The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-01-13
SECOND SIGHT.

Many intelligent people in Scotland and
elsewhere believe in what is called the sec
end sight, or, lower of seeing what is GO
ing on many miles away. The power is less
common than it used to be many years ago,
but so many facts are told by persons whose
veracity cannot be questioned, that it is cas-
ier to believe them without explaining the
mystery, than to deny them. Similar facts
in our own midst are not wanting confirming
the possibility of this second sight.
It is a'historical fact that Rev. Jos Buck
minister, who died in Vermont in 1912. inst
before his death, announced that his distin-
gushed son, Rev. J. S. Buckminster, of Bos-
ton, was dead It afterwards turned out
that his son had breathed his last about the
time his father made the announcement.
A parallel to that of the Buckminsters oc-
Cured but short time since at Eaton, o.
On a Wednesday morning in April, '73. at
four O'Clock, Gen. John Quinn. of that place.
breathed bis last. But few minutes Of
that Joseph Deem, who also died on the
same day, aroused from his sleep. and said
to his son John, who sat at his side, ''John,
Gen. Quinn is dead"
To this John said 'T reckon you are mis-
taken, father you have been dreaming. I
guess Gen. Quinn is not dead, he is not even
sick, but goes down town regularly every
day for his mail"
Yes" said father Deem, 'T know he is
dead ;''and he had scarcely finished speaking
when neighbor walked in and said to them,
''Gen. Quinn is dead %
What is strange about it, is that father
Deem did not know of Gen. Quinn's illness,
and, in all probability, had not heard his
name mentioned.
The late Dr. Francis Wavland was accus-
toned to tell of an incident of this kind,
which occurred to his mother, a woman of
sound judgment and of admirably balanced
character. Young Francis was expected
home from New York, where he had been
attending medical lectures Suddenly, one
day, the mother began TO walk the floor hur-
riedlv, saying to her husband, "Pray for my
son. Francis is in dangeri"
She was so agitated and earnest that the
father put up a prayer for deliverance from
peril. When Francis at length arrived home,
the mother asked at once, ''What has taken
place 90 He told of an adventure. While
coming NJ the North River on a sloop he
had fallen overheard and the sloop had
passed over him. Being an athletic swim
mer. he had kept aflOat until rescued.
Heinrich ZsOhokke, one of the eminent
literary men of Germany, possessed at times
the curious power of seeing the whole life of
n stranger into whose company he had been
thrown The incidents of the life seemed to
pass before him i'm kind Of vision, with a
dstinctness even in minute details. He
could not tell in what the power lay, nor
how it came to him; nor was it permanent,
or even general. It came mysteriously and
left as strangely. But he often tested his
accuracy by recounting to the stranger the
whole story of the life as it tappeared to him
and never failed to receive an ackno wledg-
ment of its truth, even in minute particulars.
Once. when travelling with two of his sons,
he met with another man, an orange ped
pier, who had a similar gift, and who, to the
great delight of the boys, told the incidents
( of Zschokke's life from bOyhoOd
a distinguished scientist has advanced the
theory in our hearing. to which he himself
holds, that there is an unknown mental
power in the human system shat is independ-
ent of our recognized faculties and superior
to them. Certain persons on going to sleep
fix upon an hour Of the night to awake, and
always awake at the fixed time. This indi-
Gates a knowledge of time possessed by this
unexplained mental power which is beyond
the reach Of the ordinary faculties.
Many of the French soldiers returning
from the German frontier during the late
war. were found sleeping during a wear
some march. but they kept in rank ana
obeved orders. People have composed
/ poems. reasoned with wonderful cleaUness
/ on abstruse subjects, and even played the
/ piano with unusual Drilliancyand expression
+ during sleep.
f DR.. BrOwn-Sequard once related an Incl
dent of his own experience some what similar
/ to those recorded of ZschOkbe. He was
/ once lecturing to some French students,
! talking very rapidly, his whole mind wrap
ped up in the subject He suddenly stopped
short in his discourse, and stood before the
audience, lost, as it were, in profound
thought. While his mind had seemingly
/ been concentrated on the subject of his lee
+ ture with unusual intensity, there had been
forced into it the solution of problem Of
/ science that had baffled his efforts fol a long
period, and which was quite foreIsn to the
subject of which he was treating. The stu
dents became alarmed, thinking from his
I strange silence, that he must haYe been ia
ken i'll. and he thought it prudent to make
/ an explanation of the cause of his conduct
on the spot.
A CROWs' CONCERT-On a tract of tim