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TAKES HIS SLEEP STANDING. A California Man Who Lives in a Sentinel Box and Never Lies Down. San Francisco Call. Jake Rogers says that he is the only man in the world who sleeps standing up. And most likely he is right about it, although there are many men living who claim to have done it under com pulsion during the thst war. Jake also says that the reason he is so healthy is because he sleeps the way he does. Most people, however, would prefer have a little real health and a little more comfort. The place where Jake has his home is not a very well populated one. It is in Mendocino county, only a few miles northeast of Los Robles, and the near est neighbor is some distance from his place. But, then, Jake doesn’t want neighbors, so that feature is really an inducement for him. In fact, Jake says that the reason he took up his present abode was to get rid of neigh bors. He is not of a very good disposi tion, and an effort to get him to talk about anything but himself will surely result in failure. It is safe to say that Jake’s house is the only one of its kind in the world. It is built to sleep standing up in, and it would be impossible for a person to sleep in it any other way snnees he curl ed up like a bear. Jake built the house himself out of boards and logs that he picked up in different parts of the country. It is a quier looking affair, having greatly the appearance of a chimney with a roof on it, and a very dilapidated roof at that. But the shan ty is a strong one and keeps out the wet, and that is all that is required. Even the latter is not required the greater part of the year in that section. There is only the door and no windows. While the outside of the house may look queer the inside looks queerer. There is only one piece of furniture, and that is what Jake calls this bed. It really looks more like a coffin standing on end, for it is a sort of a wox tilted back only a few inches from the per pendicular. It is nailed at the bottom and also at the top, so that it is immov able. The inside of it is lined with straw and covered with cloth, to give it a little comfort in cold weather, Jake says. When Jake wants to sleep, all he does is to lie back in his box and close his eyes. He says it doesn’t take him long to forget his troubles. In the next breath he will tell you he has no troubles since he took to sleeping stand ing up. Jake does no cooking in his house, simply because there is no room. His culinary department is located under a tree,a short distance away. His food consists of anything he can get by beg ging, borrowing or finding. But he doesn’t do much borrowing since the neighbors have grown to know him. “The way i is the only right way for anybody to sleep,” said Jake, “and the sooner people come to their senses and do and I do the soon er disease will be stamped out of the world. The noblest animal of all is the horee, and he sleeps standing up. How did I come to find out it was the right way? Oh, that is easy enough to an swer You see, I was sick as a boy way back in Massachusetts, about 70 years ago, and nothing I did done me no sort of good. There always was something the matter, and as soon as I laid down in bed my head began to ache. But, do you know I stood that for half a cen tury before I got any sense into me? And then I was out in California dig ging for gold. One night my head ached so bad I couldn’t stay in bed, and I had to stand against the wall to get relief. Without knowing it I fell asleep, and when I woke up I felt like a new man. I made up my mind to sleep that way all the time, but had trouble to find a place to do it. That is the reason I moved out to this place. It’s over 15 years ago, and I have never had a sign of the old trouble and am convinced that sleeping in bed is the cause of all the pain and disease in the world. Sleep standing up, and you will be a neg-man in a short time.” Sens, ney strange thin; ‘ake’s cry is that he doesn't rest when he sleeps standing. He has to do that under the trees the next day. He says’ that has nothing to do with this idea, though, for most people do too much work anyhow.
Newspaper Details
The Commonwealth
Scotland Neck, North Carolina, US
Thu, Apr 29, 1897
Page 1
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GB 24 Jan 2026
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