The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1876-02-11

| DREAM,
The captain of the wreck and the pas
senger looked at each other, exchanging
glances of intelligence and surprise; and the
former asked the latter: Did you dream
that you wrote on this slate?"
"No, sir, not that remember"
"You speak of dreaming" said the cap
tain of the bark. What was this gentle
men about at noon to-day ?"
Captain" rejoined the other, "the whole
thing is most mysterious, and / had intend
ed to speak to you about it as soon as we
got little quiet This gentleman (pont-
ing to the passenger) being much exhaust
cd, fell into a heavy sleep, or what seemed
sleep, some time before noon. After an
hour or more he awoke, and said to me ::
Captain, we shall be relieved this very day.
| When asked him what reason he had for
saying so, he replied that he had dreamed
that he was on board a bark, and that she
was coming to our rescue. He described
her appearance and rig, and, to our utter
astonishment, when your vessel hove in
| sight she corresponded exactly to his des-
| cription of her. We had not thought much
of what he had said. yet still we hoped
there might be something in it, for drown
ing men, you know, will catch at straws.
As it has turned out, cannot doubt that it
was all arranged, in some incomprehensible
way, by an overruling Providence so that
we might be saved"
cot Tho ;,nnracu;o,, tbot tho borG I COW
in my dream was going to rescue us" said
the passenger, "but how that impression
came l cannot tell Everything here on
board seems to me quite familiar yet am
very sure that / was never in your vessel
before. 1t is all puzzle to me-"
MESSAGE FROM A WIFE.
Jung Stilling, in his "Theorie der Geister-
kunde," tells of a remarkable story that was
told by German who had emigrated to
the United States, and had been for many
years manager fsome mills on the Della
ware. The events are said to have occurred
between 1856 and 17G0. There lived at
that time near Philadelphia, lonely and re-
tired, benevolent and pious man, who
was suspected of having some occult power
of disclosing hidden events. A sea captain
had been long absent, and no letter had
been received from him. His wife, who liv-
ed near this man, and who had become
alarmed and anxious, was advised to con-
suit him. Having heard her story, he bade
her wait little and he would bring her an
answer. Thereupon he went into another
room, shutting the door, and there he stop
ed so long that, moved by curiosity she
looked through an aperture in the door to
ascertain what he was about. Seeing him
lying motionless on a sofa, she quickly re-
turned to her place. Soon he came out, and
told the woman that her husband was at
that time in London, in a certain coffee
house, which he named, and that he would
soon return. He also stated the reasons
why his return had been delayed, and why
he had not written to her; and she went
home somewhat reassured. When her hus-
notes, that everything she had been told was
strictly true. But the strangest part of the
story remains. When she took her husband
to see the seer he started back in surprise,
and afterward told his wife that on a certain
day (the same on which she had consulted
the seer)he was in coffee house in London
(the same that had been named to her), and
that this very man had there accosted him,
and had told him that his wife was in great
anxiety about him that then the sea cap
tain had replied, informing the stranger
why his return had been delayed and why
he had not written, whereupon the man
turned away, and he lost sight of him in
the crowd.
There are cases on record in which an
alibi, satisfactorily proved, yet conflicting
with seeming unimpeachaOle evidence, has
puzzled the courts. Catharine Grove, in
Might Side of Nature" relates and vouch-
es for the authenticity of the following
wonderful story.
A MURDER.
In the latter part of the last century, in
the city of Glasgow, Scotland, servant
girl, known to have been improperly intimate
with a certain Surgeons apprentice, sud-
denly disappeared. There being no cir
cumstances leading to the suspicion of foul
play, no special inquiry was made about her.
In those days, in Scottish towns no one was
allowed to show himself in either street or
public groHnd during the hours of church
service and this interdiction was enforced
by the appointment of inspectors, authorized
to take down the names Of delinquents.
Two of these, making their rounds, came to
walk, the lower boundary of "The Green"
as the chief public park of the city iscalled.
There, lying on the grass, they saw a young
man whom they recognized as the surgeons
assistant. They asked him why he was not
at church, and proceeded to register his
name but instead of attempting an excuse
he merely arose, saying, II am miserable
man look in the water!" Then he cross
ed stile and struck into a path leading to
the Rutherglan road. The inspectors, as
tonished, went to the river, and there they
found the body of a young woman, which
they caused to be conveyed to town. While
they were accompanying it through the
streets, they passed onelof the principal
churches, whence, at the moment, the con-
gregration were issuing, and among them
they saw the apprentice, But this did not
surprise them, thinking he might have had
time to go round and enter the church toward
the close of the service.
The body proved to be that of the mis-
sing servant girl. The apprentice was ar
rested, and must, on the testimony of the
inspectors, have been found guilty had he
not on his trial established an incontrover-
tible alibi, showing beyond possible doubt
that he had been in church during the en-
tire service. The young man was acquitted,
WHAT THEY COULD HARDLY BELIEVE.
Hardly less wonderful is the following
narrative communicated to Robert Dale
Owen in Washington in June, 1859, by the