St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-06-08
DREAM PHILOSOPHY.
Some Visions That Have New
er Been Satisfactorily
Explained.
The Printers Nightmare Pub
lication Eve, With the Pa
per in ri.
A Seaman's Dream About His
Vessel Being Driven on
the Rocks.
Strange Stories Of Dreams
That Have Been Verified
by Careful Men.


which | am sure l shall never be able to
cease from dreaming while live, writ
ing OH the subject of dreams. The one
which most diSturbS me is that of print
ing; and now, for over half a century
since | quit that business, | may say
that hardly a month has passed in which
| have not dreamed about it. 1t usually
occurs when l am over-fatigued, or
when from other causes | am not feel
ing we'll. | should premise that during
about eight years Of my boyhood, hav-
ing commenced business before l was
nineteen, was the publisher. and for
six years of the time the editor, of a
weekly newspaper. My labor the
largest part of this time was not only
severe. but [ encountered violent
opposition from section OF my
own political party, which sought by
most unfair means to crush me. In
spite of all this my paper was regularly
issued, never once falling to appear on
the promised day of publication. Now.
what is almost singular about this
dream is that, although not always the
same in its details, it is invariably at
tended with more or less of trouble and
failure. Oftener than otherwise my ed
itorials are not ready in time; | am be-
hind in getting the type set; in making
up the forms they are thrown into pi,
or there is some other veXatiouS thing
that comes to disturb me, and | do not
remember to have succeeded more than
once or twice in getting my paper off.
Generally | am so much harassed that
| awake, glad to find it sail dream"
The other matter relates to my life in
the postoffice department. These dreams
are generally not quite so unpleasant;
but they had likewise pursued me at
frequent intervals ever since. and, in
fact, before ! left that department.
They usually take shape III the fear that
when absent Oh leave | had oyerStaid
my time, or that in some other way l
might have fallen short of my whole
official duty.
Carlyle relates that when ''a very lit
tie thing" anxious to learn. Jane
Welch, who afterwards became his
wife, would sit up half the night over
her lessons. One day she had been
greatly perplexed over a problem in
Euclid which she could not solve. At
last she went to bed, and, in dream,
got mp and did it and went to bed again.
In the meantime she had no conscious
uCSS vi llCI ulS Dut Oh lOOhluS at IlCl
slate there was the problem solved.
1t is a well-attested fact that our
dreams are sometimes caused by our
sensations. 1t is related of an English
soldier that, so susceptible was ne to
audible impressions while asleep, his
COMPANIONS could make him dream
what they pleased. They amused them
selves by leading him in his dreams into
some trightful difficulty and watching
his efforts to eXtricate hiInSelf-sOme-
times inducing him to believe that
shark was in close pursuit to him; at
others, that he was suspended only by
thread from the projecting cliffs of
frightful precipice, and again that he
had given offense to some person and
must fight duel. Thus on one occa-
sion they caused him to 60 through the
whole process of duel from the pre-
liminary arrangements to the firing of
the pistol, which they put into his
hands, and the report of which aWoke
HI NJ.
A well authenticated and very re-
markable instance of the fulfillment of
a dream took place at Kennebunk. Me-,
IN 1749. A new, Stanch bark, called the
crew to sail for New Orleans, when one
of the crew went to the captain and
asked to be released. On being pressed
for his reason he said he had dreamed
that the bark was driven ashore OH
Bald Head cliff, and that every man on
board persisted. His friends tried to
laugh him out of it, but it was i'm
possible for him to dispel the terrible
vision from his mind. He had enlisted,
however, and the captain insisted upon
him keeping his engagement. The
night before the vessel was to sail he
dreamed the same dream again, and,
keeping ont of the way, the captain was
obliged to sail without him. Within
twenty-four hours, the first night after
she put to sea, the good bark Isadora
encountered terrible gale and blind
ing SnowStorm. She was driven upon
the dangerous cliff. became a total
wreck, and every soul on board was
lost.
Closely allied to simple dreamland is
nambulism. In the one case it is usually
thought without action, while in the
other it is giving thought to action.
Somnambulism, imagine, is not very
uncommon. Many remarkable instances
arc recorded. One is that OF man on
the coast of Ireland. who left his house
one night at II O'Clock, walked over a
difficult and dangerous road distance
of two miles, and was discovered two
hours afterward disporting himself in
the water 100 yards from the shore. On
going to him with boat he was found
to be asleep, and was with much diff
Guilty persuaded that he was not in bed.
An instance equally singular was that
of a sailor-one OF the crew of the
schooner Sea Breeze, at anchor in the
harbor of New Gloucester, Mass, on
the night of July Is, 1881. He arose
from his berth in state of Somnam-
bulism, went on board of another lying
alongside and leaped into the dock. The
splash was heard by parties in the
vicinity, and he was rescued in ans eX-
hausted condition ana placed in his
berth. When he aWOke next morning
he had no recollection whatever of his
involuntary bath and narrow escape
from drowning.
Of the many accounts | have collected
[ will give only one more, For this
Congressman Nelson Dingley, of Maine.
is my chief authority. On a certain
night in 1879 a fire occurred in the
neighboring town of North Turner,
when Mrs. Albert Winship aroused Mr..
WinShip and said:
Husband, Mr.. Starbird's house is all
on fire. Hurry up"
He dressed himself quickly. and, with
buckets, ran to the fire and did valiant
service in saving surrounding buildings.
Returning home. he went quietly to bed.
The next morning he complained of
feeling lame and much exhausted.
"Well you may" said his wife, latter
working so hard at the fire last night"
"What do you mean?" he inquired.
"Why, you worked like hero saving
the buildings round theStarbird house"
He looked dazed for an instant, then
| took his hat, looked over the premises
| and came back.
well, Marcia, the buildings are
I surely gone, but | never would have be-
lieved even you IN saying l went to a
ire last night had they not been de-
stroyed. i don't know thing about it."
He had been through all the excite
| ment in atate of somnambuliSm with
out being. awakened.
In order to test the correctness of this
story | wrote to the postmaster of North
| Turner, who answered me that it was
substantially eorrect-that he was with
| yVincbin ar tbe fire and that the latter