospital has been conducted on
g. modest scale in a small private dwell
ing, incapable Of caring for more than
ten persons at a time. New converts to
the cure are constantly seeking admls-
sion A room Is no sooner vacated than
It is occupied by another fellow sufferer
seeking surcease from aching nerves. To
keen pace with the constantly growing
demand for treatment, the physicians
who originated the movement IN M1nne-
apolis, have purchased large two-story
dwelling better adapted to the purpose
and with accommodations for at least
twenty-five people. The present nome
the name which best describes tt-has
been designed almost entirely for the
treatment OF women. In the new build
ing men will also be given a chance to
take a rest, and 1t will not be surprising
in the future to see an occasional recruit
from the chamber Of commerce, who has
set a pace that kills in the excitement
of the pit, or business men from other
walks in life, quietly restoring their
tired systems to condition approximate
ing health.
1.-THE mere fact that women are in So
ciety," said one Of the attending physi-
clans, SIS not sufficient to precipitate a
nervous breakdown. The victims Of
nervous disorders in the smart set are the
unfortunate society women who have
nothing else to do but preside and take
an active part at brilliant functions. This
involves, to begin with, whole lot Of
night work, and 1t takes a woman Of a
strong constitution to keep 1t UP long and
not suddenly discover that there is IN
her physical makeup something of which
she had not imagined herself possessed
a large bundle of nerves. This is partic-
ularly true Of the women who lead lives
of luxurious ease, and have nothing else
to think Of but their own enjoyment.
They finally tire of paying constant court
at societys shrine; the fascination which
their gay life once had for them gives