The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-10-12
SLEEP COMES EASY
Somnolens Effects Of Northern
New York Hop Fields
Waysarers and Natives saccunb - tha
prewsy Infioencc-TAli Stosies
Told About This Pecnl-
ia< Region.

In the mellow, misty DAYS of autumn
wayfaring strangers IN either Otsegc
or Schoharie county are certain 10 be
overcome by surprising drowsiness
which commonly makes them think
that they have been drugged IN sonc
unaccountahle fashion. But when
these dozing travellers observe that this
apparently uncomfortable desire 70
slumber weights the lids of natives az
well as their own, the raTnblers at
tribute their somnoience to some IN
known soporifc quality in the prevail
Ing haze. That, SAYS writer in New
York exchange, il about as far as thew
ever penetrate the phenomena II
journeyIng on horseback or in wagonx
they a-e. soon snoring, while IL 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 10 re-
sist the drowsiness when they enter
either Of these counties
The same thing prevails in that part
of the u. & II. railroad which cuts
through Schoharie and Otsego coun-
ties. Conductor Jim Thomas. aud all
the train hands for that matter. have
10 use drugs TO keep from falling
asleep while they are in this torpescent
region AL the passengers sleep like
dormice- There they sit, pipe in
mouth, at card tables and paper in
hand. as II suddenly struck dead But
their shores proclaim that they are
only benurnbed by sleep.
One might think that these slumaer-
ing passengers would be soft marks"
for n train robbrr. but ex-Assemblv-
man O. f. Lane. of Otsego. tells a story
which proves exactly the reverse. 4
thief did clean ont 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 a 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 head hasn't turned white. Still, At
this season these counties are an
Acadia TO which nock many persons
suffering with insomnia
II cures. but the cure is even worse
than the disease. At least that is what
W. II. Bum, appraiser OF the port Of
Osyvego, thinks Hard work agra
waited by too many warm bottles and
cold birds, left Mr.. Bum . martyr to
insomnia. Urged by friends, he sought
relief IA Cobleskiu, Schoharie county.
Even before he got settled there he be-
came dead 10 all Surroundings No
one, not even himself, knows how
long he slept Some say forty-nino
hours right of .hs real Anyway,
after a week of n he went home cured
But he became such a sleepyhead that
he is said TO be seeking something that
will bring on . mild form Of insomnia
Ex-CougressInan Pendsr tells a story
OF a stump speaker in Schenevus. OF
sego county, who fell dead aHlesp right
IN the middle OF his grafton. lie was
struck with one hand aloft like q pump
handle IN that preposterous attitude
and still snooZing he was carried TO tho
nearest tavern The political cam
paign was over before he became wldo
awake
Every one, scientific or otherwise.
who has investigated the matter agrees
that the drowsinsss which becomes
epidemic in this region every fall il
caused by the Intoxicating aroma from
the hop felds. which, with the almost
iupalpable yellow dust blown from tho
hops, gluts tbs atmosphere. Hop pill
lows have long been recognized a. .
sovereign cure for slesples&ness Yet
II the .tufing Of a million hop boisters
were scattered To the winds they could
not as richly irnprsgnate the air a. Dc
the living vines themselves Even liz n
gentle breeze the drowsy pungeucy Of
the hops can be scented hfty miles
from the nearest hop field So there
&. no call t. wonder why strangers loss
themselves Ia sleep a. soon as they
enter the hop producing counties OF
this state