Evening star., 1924-12-22
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRAcEwELL.

Benjamin Franklin may not have
drawn the lightning from the clouds
with his Kite-and- -Key-Odyne receiv-
ing set, but he certainly said a mouth
full when he uttered those memorable
words: s-
Early to bed and early to rise,
Makes man healthy, wealthy and wise.
Eight hours of sleep a night for
every man, woman and child in the
world would go a long way toward
solving the problems that confront
society.
If there could be a law enacted,
and universal happy acceptance of
1t by everybody-which there would
not and could not be!-making eight
hours of sleep compulsory upon the
community, many of the evils Of this,
our civilized life, would drop away
, from us like the last leaves of
Autumn from the trees
In a few years automobile murders,
petting parties, bootlegglng, failure
IN lessons, botches in business and
many, many other disasters, both
large and small, would be things of
the past.
Most of the evils that come from
added brains, crooked thinking
WEAKNESS of muscle and strain OF
nerve hbers would slowly disappear
under the benefcent effect Of those
wonderful eight hours"
10 secure this effect, of course, the
| hours of sleep would have to be hours
or real sleep, indeed. heavy. COM
plete slumber, in which the nerve
ganglia were completely discovered.
preferably at least three hours of Il
would come before midnight, for "one
nours sleep before midnight Is worth
three after" as some ancient worthy
rightly declared.
There are more people fooling
themselves today in regard to sleep
than in any other single factor of
living
fney honestly believe that they can
get along" whatever that means. on
nVe or six hours OF sleep a night. They
VIII argue you blue in the face on
the proposition that Eight hours of
s'eep gives one a headache"
80 there is no use arguing with
them They laugh at the kindly
mentor who dares tell them that they
are doing worse than burn the candle
at both ends, that they are deliberate
~ cutting several years of the end
! OF their lives.
on the latter end, too, that is the
worst OF it. Most of US cou d easily
lose few years off the early period
I when we think we know everything,
but really know very little that is
worth knowing.
But to lose several whole years
/ $50 days of "a hours each-off the
end when we want them most, that
is tragedy which no one will rec
ognize until he gets there.
Then II will be too late.
Life Is like a college course When
one matriculates for his freshman
year the prospect OF four years at
the institution OF learning seems
end 'ess. stretching into the distance
! forever and ever.
The student realizes that 1t must
all come to an end, some time, but
/ the thought does not bother him
very much. Work and worry, out
( side activities" and play occupy his
every moment.
I He does not stop to consider the
end. Graduation Is a long way off.
: He prospers in his studies, he be-
comes power in sports. dramatics,
debating and many Of the other ac-
tivities that perhaps mean more to
/ him than the very studies he pur-
sues. (They usually do.)
%Reh WI have e s to mon asSler on Sesr seon Gomss Is
tells himself June comes. He gets
his pretty sheepskin, he packs his
trunk. Most of his fellow grad
yates already have left.
He sticks around the old town,
. loath to leave it. He says good-by
to his best girl. Then he takes the
/ train. and that little world that was
his for four years sees him no more.
Our comparison falls down with q
smash here, of course, for the gradu-
ate knows where he Is going, but the
man who leaves this LIE must take