The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-08-21
Remarkable Instances Of Reading the
Future.
The Burning Of the Old Musical Hall Fore.
told in DISTINGUISHING Of
Danger.
Written for The MORNING CALL.

| happen, while others read In them just
! the contrary. Shakespeare tells us that
dreams ara the children of an idle brain,
begot Of nothing but vain fantasy" Bailey,
however, comes more to my idea of what
| they are, for he says In "Festus": dreams
are rudiments of the great state to come.
We dream what is about to happen"
Nearly all Christendom interpret by
| contraries. and there are many of the
| present day who regularly every morn
| ing narrate their dreams at the breakfast
| table and become happy or miserable for
| the day, according to the Interpretation.
Fer myself have had many strange and
vivid dreams, few of which l propose to
make public for the first time. although
| they date back to 20 and so years, the most
pronounced of which have partaken OF
catastrOphes, the calamity of fire being
most prominent.
FIRE AT SEA.
About the first recollection of these
| dreams was one | had when little girl. |
| was coming TO California on the old steamer
| Sierra Nevada ana Captain Blethen was
| her commander. 1t was toward daylight.
| August24. 1856, when l awakened myself
| by jumping from my berth with a sense of
an accident near at hand. and to this day /
| remember smelling tho burning of cloth.
| Afraid OF arousing and frightening the pas.
sengers. and yet determined to give the
| alarm, threw only a shawl around me and
| ran barefOOted to the captains ROOM that
was not FAR from ours. He was just coming
| on deck In leisurely manner and 10 my
| announcement be said, Hush. child. 90
| back to your bed" But | noticed be de-
seended rapidly. toward the galley. l
| learned afterward that the closet where the
| kitchen towels were kept had taken fire
| and It's contents were DESTROYED.
| some years ago, while making my second
| tour through Europe, | had a remarkable
dream. My wardrobe contained. among
| otner Things, very elegant black-lace para
| sol cover, that cost me $50. A lady was
travelling with me, and in London at our
| notel we r0omed together. During one night
we both awoke, and l told her | had
dreamed OF an accident 10 my parasOl-that
/ had seen the lace on fire: later that same
night, / dreamed had the cover repaired at
| Brussels. At the time we had no idea of
| going into Belgium. The following Sunday
7 a couple OF gentlemen escorted US to Wind
! scr castle. At the depot in the village We
| look carriage for drive. La front of the
castle is a little lake called the Virginia
| waters. There we descended with the in
| tenilon OF walking around the lake under
| the magnificent shade trees, and Meeting
the carriage on the other side of the water
| during TINS walk We met couple of gentle
| men aequalntances. who turned and walked
| short distance with Us, holding their
| cigars behind them. When they left ms. [
| saw hole had been burned in my paras0l
/ which / had been carrying at my side The
| gentlemen's cigar had played havoc. Three
4 weeks later we went TO Brussels, where l
had the mending done for % francs.
FALL FROM A LADDER.
BEFORE TINS event and when my husband
] was sun living we went out toward the
| Mission TO boar with a Mrs Hart WIN ia
now Mrs. Pollack and the mother of Mrs
j. ID. Stevenson. Mr. Hart had lust died
SO We went partly as company for her and
partly on account of my health. In the
family was Felix Hart. a nephew. who had
afsNh arA -.
lie was dark. slight. delicate lad. and
naturally claimed much of our solicitude
| Felix soon dTifted out into the world for
himself, ana year later, when We had
| moved INTO town again. he had gone TO
| WORK carrying brick and mortar mn n lad
| der for church then in erection. This
! however, We knew nothing of. One NIGHT
( my labored breathing awakened nv hus
band, VINO aroused me and inquired the
cause OF my distress. ! told him | had inst
seen young Hart fall from a ladder and |
| thought he was killed. The next morning
| al the breakfast-table about the first item
! the Judge READ was an account of the poor
| boys falling with load of brick unon his
back and OF MS breaking his collar-bone.
| THE MUSICAL HALL DESTROYED
In the early part of the sixties my hus-
| band and i boarded at the Sutro Rouse on
| the southwest corner of MONTGOMERY and
| California streets, kept by the now-mliou-
| ARE. Mr.. Ad0lph Sutro. One nignt nv
1
| dream. | told him l had dreamed some
| one was setting fire 10 old Musical Hall
/ when stood on the corner now occupied bv
| the Occidental Hotel. He quieted me and l
returned to sleep and TO tie same dream.
| taking 1t up Just where / loft off. | had
relatives roaming there and my interest was
/ mostly for them. Fifteen or 20 minutes
| later the hrebells rang out an alarm. and
| we soon discovered that the old building
| was doomed. Our first consideration was
| Tor my aunt Making hasty toilets we were
| soon AZ the scene. All was confusion.
women screaming. men shouting, firemen
calling and swearing, while far above all
| other sounds was the yoice-strong and
| clear-of David Scannen, issuing words Of
| command. Brave men were helping fright
| ened women and children down the dam
gerons stairs that promised each moment to
De wrapped In fames. Through couple If
| open WINDOWS whose curtains were already
| ablaZe we could discover my aunt. as we
! afterward learned. looking for her corsets
| before dressing. She was so dazed that nil
| presence OF mind as 10 saving herself had
Iorsaken her, and she, With her daughter
| was taken out just as the stairs gave way
Among the officials there was CAPTAIN
Douglass, who made his way fighting the
flames into Mrs. Buffers mIllinery-store.
near the main entrance to the building
And while coming out with an armfIl
OF goods he had snatched from the counter
the awning over the sidewalk fell and pros
trated him. He was pirk ed up by one of
the bremen, when 1t was discovered that he
bad received deep wound on the forehead.
lie carries the scar of that wound to this
day. A few hours after the fire took from
my bureau drawer the very articles of linen
for my relatives that had dreamed of do.
Ing. The hremen saved part of shat build
ing ana ~ now stands on The northeast cor
ner Oh Fourth and Stevenson streets
FoREBoDIN6s OF AN ACCIDENT.
One more recital of my experience with
dreams. year after the fire lust mem
toned the erection Of the Occidental Hotel
was commenced. We then lived on the cor
ner Of Bash and Sansome streets where now
stands Murphy. Grant & Co.'s building.
But in those days there was on the site a
large and fashionable boarding house called
hdBrannRn House. owned by Sam Bran
nan. At that time | had nothing to do but
watch the growth of the hotel. and one night
when the four square walls had reached up
TO the third story l dreamed saw one of
the walls fall where men were at work. So
vivid was the dream that it awakened me
and was calling for help.
Strange rs 1t may appear, the followin
afternoon three OF the walls went down with
a crash. Instantly l thought of nv dream
and OF the men. Soon the clouds of dust
ana mortar cleared away, and there on the
south wall, which was still standing, were
two men, one almost paralyzed with fear
anu the other praying so loudly that his
voice could be heard. 1t was moment of
| Wild excitement. Some men shouted,
Throw them ropes; others called for mat
tresses for the men to fall upon The wall
was shaking. During the excitement the
| hrebells sounded. Ii proved TO be a false
alarm, but 1t brought the firemen to the
| scene OF action. The hook and ladder COM
| pany never did better work than on that
memorable occasion. Chief ScanneIl, who
was then hne-looking man with a splendid
| physique, worked with will, urging on his
| brave IRE laddies; and as the poor victims
were brought gown from their perilOus posi-