Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1916 — IN THE CITIES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

IN THE CITIES

Chicagoan Cures All Ills by Sleeping in Chair

—— pay doctors’ bill when you can sleep in »chair with Matt Roeder, an employee of the Caxton School Supply company, ... advances a theory which he says he developed by aping an ape.

"One year ago,” he explained, “1 was a physical wreck—rheumatism and stomach trouble. Unable to sleep, I rode electric cars and took long walks at all times of the night. This soothed me for the time, and , early one morning, while on. a journey to Lincoln park, the idea occurred to . me to imitate the ape in his manner • of rest. His body stifily erect, he supports his head between clenched fists . when sleeping. All of the vital organs are left free. So I abandoned- my bed

and began sleeping in a hard, straight-backed chair. Every muscle in my body ached when I began, but I was determined to give it a fair trial. At the end of a month I tried the bed and got up in. the morning feeling more wretched than ever. Then I went at it in earnest and in six months the only thing that affected my stomach or nerves was the sight of a bed. I was practically cured. “At first I slept in' a chair at the store; Then I discovered all-night shows, and I decided to Introduce the cabaret feature into my sleeping. Three hours of sleep under such conditions is equivalent to ten hours of rest in a bed, and there is little possibility of developing diseases of the stomach, heart, or muscles. “I go in order to three all night theaters, and am known to the manager of each. The show is hardly through before I fall to sleep. I sleep ordinarily from 1 o’clock to 6:30 o’clock, then w’alk to the store and take a bath. At 7:30 I eat a hearty breakfast and am fit for a hard day’s labor. The early part of the night 1 employ in long walks. “Socletv may cling to that evil institution, the bed, as long as it wishes, but I am forever done with it.”