The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-27
DREAMS AND DROWNING.
Delightful Sensations That Succeed
the First Brief struggle.

From the Philadelphia Times.
In the bay Of Gibraltar. In the midst
of a furious storm. I was upset out OF
a canoe and picked up in an unconscious
condition. The experiences Of those few
moments are fxel more wildly In my
memory than those Of any other period
Of my life. Upon striking the water
was whirled about in a vortex that speed
ily. through dizziness. robbed me Of all
my wits. When the whirling ceased l
found myself choking and gasping for
breath that 1 could not get
The first feeling OF abject terror must
De experienced to be realized When one
Is being overcome an almost unnatural
physical fear paralyzes the functions,
cramps the limbs and causes the mind
to take on abnormal conditions. This
terror Is the worst agony Of II all-the
choking sensation when the water rushes
down the throat, the blood flooding 10 the
braini as II 1t would burst, are nothing TO
the awful dread of being consumed and
overcome by the monstrous elements
about you.
i was surrounded by boats and steam
.ers at anchor, and when ] rose upon me
crest OF a tremendous wave these vessels
seemed to be at a great distance and as
large as mountains. ! remember getting
this view Of them twice, then my vision
seemed 10 suddenly become interpretive
and was taken up wholly with fantastic
scenes, in which strange people figured
among friends of childhood long since
almost forgotten. II was as If important
events in my life were being re-lived in
a dream, a dream in which the body
played no part. When once the great
fear and choking sensation had passed,
FEELING OF perfect repose OF body and
peace OF mind possessed me. Although /
had become helpless and was being buffet-
ed about by the waves, every moment
gliding farther and farther out to sea,
was contented and free from any unpleas-
ant sensations; fairy forms seemed to sur
round and beckon TO me; there was music
as OF vibrating winds and rushing water
ana found myself Ia the midst of flow
cry wales and quiet meadows, but 1 can
wen recall the placiH Indifference with
which looked upon these things I sup
posed that hours were passing, but had
wholly forgotten the fact that 1 had fali-
en- into the water. In this state, no
thought or having body came to me at
all, yet sensation was alive and ] saw with
my eyes and heard with my ears, with
never notion that / was under the water
and slowly dying for want of air. passed
| through scenes of dream pictures, one at
| ter another, each, exquisite and peaceful
| In the extreme, filled with soft radiatins
lights Of many eolors, but all presenting
no meaning. The power of thought dii
! not seem to fabricate tangible ideas
Suddenly / heard a loud voice calling
| TO me, and 1t seemed to CRATE on the
| quiet tenor of my consciousness and sur
| IOuuulnES. II was voice with little mu-
/ sic in u, and as | really believe belonged
! to a different world than the one into
which | had been ushered by a watery
| path. Then a peculiar experience took
| but carrying a heavy load. Of which /
| could not rid myself. The voice, I'm which
| ! could distinguish no words. seemed to
be associated and belong to this burden
| Other beings were helping me to carry
| It, and we struggled together, though II
| seemed against all odds as I felt thai
! what | was trying to carry each moment
| grew heavier and was slowly but surely
| dragging me down. At last 1 thought I
| had lost consciousness, but still felt a
| miserable weight of duh pain in every
! nerve, muscle and limb. Sick and faint.
/ opened my eyes and found myself aboard
| coal barge. Then l realized that the
! burden had been helping others TO carry
| was my own body. l am convinced that
! with mental and Spiritual powers l had
| been combining with my rescuers TO save
my earthly body from watery grave.
woman recently rescued from suicide
relates her experience in the following
/ words.
ITO prevent any person interfering with
my design, l jumped into the river late
| in the evening No one appeared to be
! about at the time, and when / struck
the water Immediately sank going down
and down, and yet being carried forward
until thought l should never rise again.
"A roaring sound echoed through my
head, II seemed to me 1t would burst I
VPVAiSu my mouth anu attempted TO breathe
being unable to endure the pressure lon
ger, but the water rushed in and | closed
1t. was again compelled to open it: more
water entered; the feeling was horrible
Just when / thought all was over. I reach
ed the surface of the water, about fifty
feet from the shore and 100 feet from
where l had jumped in.
Near by was a steamboat on which
stood man with a long pole and an iron
hook on the end. 1t took only a second to
see those things and, in fact, l had il1s
time to get one breath when / sank aga in
with my mouth open. My past life flashed
before me and l was once more a child.
The picture of my father and mother stood
out in bold relief I reached out my hand
to them. The roaring OF the water sounded
like the sweetest music.
suddenly l saw light and thought l was
IN paradise. A large green field, covered
with roses and other flowers whose fra
GRANGE I could smell, came into view. I
felt as If l was being borne up by some
winged messenger whom l could not see.
but whose presence I could feel I remern-
Dered nothing more until 1 felt a rough
jerk My rescuer had succeeded in fas-
tening the boat hook into my clothing.
"As / was being pulled out of the water
the picture changed; instead of paradise
the place in which the evil one dwells'
with all its fires, and swarming with hid
eous red-dressed creatures and other
things presented Itself to my mind. onlv
70 again disappear and leave in darkness.
When | came to I was surprised to learn
that had been unconscious. Every muscle
in my body panied me, but my brain was
| perfectly clear"
A PECULIAR CUSTOM