Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-10-09
HAUNTED BY MUSIC.
The Peculiar Delusion Following a Ma,
Who Listens to Sad Music.
fy,;<tcb,,rry n;cpoAoh1

b Peculiar ISelusion Following q MAN
Who Listens to Sad Music.
trittsburg Dispatchl
sYoung man." said q prosperous-look,n,
.itizen, did you ever observe the habita -
musical peoplei Because il you have. Won
oave seen a great deal OF character that Won
would not have seen il you hadn't.n
With this strange declaration he subsidsi
into q deep reverie. A cloud of pain occa,
sionally passed over his face. and there was
4 twitching of the muscles Of the mouth. IA
IL ho were undergoing some mental tortura
| Presently he gave q start, and, rubbing hia
| hands across his forehead for the purpose Of
| collecting his thoughts, broke the impend.
| Ing silence with his voice.
sAh, mel" he said, u was living over
again some nights of agony l have spent j
am fast growing old. am haunted by a
terrible delusion. At times l feel that nv
hair is as white as snow, M hands shake a,
II with the palsy, and. I seem to totter on
nv knees. When tho idea pursues me I can
not get rid of it, and ! I'M driven almost to
desperation"
II am sorry for you, my friend,' said tho
reporter. "But, really, you do not look
anything like the being you describe" And
he was, indeed, anything but like it Large,
well-built, fat, and jolly-looking, he rather
was All feSESASuS Axuks
, lish country squire.
aMine is a peculiar case, I guess,n be-
unused. aAnd, strange as it may seem, it'll
true that the delusion that haunts nv
dreams and makes my everyday life a mis-.
cradle existence is caused altogether by the
; playing of q ~violinist in yonder," and be
. turned his head and pointed his fngar TO-
ward a dark, gloomy, d%ilapidated house
z that doomed up in the shadows falling
d around.
2 ale is a young man VIC has long been In
low health and spirits. Two years ago his
q father died-stricken down very suddenly;
It six months afterward his mother, one Of tbs
kindest mothers that mortal ever loved, fol.
sisters left behind continued to live in the
9 old home. They were never seen to SMILE
NJ The young man is q great lover Of the
t. violin. / believe he was taught by his
ID father. The instrument he uses is a won.
r. ierful one that was obtained in Italy over
in ffty wears ago. The violinist never plays
except ut night. Then he shuts himself
49,. IN his uafa f9o4l -
>, out through the strings. And, oh! l think
there can be nothing in this world ~
TO tho next sadder than the walls in TINT
T. music. It is tho melody of a soul that has
Al been dead for gears. The players heart il
broken, M he plays heart-broken music. I
st have listened at my window some night,
:. and eagerly drunk in every note. 1t makes
!: me feel old and heart-broken. 1t is q terri.
bic delusion, put I can not shake it off when
it comes upon me. For days at a time il
makes mo miserable. till I grow desperate, y
Those who are intimate with the gentle.
man confirm his story. His case is indeed
peculiar. Yet it is not the only one of its
kind, for several similar to it have been
known to occur. 1t is a powerful illustra.
= ton of the peculiar mental organization Of
- a musical disposition, and Of the mysterious
= influence that music has upon one who loves
y it and surrenders himself altogether to its
J, influence.