Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1904-06-15

'In City Tents" Etc.
Copyright, 1904, by Christine Terhune Herrick)
The time seems to have come when
Anne rican women have to be taught how
to rest. They have learned nearly every
thing else, but resting is something a
good many of them have never had time
to acquire.
There is a saying that Providence
looks after the lame and the lazy. The
implication is apparently, that the
healthy and the Industrious know how
to take care of themselves. The fact re-
mains, however, that they seldom do.
They 60 until they drop and never seem
to have the least idea that they are over
doing until they give out entirely.
One of the first things to be learned
about resting is that it is like some
other remedies for the ills of this life.
1t is worth twice as much if taken at an
early stage as it is if delayed until
the disease has had time to gain ground.
The true philosophy of resting is to rest
before one is really tired. To know
when to stop is as important part Of
lifes schooling as to learn where to be-
gin. Indeed the beginning often pre-
SCENTS itself, while the stopping place re
quires searching for.
Our Puritan cOnscience,-in so many
lines, boon, in SO many others bane,
is one of the obstacles in the way Of
stopping in time. The average busy
woman who wants to rest, feels just be-
cause it would be an agreeable sensa-
ton, that it must sOmewhOw be wrong.
She will make sure that she is tired as
she can be before she lays aside her work
and takes the few moments rep0se she
may need. But by the time she comes
to that stage she is at period of ia
tigue when few moments rest will do
little for her. Her first fancied ecOnO-
my was mistake,-and she is paying
for it, as one does for all mistakes.
/ have spoken before in these columns
of the harm done by the Puritan con-
science. Its effect in making the ear
nestness woman scOurge herself into
OverWOrk is perhaps one of its worst eff
fects. There are many women who
need to struggle to attain state of saw
ing uncOnsclentOusness. Had they this,
perhaps they might know how to rest
without making special study of it.
Said young man the other day, in
my hearing. Il wouldn't have my
mothers conscience for anything"
"Your mothers cOn3ciencew | said,
"Why? She is one of the best women
in the world. What can she have on
her cOnscience?"
Running sores! returned the youth,
promptly. She has punched it and
pricked it SO often that it is in dread
full condition. Mine is just a comfort
able callous''
If more women could establish a
comfortable callOus" in their conscience
es it would be better for them-and one
may add, for those about them. All
parties concerned would have more
chance to rest. Or, what might be bet
ter still would be for the women to
learn to apply their cOnscientiousness TO
the rest problem.
How many busy women make a point
of taking little nap every afternoon
Nature seems to indicate the ADVISABLE
ty Of this by making most persons sleepy
Immediately after the mid day meal.
While the process of digestion is going
on there should be temporary cessa-
ton of work. A rest of fifteen minutes
or half an hour pays for itself before
the day is out. The woman should 90
Off by herself, loosen any tight clothing
she may be wearing, stretch out on a
couch, in a darkened room, shut her
eyes and lie still for fixed time. Even
if she does not go to sleep she is sure to
be rested. If she is nervous and exited
she would do we'll to have some book of
mild interest at hand in which she can
read for ten or thirty minutes she has
allotted herself. This will calm her and
fit her for sleep or rest she is trying to
take.
But this is not all she requires. A
woman cannot rest simply by stopping
work and staying in the house. She
needs great deal more than that, She
needs to get out of the house, and when
she must do something that is good for
her. Active exercise is as much de-
sideratum OF rest as absolute repose.
The woman who rides wheel ought
never to get really tired. For 1 do not
call it getting tired to have sensation
OF healthy WEAKNESS in limb and
muscle. That is the sort of thing that
brings sleep and rest. 1t is is not in