The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1907-01-16


cannot be ignored BY anyone who IS
familiar with social conditions in
America. Both women and men are
+ sufferers from a malady that ereeBs
on them stealthily and pounces on its
victims as a beast springs from am
bush The nervous patient apparently
breaks down suddenly, but "a reality
the disease has been making its grad
ual approach with steps 80 slow and
symptoms so slight that they have
been unnoticed BY family and friends,
and have often escaped the vigilant
( eye Of the physician.
4 Il is no longer an extraordinary oc-
/ currence in life to be obliged to spend
period Of retirement at a rest cure
or sanitarium, and the people who
require treatment for nerves are Of
no class or special degree OF culture.
They include men OF brilliant abiIi-
ty famous at the bar, on the bench
and in the pulpit; women Of fashion
and aristocratic breeding at one end
Of the scale. and at the other they
number hard-working Iaborers, toiIing
+ at a grinding and monotonous task for
a small daily wage. and the wives Of
farmers and workingmen to whom the
excitement Of the social whirI are IN
known
Among the victims Of nervous dis
case are those who can afford to pay
+ princely sums for medical skill and
4 professional nursing. In the retreats
to which they 80 they are encom-
passed with gentle ministries and re-
ceive constant and sedulous care.
When the pendulum swings the other
way and It is In the home Of decent
/ poverty that nervousness binds a suf-
ferer in chains there are pitiful in
stances Of distress because Of the lack
Of money. A few months ago an hon
est man, earning a regular but small
income, knocked in vain at the doors
of dozen institutions. He was will
ing and anxious to pay a sum In ac-
cordanee with his means for the relief
Of his suffering wife, but there was
not hospital open to one like her.
OF course, there are state asylums
and hospitals to which people are CON
signed and where they may receive
scientific treatment without cost to
themselves, but there are thousands
Of self-respecting and Independent
families living on small incomes who
would rather see their dear ones in
the grave than in a public and chari-
table institution.
What are the causes that explain the
increase Of nervous disease? They
are not far to seek. A common and
frequent beginning Of nervousness is
excessive worry. When anyone is un-
er a continual strain, no matter what
its nature, there is injury to the ply
sical and mental fabric to an extent
that means mischief in due time.
Doubtless, most Of us worry too
much over triaes. Little things vex
our souls and harass our patience.
Larger things dwell upon our strength,
too, and the burden grows greater
than we can lift or carry. A good
deal Of worry would be prevented
could we gain our own consent to live
In the present and dismiss undue
anxiety about the future. It is not to-
day that wears US out half so often as
1t Is tomorrow We are afraid that
the house will take fire or the chill
dren have scarlet fever or whooping
cough, or the money prove insufficient
for the demands upon 1t, or that a
lad may lose his situation, or a girl
be unable to get through college. We
spend an enormous amount Of our
capital stock Of wholesome Yigor in
worrying about possible accidents and
casualties, and we drift into state
Of chronic morbidness or melancholy,
after which comes the deluge.
The attempt to do too many things
at once or to do single thing too well
and with too much painstaking is an.
other prolific source of nervousness.
Overwork is responsible for countless
Ills. We might almost call overwork
national sin. The temptation to It
is in the air we breathe. Idleness is
everywhere regarded as a deep dis
grace, for we have inherited strenu-
GUS drop Of blood from those who
earliest sought these shores.
.sfafs-'a-'s N~ea-Ds' s~ss-sst Aess-~s'll