Connecticut western news., 1879-10-01
Phantasms of the Walkers.
THE HOURS OF sLEEP-wHAr THEY SEE AND HEAR IN THEIR DREAMs-sTAG- NATION OF THE BLooD-BoDILY PAINS AND MENTAL ACHES,

AND MENTAL ACRES,
 A report of the New York walking match says: Nine cots, with excelsior mattresses, stand beneath the tents at the side of the track. Weston, and Powell sleep in rooms at the eastern end of the Garden. Guyon rests in the Putnam House, near the Fourth avenue entrance. All the other walkers sleep in their tents. The hours of uncon- sciousness are few. Up to midnight of the fourth day Merritt had slept only seven hours since the opening of the tournament. They can hardly be called hours of rest. The weary pedestrian is sponged or has bath. He pitches in hia cot. He is wrapped in his blank ets.e The lights in his tent are extin- guished. He closes his eyes and enters 8 world of phantoms. The cheers of the crowd, the music of the band, the clapping of hands, the murmur as of a vast hive of bees, and the tread of many feet fit through his sleep. His body is racked with pain. There is an appall- ing heat in his feet. His temples throb. The blood becomes stagnant and fre- quently nightmare follows. The dream CT is still on the track. He sees his competitors passing him one by one and IS unable to increase his own speed. OLeary says that during his walk for the belt in London he never went to sleep without the shadow of Vaughn before him. Itwould follow him around phantom track with looks of exultation in it's eyes. At times it would bar his way. It would stand facing him at the curves, making grimaces and contortions. Up to the moment of waking Vaughn's shade never left his sleep.
 Guyon has similar experience. On Wednesday night he slept the sleep of the damned. The pain minis feet was so intense that it had turned his stomach. Weston was ever before him. When he turned in Merritt had passed him and taken second place. Weston was doing splendid work, and rapidly overhauling him. A ghostly Weston pursued him in his dreams. Whichever way he turned Weston was at his heels. Nor was Wes- ton the only phantom. The dials as- sumed the faces of the other contestants, and taunted him as he passed. A spirit Krohne fifty feet high was walking over him. Although he was in the Putnam House, far removed from sight or sound Of the Garden, he heard the murmur of the crowd, the roar of brass instruments. the tread of thousand feet, and peals of laughter. When he awoke toward morning he found tumbler beneath his pillow. The pillow was drenched. He was unable to account for it until he remembered that in his dreams he had had spirited contest with Weston. Every nerve had been strained to hold his own, but the champion gained upon him. At the critical moment the dreamer recuperated, and was able to Iprevent the spirited champion from passing him and taking third place. Then he was seized with terrible thirst. He turned into phantom tent, and saw the ap- partition of Jim Smith, his trainer. Seiz- ing glass of water, he tried to swallow the liquid. To his horror, it would not go down his throat. It ran from the corners of his mouth over his chin, and drenched his knit shirt. Rushing from the phantom tent, he saw Weston's ghost sweeping round the track with look of joy. The ghost had often the third place. While thus dreaming Guyon had really arisen and got glass of water, spilling it's contents upon his pillow. This is not strange, for Guyon's trainer, Smith, who has had even less sleep than Guyon, says that he has thrice admin. istered to the wants of his principal while asleep. He has rubbed h1m down given him water, and answered his in quiries without being aware of it until told of it the next day.
 The dreams of the pedestrian are based on the condition of his stomach When the stomach refuses nourishment threatening separations frequently ap pear. In one case pedestrian fanciec that he was rolling among old logs GOV cred with thousand-legged worms. IT another case the pedestrian though himself on the track, but unable tc walk. Upon glancing at his feet he wal shocked to see that they had turned into hickory saplings, and the saplings grey with such rapidity that they raised hin in the air.
 The agony of the hours of unrest i increased when the hapless wake awakes. His blood is still stagnant There is prickly heat upon his skin He feels as though he was being prick
 ed by million needles. sNeuralgi pains throb through his muscles. Hi joints are stiff. His eyelids seem pal alyzed. Worst of all, his feet and shi
 bones are numbed. Every movemen
 sends thrill of pain through the body
 He is oiled and rubbed. His trainer
 cheer him with words of encouragement
 A swallow of warm beef tea, or som
 other decoction, puts him into littl glow and infuses him with 8 painfr
 energy. He wobbles upon the tracl
 and the noise, the lights, and the dar shadows of his competitors confuse hin He makes one lap, and the impulse re-enter his cot is frequently so grei that he finds it irresistible.
 Before coming on the track he lii upon his cot in semi-unconscious sta while he is rubbed and clad. He har' ,, ly appreciates the situation before I finds himself upon the track. If h l sl. l=zo i>o,a al.>=a-s.el l=-=s:..-e. L