The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1894-02-21
What Dreams are Made Of.

"Did it ever occur to you that when
we dream our minds operate back
wards?' said scientific man to the
Pittsburg Dispatch. II mean by this
that the cause which gives the impress
sion to the sleeping mind that makes
him begin to dream is always the cli-
max of the vision. We can find many
examples that will sustain his theory.
Take, for instance, a man who falls
out of bed. He dreams, perhaps, that
be has fallen from d precipice. The
cause of this dream is the shock he re-
ceives by coming in contact with the
floor. Between the time he receives
the fall, and the moment he awakes-
in this short period, almost infnitesi-
mal-his mind fclolws out the impress
sion received by the fall. reasoning to
it as climax. Thus, when he comes
to his senses he remembers having
had the vision, and wonders Wy he
should have fallen out of the bed just
at the moment he should have reached
the bottom of the abyss. 1t would be
folly to think that he had been dream
ing of falling and then suited his ac-
tions to the dream by doing so at ex-
exactly the same moment. l have
had dreams in which explosions oc-
Cured, and they were caused by the
noise of door being slammed. The
noise sound gave my mind the i'm
preston Of an explosion, and so l rea-
soned to it. The details have been
so perfect and the series of incidents
leading up to the explosion have
seemed to take.u such great length
of time that have often wondered at
the rapidity of thought while in sleep.
In a moment incidents can be review
ed which it would take hours to act
out. I know of a friend who fell
asleep while looking at the clock one
afternoon and began trip to New
York in dream. He remembered
vividly the ride from his house to the
depot how he was stopped by
friend who questioned him about i'm
portant business /; how he got on the
train after hearing an alteration with
the baggageman in regard to charges
for overweight, all Of which compelled
him to run and catch the train; how
he sat in the parlor car and enjoyed
the scenery, remembering all the sta
tions until he arrived at Greensburg,
when a friend asked him to join a
game of poker; how he played each
hand, the pleasant recollection Of
several times holding FOUR aces being
plainly in his mind; how he continued
playing without interruption except
for dinner until he arrived at Phila=
delphia, when he counted over some
$4OO in winnings. Then he remem-
bered having met friend while eat
ing in Broad street station, who talk
ed upon leading topic in politics ;
then he got on the train and began
reading magazine which he had pur-
chased at the news stand, finally ar
irving at Jersey City. He had just
got on the ferry boat when his wife
CAME in and woke him. He rubbed
his eyes, and thinking he had been
asleep for some time, he looked up at
the clock, when he found that but
three minutes had elapsed since he
fell asleep. In these three minutes
he had made a journey to New York,
seeing everything as vividly as if he
had really taken the trip. I tell this
just to show the wonderful activity of
the brain of sleeping person and in
support Of Of my thery thatin dream
the mind reasons to the cause rather
than from it. !"