Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1903-10-09
Modern Rush
and Some Of It's
Remedies 80:

ceasing demands, social, intellectual
and moral. made upon the average CIT
izen, the very glare and noise OF large
cities, all these must either blunt the
senses into apathy and dullness' OF
keen them at constant, irritated STRAIN.
No wonder Carpenter writes upon Wv
ilizotion and It's Cure" and that Wag-
ner's La Vic Simple should be so VIDE
" read and translated into various
tongues. "This is mere existence he
saws. NO time to breathe, not an hour
for self-recollection, for exchanging
ouiet word. No, this is no life"
The drain upon mental energy, the
complexity and haste of an industrial
and commercial age, the insatiate ana
insane craving for material accuAula-
ton. the fever of ambition and rivalry,
of ovcrreaching and outshining which
have attacked even our women, all
these exact their penalties. The
proverD is proving itself, when put 10
the test "TLe more man has, the
more he wants"
Too little is said of the social read
iustments necessary for living at sucn
speed. We are careful of our delicate
mechanical instruments; we use them
cuardedly; we are watchful of repairs;
and yet the most delicate instruments
of all, the mind and spirit, are treated
with almoGt criminal neglect. The de-
mands made upon them are endless,
and rest and carc-whOever heard OIL
resting the spirit, or OF caring for the
mind unless by OverworkinS it!
Wagner's picture Of the wedding, Ill
the Complicated Life, with its inter-
minable defile of visitors, its loads OF
presents, it's caterers, decorators, fur
nishers. is preparatory days, spent
with tailors, dressmakers, jewelers. ana
cabinet makers, in antiquity shops, ana
the apartments of painters ana mousse
builders, its endless ceremonies OF calls,
introductions, balls and dinners, the
frenotic sending and receiving OF notes.
congratulatons refusals, eXcuses-thlS
is apparently a realistic picture for all
lands. Alas, that every house has not
its single room which is the sanctuary
of quiet. where the octoSenarlan SITS
and dispenses wisdom.
"She was just short of eighty, ana
having suffered and worked much, she
now saw things with that calm surety
which is Efe-giving. There in her arm
chair she sat, adoring the silence OF the
long. meditative hours"
REST q little" she used to say 10 the
poor, harassed lovers. REST little
and think together; belong to each
other; that's the principal thing. All
the rest is nothing; it isn't worth no.
tice."
Every city begins to have its Ravens
of peace. Far up OH the outskirts OIL
New York, set back in huge garden
surrounded by high wall, stands
convent for retreats, overlooking inc
Hudson River. Entrance is gained by
ringing a bell at the outer wall, ana
once inside no futile words are spoken
The place is managed by community
of French nuns, who give retreats
throughout the year. Thcre are sea-
sons for retreats for domestic servants,
for shopgirls, for ladies, for young girls
preparing for the first communion,
times when seventy-tiyc to Dlndreu
people move in silence and Ordtrllness
almost imperceptibly through the sui
expanse of the great grounds Inc
rest of the year the house is open TO all
who want its peace and stiffness. NO
questions are asked, no religious eXer-
cises are demanded, although the Of
fees and services in the chapel are con-
tinuous. Bit by bit the habit OF peace
and meditation permeates the visitor,
the world wheels slower through space,
and the long days are full of grateful
recollection.
Farther up the Hudson, and under
the jurisdiction of Bishop Potter there
is the new building of the fathers OF
nm order whose work is the same; that
of carrying on missions and retreats
for the spirit-weary. OF another and a
sadder order is the new pSycho-patho-
logical laboratory, now attached to the
New York Infirmaty for Women ana
Children. Here are brought and treat
ed the helpless victims Of mental
strain. The State of New York now
takes care of 26,9SS insane patients,
of which 5000 are drawn from the
commercial and educational classes
Only within the last decade, however,
has it f,een considered necessary, in
this coUrtry, to have a laboratory for
the STUDY of abnormal mental life lead
ing to such deplOrable results. In
France. Janet has long been expert
mentng with and successfully treat
ing the initial stages of insanity, ana
in Germany, Brener, Freud, Ranschen-
berg and IIajos carry on the same
work. In these laboratories experts
work upon the victims of alcoholic
amnesia, phgsic epilepsy, Oppressive
delusional stares, and functional motor
disturbances. Here the hopeless army
of stragglers who might go to swell
the numbers in the State insane asy-
lums receive assistance, are instructed
in the neglected scenes of mental by
giene. and are turned out capable cit1-
zens. coping once more ably with the
difficult conditions of as OverNrought
life. Strangely enough, New York fur
nishes the only laboratory for research
into nervous disease of the whole
United States.
Nor are these the only remedies.