San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-11-24
THE LAND OF SLEEP.
aSomnolent Effects, of Northern
New York Hop Fields.
wayfarers and Natives Succumb to tho
Drowsy Infiuence-Tall Stories
Told About This Pecul-
lar Region.

In the mellow, misty days of autumn
wayfaring strangers in either OtSego
or Schoharie county are certain to be
overcome by a surprising drowsiness
which commonly makes them think
that they have been drugged in some
unaccountable fashion. But when
these doing travellers observe that this
apparently uncomfortable desire TO
Slumber weights the lids of natives as
well as their own, the ramblers at
tribute their somnOlence to some I'M
known soporifc quality in the prevail
ing haze. That, says writer in New
York exchange, is about as far as they
ever penetrate the phenomena. II
journeying on horseback or in wagons
they are soon snoring, while if they
are travelling on Shanks'' mare they
drop along the roadside and fall fast
asleep. No matter how wide awake
they may be, they are powerless to re-
sist the drowsiness when they enter
either of these counties.
The same thing prevails in that part
of the ID. & ii. railroad which cuts
through Schoharie and Otsego coun-
ties. Conductor Jim Thomas, and all
the train hands for that matter. have
to use drugs to keep from falling
asleep while they are in this torpescent
region. All the passengers sleep like
dormice. There they sit, pipe in
mouth, at card tables and paper in
hand, as if suddenly struck dead. But
their snores proclaim that they are
only benumbed by sleep.
One might think that these slumber-
ing passengers would be soft marks"
for a train robber, but ex-Assembly-
man o. L. Lane, of Otsego. tells story
which proves exactly the reverse. A
thief did clean out the pockets of some
twenty passengers. But when, after
passing outside the counties, the pas
sengers came to, they found the luck
less thief, loaded with booty. stretched
snoring in corner. He had got with
in step of the door when the sleep
fever hit him and he fell snoring in his
tracks.
With all the trouble Conductor
Thomas has prodding slumbering way
passengers into partial wakefulness,
his friends wonder that every hair in
his head hasn't turned white. Still, at
this season these counties are an
Acadia to which flock many persons
suffering with insomnia.
1t cures, but the cure is even worse
than the disease. At least that is what
w. II. Bum, appraiser of the port of
e0swego, thinks. Hard work aggra-
cold birds, left Mr.. Bum a martyr to
insomnia. Urged by friends, he sought
relief in Cobleskill, Schoharie county.
Even before he got settled there he be-
came dead to all surroundings. No
one, not even himself, knows how
long he slept Some say forty-nine
hours right off the reel. Anyway,
after a week of it he went home cured.
But he became such a sleepyhead that
he is said to be seeking something that
will bring on a mild form of insomnia.
Ex-Congressman Pendar tells story
of stump speaker in Schenevus, OF
sego county. who fell dead asleep right
in the middle of his Grafton. He was
struck with one hand aloft like pump
handle. In that preposterous attitude
and still snoozing he was carried to the
nearest tavern. The political cam
paign was over before he became wide
awake.
Every one, scientific or otherwise,
who has investigated the matter agrees
that the drowsiness which becomes
epidemsc in this region every fall is
caused by the Intoxicating aroma from
the hop fields, which, with the almost
impalpable yellow dust blown from the
hops, gluts the atmosphere. Hop pill
lows have long been recognized as
sovereign cure for sleeplessness. Yet
If the stuffing of a million hop holsters
were scattered to the winds they could
not as richly impregnate the air as do
the living vines themselves. Even in
gentle breeze the drOwsy pungency of
the hops can be scented fifty miles
from the nearest hop field. So there
is no call to wonder why strangers lose
themselves in sleep as soon as they
enter the hop producing counties of
this state.
IN THE MOUNTAINS OF CORSICA.