The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1891-01-28
PERItous SLEEP WALKING.

Down an Inclined Trestle in the Dark.
ness, Clad in Nightrobe and Slippers.
Early one morning recently the south
side was the scene of a remarkable case
of somnambulism. Officer David Smith
left the Twenty-eighth ward station at
about o'clock, and was proceeding
homeward along Carson street, when, at
the Fifteenth street corner, he was star
tied by what at first appeared to be an
appar1tlon from another world. A near
er approach showed that the figure was
That OF a young girl clad only in a
dainty frilled nightgown and slippers.
The wind blew keenly, but the lightly
clad girl did not seem to regard the ele-
ments in the slightest degree. Officer
Smith advanced toward the girl, and
saw by her staring, sightless eyes that
she was fast asleep.
At this moment the sound of Quick
steps was heard, and two men came
down the street at rapid pace. Officer
Smith recognized Max Reizenstein and
another resident of the hill, whose name
he did not know. Reizenstein rushed
wildly at the girl crying, s.Louise,
Louisei why don't you waken?" But the
somnambulist didn't appear to hear his
words.
The policeman then caught the girl
gently by the shoulders, preventing her
onward progress, and requested the men
to tell what they knew about her. Rel
zenstein declared that they had noticed
the girl, whose name he said was Louise
Liebendorfer, passing in her nightgown
along Virginia avenue, near the top of
the Knoxville incline. Curiosity in
duced them to follow her, when to their
horror they saw her step from the bluff
side to the ties of the incline and begin
to descend the perilous slope.
For moment they feared that she
would lose her balance and fall through
the spaces to the jagged rocks below,
but seeing that she held on her way
downward without any misadventure
they decided to run around by the steps
and stop her at the incline depot. On
the way they caught occasional glimpses
OF the fragile form, clad in futtering
n1ghtrobe, and stepping from tie to tie
with apparent ease. In point of fact.
the girl was too quick for them, for she
reached the foot of the incline before
they did, and continued her way down
Fifteenth to Carson street, where she
was met by Officer Smith.
Meanwhile Miss Liebendorfer's ewes
had opened, and the girl, who was real
ly pretty, looked shudderingly around.
AS soon as she recognized her surround
1ngs she hid her face and begged in
pltlful tones to be taken home. The Off
Ger took off his overcoat and wrapped it
about the poor girls shivering shoul-
ders. Then he escorted her to the Twen-
ty-eighth ward station, where the matron
supplied her with skirt, stockings and
a warm cloak. Special Officer Thomas
Richards was then deputed to escort
Miss Liebendorfer to her home ON Vir-
ginia avenue.
The Liebendorfer house was visited.
and the aged Mrs. Liebendorfer found
at home. She said: eyes, it is all true
about poor Louise. I have heard from
several people about her wonderful
walk down the Knoxville incline. She
has done much stranger things in her
sleep. When we lived in Virginia she
twice swan the creek while fast asleep"
One of the incline officials was inter
viewed with regard to the length and
danger of the incline descent He said:
''The incline is, at the very least, 1000
feet in length. 1t appears to me most
extraordinary how any human being |
could successfully descend it, especially
at the hour mentioned, which is the yery
darkest part of the night. At some
places the incline rises to over fifty feet
above the rocks. One false step would
have precipitated the girl upon the rocks
beneath. ."-Pittsburg Dispatch.