The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-11-17
ON THE VERGE OF DELTRIUM
Some of the Startling Phenomena of
AlcohoIized Brains.
A Tomcat with a Tail as Big as a Rolling
Pima Procession of Fiayed Men
The W~hip-Scored Negro.

lobby of a Denver hotel. IL was II P. NJ. The
talk was languishing, when the wide doors
opening to the street were thrown apart vio-
lently, and a tall, heavily built man walked
in. His soft hat was tilted backward on his
head. His steps were uncertain. He was
drunk. We recognized him as Dalton, a
miner from the Snowy Range. Seeing the
group sitting around a table. he came for
ward to us, and, with a drunken smile, said:
"Howda, boys?' Then, before we could
greet him, he turned away, saying care
lessIy; 1T is cat night for me. l may as
well go see the creature Entering the ele-
vator, he disappeared.
Wondering what Dalton meant by scat
night" 1 asked one of my companions the
meaning of the phrase. He replied: "A
phantom cat comes 10 Dalton during the
night following his third day of hard drink
ing. 1t is a warning to him to put on the
brakes"
TELL me of it," I said.
Complying, he said: "Dalton sprees. He
drinks at long intervals, and never in mod
Grafton. When the wild desire for alcohol
assails him resistance is seemingly impossi-
BILE. He turns his mines over to his fore
man, and comes to Denver. He drinks ex-
cessively the FIRST day, still more the second,
and he turns himself loose on the third. He
is a heavy and very powerful man, and can
dIlnA an enormous amount of whisky before
succumbing to it. | have known him to
drink forty glasses OF liquor in one day, six
of them before breakfast. BY the end Of the
third day Dalton is very nervous. Soon after
L. 1 TO- L.. -e H. l~- l-- 49, NhA
third night he always dreams that he comes
into his room; that a noise, as though of
something scratching on the carpet under
his bed, attracts his attention; that, looking
under his bed, he sees a large yellow TOM
cat with a ~bristling tail as big as a rolling
pin. The cat is tearing the carpet with its
sharp claws. Indifferent to cats or dogs, or
any animal that walks on earth, he undresses
and gets into bed. Instantly he is smitten
with paralysis. He cannot move. His
brain works without friction, and is wonde
fully clear. His vision is penetrative. He
can see through the bed, and sees the cat on
the floor in the corner. His clear sight
pierces through the disguise OF the creature,
and he realizes that it is an eye-destroying.
hesh-eating devil. He knows that the fiend
will come out from under the bed and jump
on the footboard. Standing there with
arched back and swelling tail, the creature
will utter f~rightful cries preparatory to leap
ing, with distended claws, on his face and
tearing out his eyes. Dalton becomes afraid
of the cat. He tries to call for help. He
strives to move. His efforts are vain. The
cat leaps to the footboard, and glares at him
with distended, fiery eyes. Again he strug-
giles TO throw off the paralysis. He cannot
move. The cat, with a horrid cry, springs
on his upturned face. Under the spur of
this supreme horror he rallies, and with an
exhaustive effort, awakens. He is unnerved.
He trembles like a timid women. His heart
| hoarS nUio1lu II taL-nC N fn fnt1r Il axc Of
perfect rest and solitude to restore his
nervous system. He drinks no more for
months"
docs he know, while suffering from this
alcoholic nightmare, that it is a nightmareP'
YES" my companion answered, "he
knows it. But he also knows that if he does
not awaken, and so prevent the yellow tom
cat from getting in his work, the cat will kill
him. He is in deadly fear of that cat, though
he knows it is but an alcoholic phantom.
And underneath the dread of the cat lies the
fear of death resulting from the alcoholism.
The cat is only a faint shadow cast by the ap-
preaching jimjams, that stalk, specter-like
in the vestibule of his brain"
A PROCESSION OF FLAYED MEN.
"The warnings some drinking men receive
are very strange" said the Oldest of our
who have warnings, generally visions, more
or less horrible, but invariably the same,
when they approach the wall behind which
the jim-jams lurk. Probably the most
striking case is that of a gentleman who in
herited his diseased craving for alcohol. He
will not drink, it may be, for a year. Then
he will put his business into
such shape that he can leave it for a few
days and deliberately get drunk. For two
days he devotes his energies to getting drunk
and staying drunk. He is not of the least
trouble to anyone when he is drinking. He
shuts himself up in his room. and drinks
alone. In two days he will drink a gallon of
the best sour mash Bourbon whisky money
can buy. He always begins drinking in the
evening. The third evening he goes to bed
in a beastly state of intoxication. At about
midnight his vision comes to him. He
dreams that he went to bed and slept sound
ly until awakened by a hard. white, flicker
ing light. He lies awake wondering what
causes the light, and hears a loud knock on
his bedroom door. Come in! he cries. The
door is thrown wide open, and a man who
has been freshly fayed stalks in. The layed
man smiles in a CHASTITY manner and mods in
friendly recognition. The flesh is gone from
his mouth. His teeth grin mockingly. He
stations himself opposite the bed and cans
against the wall, his shoulders making a
bloody mark where he leans. His lidless
eyes roll and his tongue Tolls. The
bedroom door remains open. My
friend looks out of the door into the
street. There he sees a long
column OF fayed men marching rapidly
down the road. Stragglers drop out from
the column and enter his room. When ten
men have entered, his bedroom door closes.
The fayed men, who are covered with fresh
blood, walk silently around the room look
ing at him. At a signal from the man who
first entered they all march out. Presently
they return, each carrying a 1ayed and
bloody corpse. The blood was dried op the
live men while they were absent, and it
placed in a row on the floor, side by side. AT
a signal from the leader of the skinless hor-
rors, they straddle the dead bodies, and,
bending over, grasp them aroun their