The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1904-12-01
Dreams Not to Be Despised.

Everyone who reads the newspapers
,,a. observed how frequently they con-
i, stories about wonderful dreams,
saws the Chicago Chronicle. The mod
.,., man has a habit of sneering at the
.,.an,s of past ages and the agnostic
.:7io,lae the dreams of religion, but
there are as many unaccountable
dreams now as there were in the days
If casostris and as many in connection
nth trade. politics, sickness and death
nc with religion. The dream is as large
q factor in human nature and human
conduct now as it ever was.
The influence that dreams exert is
somewhat astonishing when we reflect
that not one in millions of them are
remarkable enough to be narrated by
the dreamer, the remainder being friv-
olous. incoherent and meaningless, and
that they can generally be traced to
natural and commonplace causes. 1t is
difficult to feel much respect for a
dream which was obviously due to
living on the back to getting the covers
dpranged or to having eaten supper
of pie and pigs feet. Still, the excep-
tional dream retains it's influence just
as if there were no other kind.
Most of the remarkable dreams of
n which we read al the present day are
pictorial announcements of death or
other important events. some of which
are in the future and some of which
are transpiring simultaneously at re-
mote places, but wonderful dreams
take much wider range than this, es-
pecially if the dreams Of past ages be
included In dreams poets have COM
posed beautiful poems and musicians
Iavishing music, mathematician have
solved supposedly insoluble problems,
detectives have unraveled mysterious
crimes generals have been taught
successful plans of battle, the victims
of robbery have located lost treasures
the inventor has hit upon invaluable
devices and, according to the general
belief, the saint has had communicated
to him the sacred mysteries of religion.
Perhaps it would not be going too
far to say that dreams have largely
influenced the whole course of human
history. and that if none of the events
which We're the direct result of dreams
had occurred the world of today would
have been as different from what it is
as from the world before the flood.
The Christian religion, to look no
further which has certainly altered the
face of the globe, rests in it's inception
and its development on the visions of
Mary. Joseph, Paul and Constantine.
There is scarcely a step in art or
science or philosophy or politics or re-
Hsion that has not been greatly modi
fed at one time or another by dreams.
To some extent dreaming seems to
be a Sift. Some people never dream at
all; some dream. but their dreams
ing consistent, beautiful and even sub
lime things. Some say also that dream
person never repeats his dreams
and discourages all recollection of
them he will cease to dream at all,
and If, on the other hand, he habitual-
recalls his dreams, cherishes. the
recollection of them and relates them
10 others he will dream more and
more. Whether he will also dream to
more and more purpose we are not in
formed
PEOPLE who are skeptical in regard
10 the miraculous have no difficulty in
WSpoSng of wonderful dreams, at
least to their own satisfaction. They
say that if all the millions and mil
mons OF nonsensical things that are
dreamed were related it would be seen
at once that the remarkable ones were
mere eoincidnces and exceedingly rare
'IeS It that. In this connection the
'i'Suidf dream of a woman in Dan
JURY Conn, may prove instructive.
ms Woman's husband was travel
s salesman and was absent from
'He most of the time. One night
"Heh ne was away she dreamed that
was dead and that his body was
"'u out in the parlor on the lower
OF their dwelling. The dream was
terribly vivid that she jumped out
oel and ran down stairs to the
'ior TO see if it was true The next
SUI She had the same dream and
'ed the parlor again. The third
'hls was repeated and early the
morning her husband came home
ana sound without having had
uncommon experience whatever.
'i'S IS a very nice story, but it will
more than that to demolish