The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-06-10
WHEN THE SENSES SLEEP.
Strange Deeds Under the Influence
Of Trance Spells.
Dream Walkers Playing Their voca-
tions With Closed Eyes-The Soul in
Action
From the Cincinnati Enquirer.

AcClOn.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
A deaconess of the Antwerp Church
! Hospital one evening summoned physi-
clan of my acquaintance to witness the
performances of a somnampulist
step this way" she whispered, hold
ing up lighted candle, you can see
plainly that her eyelids are closed; aud
now notice how she dusts of those
shelves without misplacing single
article, Physicians are supposed to deny
the existence of a soul, but how do you
account for such rational actions, when
the bodily senses are evidently dormant"
Madame. said the doctor, II take it
all back. Some of US must have at least
a dozen souls that take their turn at odd
jobs while the body is fast asleep"
1t would, indeed, be difficult to name a
manual trade or form of intellectual
occupation that has not been successfully
carried on by trance freaks who, in their
normal condition, had not the slightest
recollection of their interesting per-
tormances, and whose souls seemed
occasionally able to dispense with the AID
OF the conscious senses.
Purely mechanical functions like the
ascrlbed TO the action of the reflex
i muscles, and Of certain nerves, which, on
being excited. respond automatically in
special manner, but hospital nurses
frequently see a slumbeIing patient
stretch out mis- hand to replace blanket
which he had pushed back during the
paroNysm of a burning fever, and the
| theory Of habit or second nature"
fails TO solve the mystery of trance feats
which their performers would not have
ventured even TO attempt in
THEIR SOBER SENSES.
In the copper mines of Upsala, Sweden,
visitors are shown deep pit into which
young miner in his sleep descended
without the aid of ropes, TO search for the
body of his brother, who had been mys-
teriously missing for several days. On
the eve of that night he had gone to bed
as usual, and, judging from the tracks
made in the snow had started for the
mines in a Decline, across fences and
frozen ponds and through a tangle of
stunted larch trees that accounted for the
scratches on his hands and face. Finding
that another of her boys had disappeared
his distracted mother the next morning
| sent out a searching party, who followed
the tell-tall tracks, and at last came upon
the night wanderer in a little ca bin,
where he had fallen asleep,
with his brothers. shawl wrapped
around his left arm. A Swedish
cap and scalp-tuft. the color of his bro h
er's hair, were foun in his pocket, and a
careful examination of the moist clay at
the bottom of the pit estab lished the
fact that the dream walker had clambered
down shaft nearly 100 feet deep and eX-
plored its depth until he come across the
remains of his missing relative. Somehow
or other he had, even in his trance, real
lied the necessity of taking along a me-
mento Of his discovery, and then made
his way back by holding on to the pro-
jecting points of the rough-hewn rocks.
Particles of moist clay marked the zigzag
line of his ascent, and Mt one point he
| seemed to have hesitated and tried the
cliff left and right before resuming his
upward progress. On being awakened
the hero of that
sUPERHUMAN EXPLOIT
Remembered that he had stumbled on
emerging from the pit and avoided the
risk of slipping back by fiinging himself
nat on the ground and digging his fingers
in the frozen gravel. He also had dim
recollection of having entered the shelter
cabin and found bundle of straw by
cropping about the floor, but TO all other
incidents of his nocturnal adventure his
memory was a total blank. He could only
recall his grief at his brothers disappear
ance. and his desire to solve the mystery
in some way or other. This cursed old
pit" he said, was in my mind again and
again, and / suppose that the idea must
have come back in my sleep and driven
me out of bed"
How the more or less realized danger of
the steep rocks failed to awaken the
eeper seems an unanswera ole puzzle,
and in that respect an almost equally re-
markable case is that of the Chevalier
Arnim, PrLsSian nobleman. whose hot
temper had involved him in many quar-
rels. till he was at last challenged by an
Austrian army officer of more than local
fame as a formidable swordsman. Fred
erick the Great could not afford to lose
his able-bodied sub ects in private feuds,
and ridiculed the obligations of the code.
but the antagonists were determined to
run all risks and, having reason to sus-
pect their friends of having arranged for
the Intervention of the police, they agreed
to dispense will tho services of seconds
the Austrian pledging his honor TO appear
at the rendezvous before the dawn of day,
either alone or in the company of a dis
Greet military surgeon Won Amin
though an expert duelist and master of
fence, did not underrate the seriousne less
of
HIS PRESENT PREDICAMEST.
anu SpGuG LuG WuOlG dlLCEUOOu IN WflGllR
letters and otherwise preparing for the
worst. Contrary to his habit. he drank
Sc eral CUPS oil strong coffee to brace his
nerves. and before going to bed timed an
alarm clock for a. m, and left his lamp
half burning. But he could not sleep.
Plans for the best modes of attack and
defense tiickered in mis- brain and kept
him awake till an hour after midnight,
when he at last was overcome by ex-
haustion and sor: of fever sleep. The
prosaic Austrian had Gained his nerves
with good supper, and reached the APP
pointed place promptly at ] n. M, accom-
panied by young surgeon of his own reg
iment
There; told you this plan wouldn't
work, - said the surgeon, your Berliner
has gone back on US after all. ! somehow
knew he would not come"
He's late, that's all" said the Aus
trian, quietly. Il know hun too we'll
yes there he comes now and-I declare
in his stocking feet, to keep the patros
off his track''
A tall figure emerged from the shadows
of the grove and approached the trysting
place sword in hand, as silent as a
specter.
This is Dr. D., Baron Arnim; there
will be no Intervention, after all, it
SEEMS
No reply.
"Oh, he won't talk to US. All right.