The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1893-12-07
ALL II ONE DREAM.
WORK kcco.PLiStED BY I NAN Il.
4 SHORT SPACE OF T.nE.

newspaper men were in an office await.
ing the arrival of q gentleman who wa.
to call together meeting that they had
been directed to report for their respec
tive papers.
I A number of topics was discussed
and one Of these was dreams and the
extreme rapidity with which mental
operations are performed. A mum Der 0.
Experiences were given, but the one that
attracted the most attention was that o.
ia Gail representative. who narrated wi Al
he had done in dream.
1t was" said he, Tin 1868 that afteI
IA hard days work | reached home aud
lost no time in retiring. CHANGING al
1.-The clock as turned off the gas noticed
night
Shall tell you at this point how Ions
| was dreaIring or tell first what did
in my dream? That you all may better
appreciate What was done, will detel
the matter until the end Bear in mind
that what is to be told was all in the
dream Seated in the old office on Coin.
Imercial street above Montgomery, W..
lendeavoring to put into presentahlt
shape the fact of trial that had taken
place i'll the district court, when in can't
L. ~ Rockwell, who was the chief ed.
torial writer, and calling me by name
said: '4ou had better get ready and -
to San Leandlo. There's been tern
i bic railroad accident. There's 80 or e
people killed, and | don't know how
many injured. George +. Barnes. a
that time one of the proprietors and
managing editors, had overheard Rock
well, and in that quiet way Of his sug
sested that no time be lost in reaching
Oakland, and there procuring a buggy
and pair Of prses, to go to San Lean
,dro or wherever the accident was.
Rushing down to the ferry landin,
at the corner Of Pacific and Davis streets
| reached there III time to find that the
steamer for the other side of the bay ha6
just pulled CIT, and that | would have
Ito wait half an hour for the next boat
The delay was veXatious, and then whel
the ferryboat did move eastwardit seem
ed as if she would never make her land
ing, she seemed to be going so slowly
When the slip on the other side wa.
reached, there WIS some accident to the
local train, and there was not amy pro
spect Of starting for an hour or more
There was not team of any kind at tn,
landing, so had to walk to Oakland
"A desire To make up for the time LOST
urged me on, and think the time made
from the landing to Broadway and
Washington street has never been beater
by man. Near the corner went into {
livery stable and ordered pair of horse.
hitched up. There was delay there
for the proprietor had his doubts about
the ability Of the team making the triI
out and back. Finally | started, and
the way those horses flew over the road
was "a caution. When the scene of the
disaster, some distance beyond San lie
andre, about IA miles from Oakland
WAS reached, | proceeded at once t.
gather the ia Is.
| Down on the notebook were pencilet
he names of 30 odd men, women ant
children who had either been killed out
right or burned to death in some of tn,
.ars which had caught fire. Then fol
lowed the names of about 40 who hal
oeen injured, a description of their i'll
Iuries and the opinions of the physicians
who We're in attendance as to the posi-
bile outcome in each case. Now, any o
YOU who have had experience in gather
ing information of that kind can fully
appreciate th"t it was not child's play
Tor the injured were in different places
and it required time to get around t,
them all.
Then there was the obtaining of dats
about the dead. A number of them WERE
well known residents of this city, other,
were from San Jose, so it became neces
Isary 10 obtain enough to give each de
lcent obituary notice. In addition to TIN:
it became Part of my duty to get thu
statements OF passengers, so as to de
scribe their feelings when the train de
rallied and went over or It's side down I
little gully and be able to write up tn,
narrow or fortunate escape of each
Then there We're railroad officials To in
lterview, and. as you all know. they az,
the hardest kind of people to obtain fact
from
We'll. it took nearly three hours Il
get all the matter that was needed for ;
sensational article that was to appear
under Il half column scare head. TheI
there was the ride back TO Oakland set
Element with the livery stable man VIII,
swore that he would never rent team
to a newspaper man again, rush IN ;
hack to the ferry landing and the "trip t,
this city. Without waiting to get any
thing to eat made my way to the Office
and at once commenced to write up tell
ing every one who came TO ask for de
tails to let me alone. did not write il
copper plate style, and for that matter
never did, but | wrote and kept on writ
ing until had enough to fill what woulC
make about four full columns of The Cal
of the present day and wrote that bil
scare head. As | handed the last linz
to the foreman to set up ! heayed "A sigl
of relief and exclaimed. Thank good
ness, that's doner That is my dream,
AT that moment felt a hand on my
shoulder. jumped from the bed ant
heard my wife ask, What are YOU
dreaming about | lit the gas, looked
at the clock and discovered that it wa
III minutes after midnight, or, in othei
words, that in my dream of less than
two minutes had performed all that
have related.
II have figured on the time it woule