TO SLEEP AFTER NIGHT WORK.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 16, 27 February 1917, Page 6

TO SLEEP AFTER NIGHT WORK.

A Swiss doctor says that many person* »ho extend their mental werk well into the lif>ht, who during the evening lollow altenively the programme ol theatre or concert, tr engage evenings in the proceedings ot moieties or clubs, are awakened in the norning or in the night with headache. For a long while the doctor was himself a mflerer Irom headache of this kind, but ol ale. years has wholly protected hi.nseif irom iby simple means. When he is obliged to ontinue his brain work into the evening, or 0 be out late at nights in rooms not well venilated, instead of going directly to bed. he akes a brisk walk for half-an-hour or an lour. While taking this tramp, he stops iow and then, and practices lung gymnastcs by breathing in and out deeply a lew times. When he then goes to bed he sleep? iuundly. . , 4 , Notwithstanding the shortening of the iiours of sleep, he awakes with no traces o. headache. There exists a clear and wellknown physiological reason why this treatment should be effective. MESMERIZED BY A TIGER. vVe have all read the thrilling accounts r.iScessful shooting, published in the sporting papers from time to time; but no one ibtrudes a record of his monotonous, wake , ul nights, fruitlessly spent amid the gloomy shadows of the jungle, waiting for the tigei that does not come ! . Disappointed at the tiger s failure to give us a meeting on the night when we were prepared for him, we next day decided to lei him take his chance, and arranged to spend the approaching night on the outlook tot the sambhur which had tempted our guni on the previous one. I selected fo/ my ambush a nook on a low, sloping rock, over-looking a large pool, round which there were numerous fresh tracks of deer. This nook I had roofed in roughly with Rhinegrass to keep <ll the heavy dews, and to assist in concealing me. It was a lovel y moonlight night, clear and cold when I took up my station, shortly after dark, accompanied by a young Raren, to whom I intrusted the responsibility ol keeping me awake. . Hour after hour we sat there, three feet above the level of the sand, to which the rock shelved gently down ; the startling cry of a distant deer, the muoical ringing call of the bell-bird, and the chirping of the insects in the foliage around—were the only signs of life. ... Cold and chilly the night passed on, while on the opposite side of the pool,_ well out o) range, an occasional sambhur issued from the jungle, and stalked, solitary and ghostlike, across the sand, stopping every dozen yards to sniff tbe air suspiciously. _ Wearied and sleepy, I lay back against the rock, as a sambhur disappeared for the third time without giving me a shot. My rifle lay across my knees, and some evs spirit prompted me to open the breech, that it might lie more easily upon them. The moon was sinking, and the white, clammy mist came rolling in huge billows down tbe mountain side, hiding the trees thirty yards away, and making the night coldei and damper with its heavy shroud. Darkness and discomfort had a bad effect on the nerves ; and t felt, as I sat there, in no mood for great deeds of daring. Tired and indifferent, I had dozed off to sleep, when my companion touched my arm lightly, and whispered the single word. Kya I awoke with a start, and looked in the direction indicated ... . .. Here he was, coming slowly through the mist, straight towards the rock, with the easy, rolling swagger whicli a tiger affects vhen he is on the prowl. I clutch my rifle, and snap the breech. Ireat Heavens! For the first time since I have owned the weapon it refuses to close I The tiger —off which 1 had not tauen my eyes—has reached the foot of the rock ; and, attracted by my movements, deliberately pauses to gaze at the apparition it beholds With the useless rifle in my hands, I sit facing it, utterly unable to move; while the Karen crouched beside me, with his head between his knees, and his hands clasped above it; and trembling in every limb. The lithe, gray-looking form ot the tiger hot more than six feet from me, and with i-wo short steps can enter the nook, and se net either of us at his leisure. Ihe fixed dare of the blazing green eye-balls seemt (/' paralyze me; for fully half a minute if seemed an hour—he stands there motioness ; but at length pasnei on. still keeping Vis eyes on me until he disappears round :be corner of a reck a few feet away. Relieved of thal appalling stare, I breathe more freely ; and, straining my eyes in the direction the tiger will take, with desperate eagerness exert all my strength to close the b reech of the rifle. I can feel no obstruction —for of course it is too dark to see—but it i. ill not close, and I pause—to sec once x ore that mesmeric gaze fixed upon me . Dissatisfied with his first scrutiny, tbe ti^erhas passed round the rock, and leturncd to repeat it. It is sickening. Helpless and dized I sit there, blankly returning the sieadfast stare that so petfectly unnerves me. This interview lasts longer than the first. 1 cannot close my eyes, even if I would, I lie perspiration streams down ray fa:e, and 1 feel the cold drops trickling slowly dowr u y back. How I curse the brute for his calm, dispassionate gaze! How I curse my folly in not having selected a tree to shoot from ! For now, though lam shaking all over, a strange, defiant feeling is creeping over me, and-thank God! the tiger once more turns away, and this time quietly takes ihe path towards the opposite jungles, dis ippearing into the fcg-wrapped night. Gone! And I lie back and give way to a lit of" cold shivers,” such as I have never felt before; and for half-an-hour I see nothing but eyes—round, fierce, glaring green eyes—-wherever I turn my own. No daybreak surely was ever so long delayed as that which we now eagerly wait for, out itcomes at length ; and, cramped and ihivering, I hasten to examine my rifle A small, but thick fleshy leaf had found Its way into the "grip" action, crushed :hougW it was, the stringy fibres refused to illow the close-fitting mechanism to work. The Karen who is watching me murmurs, n Burmese, “ Witchcraft.” And, after the light I have just passed through, 1 am more ,han half inclined to agree with him. We dragged ourselves back to camp, and it once organised a party to follow up the mgs; but our chase was useless. We did lot see or hear anything of the tiger during >ur stay. Curiously enough, only two weeks afterwards, information was brought to Easton bat a Karen who had selected that identi:al rock to shoot sambhur from, had been jounced upon and carried off by a tiger, as ic left his hiding-place just before day-light, screams were heard by his brother, whe iccupied a safe position near, and on gong o the spot at sunrise, he found the gun ana jag belonging to his hapless relative lying m the sand. Tiger pugs and a few blood narks told the silent tale; and not a vestige >f the unfortunate man’s body, or even of hi* ilothing, was ever found by the friends who nade search for his remains. Easton's nformant added, with grave simplicity: ■The white face ot your friend was new to the tiger; on that account he escaped." One-fourth of the population of the earth lies before elteining the seventeenth veer