Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1900-05-18
SOME QUEER DREAMS.
VISIONS THAT RESULTED IN THE CAP
TURE OF CRIMINALS


and which Prove Anew That Truth
IL Stranger Than Fiction.
A very remarkable instance OF the
tracing Of criminal By means OF a
dream occurred in St Louis. A woman
named Mary Thornton was detained
In custody for q month, charged with
Che murder Of her husband. A week
or 30 after her arrest she requested to
see one of the prison officials and told
him she had dreamed that an indivtd-
ual named George Ray had murdered
her spouse, giving the Official at the
same time full details OF the tragedy
as Witnessed In her vision. The man
Ray was not suspected at the time,
but the prison authorities were so
much impressed by the woman's OBJ
vious earnestness that q search was at
once made for him.
After some delay he was traced and
charged with the crime, the details OF
the same as seen In the dream being
rehearsed to him. Overcome with as
constituent, he then and there con-
fessed that he had committed the
had only met the murderer once and
believed him to be On the very best OF
terms with her husband.
Almost as remarkable was the case
Of q woman named Drew, who dream
ed one night that her husband, a re-
tired sailor, had been murdered by a
peddler at a Gravesend tavern, where
the said husband waa In the habit Of
putting up when visiting the town In
question. The first news that awaited
her on rising in the morning was that
her spouse had been Rssassinated at
the very tavern she had seen in her ex-
| traordinary vision, whereupon she
burst into hysterical tears and cried
out that her dream had come true.
She Gained down somewhat after a
few hours and then handed the police
officials an exact description Of the
peddler OF the vision, giving a minute
account Of his dress, which included a
blue coat of a very peculiar pattern.
Marvellous as the fact may appear, a
man wearing such coat and follow
Ing the occupation Of 9 peddler was
discovered two days later at an inn
SONG, six miles from Gravesend, and,
on being taxed with the crime, he at
once admitted that he was guilty and
that robbery had been the motive of
the outrage. He was hanged soon aft.
erward, his doom having been brought
about by the fimsy evidence Of a wom-
ans dream.
Women as dreamers seem more sue
cessful than men, but rather peculiar
instance of a crime being traced by
vision and in which the dreamer was
member of the male sex comes from
Rennes, in France. A worthy mer-
chant, having Quilted his Office one
Saturday evening, proceeded home to
dinner and after enjoying a snbstan-
tlal meal lay down on the couch and
fell into a light doze. A very vivid
dream then came to him wherein he
saw two men Of the burglar type en-
gagged In riiIng the safe in his Office,
and so much impressed was he by the
vision that he4resolyed, upon awaken
ing, to at once 60 to the Office and see
that everythtng,was undertook and key.
His amazement may be imagined
when, On arriving there, he discovered
the door forced and burglary in prog
ress. To summon q couple Of gen.
darnes was the work % an instant,
and five minutes later the thieves, who
proved to be notorious housebreakers,
were on their way to the police depot,
where the prosecutor told his extraor-
binary story. In view Of the fact that
the safe contained valuables to the ex-
tent Of some thousands Of pounds, the
dream In question proved a very for
tupate one for the dreamer.
How to explain these marvellous man
ifestations, which prove once more
that truth is stranger than fiction, is
task beyond the ingenuity Of man to
compass. Perchance the theory Of to-
iepathy may have something to do with
the mysterious business, but even that
theory would appear rather Inadequate
In such cases as the aforementioned
A skillful fOrger who moved in the
highest circles Of society was once de-
tected by the agency Of dream. The
affair occurred In Boston and caused
the greatest excitement of the time.
The forger. young man of eight or
nine and twenty, had become acQuaint-
ed with a rich publisher, at whose
house he became a constant guest. One
day the publishers bankers discovered
that some one was forging their clients
signature to various large checks, and
two detectives were at once instructed
to look out for the cufprit.
Their efforts proved useless, but one
evening hepublisher's youngest daugh-
ter, a little girl Of II, dreamed that
she saw a man whom she described as
"like Mr.. Blank" the visitor to whom
reference has been made, sitting in q
room in Maine street copying her ia
theirs signature. The child's dream
was communicated to the police, who.
though inclined to ridicule the same ut
the outset, eventually promised to have
the gentleman in question watched,
with the result that his lodgings were
raided and a complete plant for the
making Of hank notes found there. 1t
then transpired that he was man who
was wanted for manifold forgeries
throughout the Union. and he was sent
to prison for very long term.
The child's dream was all the more
extraordinary in view Of the fact that
she was too young to understand the
leading incidents Of the business and
attributed the copying Of her fathers
signature IN the dream to the gentle
man wanting to write nicely. like papa"
e,%r An,A lon