The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1898-08-26
THE World OF DREAMS
RAPID ACTION OF THE MIND IN
SLEEP.
Lifetime of Experience in Few Sec
onds of Troubled Slumber--Some
Very Strange Examples.

utes the exact hour of the day by
looking at the sun, while others may
not be able to guess anywhere near
the correct time. \ lawyer related
the circumstance of case in which
he had been engaged for the defence
of prisoner charged with murder.
The vital issue was a question OF a
few seconds of time between the as
sault on the prisoner and the firing
of the shot which killed his assailant.
Although two persons were eye wit
nesses to the tragedy they differed so
widely on the point that it was as
much in doubt after their testimony
as before. One claimed that no more
than five seconds elapsed between the
assault upon the defendant and the
shot fred by the latter; while the
other witness swore positively that
more than half minute passed, and
in attempting to prove this to be true
he related all that had passed
through his mind while watching the
! fight. He argued that the varied
thoughts and emotions suggested by
the tragedy must have continued for
at least minute to have become in
delibly impressed upon his mind. Up
on this testimony the defendant was
acquitted.
''That recalls one of the strangest
incidents of my long experience" said
an old telegraph operator. Every
| telegraph operator who has had eNpe-
rience receiving press reports under
stands what torture it is to be oblig
ed to work when brain and body are
| tired when the head droops and the
eyes close almost at every other word
! licked off by the instruments. 1t fire.
! quentlv happens that an operator in
this condition of exhaustion and in
need of sleep will be aroused sudden
! ly from these moments of unconscl-
BUSINESS to find that some word form
ed by the clicking of the instrument
has suggested a thought, the train Of
which has been followed while Sleep
| ing, and that the hand, trained to re-
spond instantly to the mind, has re-
corded the dream. instead of writing
that which actually came over the
wire. But these spells of unconsci-
BUSINESS last but moment-perhaps
| five seconds is the average-and one
will awake with start, intuitively
feeling that a mistake has been made,
and quickly Correct it.
II was the receiving operator on a
press wire in an eastern city some IT,
teen years ago, at time before the
typewriter had come into general use
among telegraphers, and the pen was
| the customary instrument for taking
down the words from the wires. The
hours i'm those days were long and the
labor tiresome and eXacting. About
o'clock in the morning of partic-
ular night | grew very tired and very
! sleepy. Yet the news items came rap
idly and in what seemed to me just
then. an endless stream of dots sd
daShes. II was a severe effort for me
to keep awake any length of time.
repeatedly fell asleep, only to awake
with a start to find myself writing
/ down words that were entirely for
eign to the matter coming over the
wire. Finally an item dated London
started to me, which ran something
after this fashion London, May %.
While following the hounds today on
his Shropshire estate, Lord Clancar-
tY-'
at the word 'Clancarty' / fell
asleep. The words following the
hounds had started train of thought
flashing through my tired brain,
which went on and on, while | slept.
| dreamt | was in Indian Territory,
where I had ten years previous spent
several months, and | was fox hunt
ing, as | had often been on the occa-
sion of my visit. Every detail of the
hunt came to me while | slept-the
start, the names of those forming the
company, the starting of the quarry
and the excitement of the chase. Ev-
cry little detail was as vivid as if
it was actually happening at the mo-
ment. l even remembered the dis
pute as to who should have the brush.
"At this point / awoke with a start,
with the feeling that l had slept at
least an hour. The dream was remem-
bered with perfect clearness, and l
felt | certainly could not make the
Journey of 1000 miles and engage in
an exciting fox chase even in my
sleep in less than an hour. With some
hesitation / opened the key to the
wire and informed the sending oper-
ator at the other end that had been
asleep for some time and had probab-
ly missed vast amount of news. He
asked me to designate the point at
which | fell asleep. | replied that an
item dated London concerning the
death of Lord Clancarty was being re-
ceived when / lost consciousness, the
word 'Clancarty' being the last one !
had written.
"The transmitting operator laugh
ed and said: why, I've only sent three
words since that and he finished the
sentence thus: was instantly killed.
'It required about five seconds to
transmit those three words, yet while
it was being done / had taken a nap
enjoyed vacation, travelled across the
continent and engaged in a fox hunt
besides"
About one month ago my child,
which is fifteen months old, had an
attack of diarrhoea, accompanied by
vomiting, l gave it such remedies as