The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-06-10

:
inc between every word. " Frederick
Stetsun is drowned; / saw him fall into
the sea-
so, nor was the cheerful reply.
"You had been thinking of him and
dreamed it,"
" No; | was wide-awake. / saw him
fall. | have not once thought of him
for weeks. o, what will his parents
say?"
Soon after this, exhausted by my ter
rible excitement, fell into a troubled
sleep. When awoke it was dawn, and
| Immediately commenced narrating to
my husband the scenes had witnessed,
he making a note of them and their
precise date.
PerceiviDg that this conversation
greatly agitated me he left the chamber
to inquire whether the Sophia Walker
had come into port, and promised to
direct our son, a schoOlmate of Edward
Stetson, to ask whether Frederick had
returned from his voyage.
This he did, thinking to allay my
nervous excitement, which he fully be-
lieved to be the result of a fevered
dream.
At an early hour DIR. Daniel Swan,
one Of my physicians. came to my bed
side. He expressed his disappointment
at finding my pulse greatly accelerated
and asked the cause.
l then, though not without great eX-
haustion, repeated to him what | had
seen, my husband being present, Mrs.
Buffers (the lady already referred toy
and woman who had lived in my fam
lily for years.
In the course of a week several per-
sons were made acquainted with these
facts, though, from the fear lest they
should reach the ears of the parents,
they were told under an Injunction of
/ secrecy.
In the mean time listened eagerly
to my sons daily bulletins from his
school-mate.
Fred is coming soon" "Mother
has his clothes all ready" Father
says he may be here any day now"
1.-The Sophia Walker is due this week"
1t was two weeks before the ship ar
rived in port; but | was so far GONZALES
cent that l was permitted to sit up,
wrapped in blankets, for an hour or
two each day.
On one of these occasions, while Mr..
Baker and the family were at dinner
the bell rang, and presently | heard my
husband, in answer to the summons of
the servant, hurry to the door.
1t was scarcely minute before he
entered my chamber, pale and evident
ly trying 20 conceal his emotion. He
had an open letter in his hand, upon
which his eyes were fastened.
You have Captain Codman's let
ter" | said.
Yes" he answered, "and in almost
the words YOU repeated to me-"
held out my hand for the sheet, and
my tears fell fast as | read the follow
ing lines, evidently written in great
haste:
Rec. Mr.. Baker:
My DEAR SIR must beg YOU to perform
a painful d1ty. Poor Frederick was lost over
board in a gale on the 10th. You must tell
his father | can not.
never had anything occur that has given me
so much pain. He was everything that could
desire; and | can truly say that never had oc-
casion to reprove him, and that his uniform
good conduct won the esteem and love of US
all. There was this satisiaction-that not one
of us was so well prepared for death.
| will detail the circumstances at more
leisure; but enough to say now, he was lost
from the fore-topsail yard in a gale of wind,
and human exertion could not save him. You
can best administer consolation to his distressed
parents Show them the sermon preached on
the Sabbath following his death, which accom-
panies this, and assure them of my heartfelt
sympathy.
Yours truly, ]. GOODMAN.
March %, 1916.
While my eyes glanced over the lines,
familiar as if penned by myself, Mr..
Baker was making hurried preparations
to 90 to Mr.. Stetson's.
Young Hall brought it out" he ex-
planned. Captain Goldman wished me
to have the letter at once, lest the pa
rents should hear the Sorrowful tidings
in an abrupt manner"
The sad scenes which followed are
too sacred to be even touched upon
here. Mr. Baker did not return home
for hours. having offered to 90 to Cam
bridge and convey the sad intelligence
to Merriam StetsOn, the second son,
who was a member of Harvard College.
Il am to 90 in to Boston to see Cap
tain Goldman in the morning." he said.
" Mr.. Sletson is anxious to see him,
and | shall ssk him to return with me-"
recalled the last scene on board the
Sophia Walker, and said: Il thought |
he himself went in. 4 is the first thing
not exactly in accordance with my |
vision"
l called it vision, for | was not asleep, |
and therefore it could not be a dream. |
The next morning when Mr.. Baker
Of 70 fnlv
any additional messages, he learned |
that. impatient and restless, the sor-
rowing father had found it impossible
to wait and had taken the earliest con-
veyance into Boston, where a scene Oc-
Cured like what had witnessed.
There was no longer need of secrecy
in regard to my prescience or foresight,
if so it may be called, and it speedily
came to the parents ears. Persons of
of both sexes specialized
and puzzled over these remarkable
mental phenomena, unlike most record
ed by philosophers in the fact, already
stated, of the mind not only recogniz-
ing what was passing at the moment at
a distance of hundreds of miles, but
going forward in advance of events and
them with minute accuracy.
make no effort to explain my mental
,taue. which am entirely unable to do;
but l may be pardoned for quoting
from a philosopher of the present cen
fury, who, speaking of visions and
dreams, remarks: - 1t is in vain to at
.empt an explanation of them. They
appear referable to any princi-
pie with which we are at present ac-
luainted."