The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1907-09-24
FREAKS OF
SONAMBUl|SM

EoA 49,
Lo you, here she comes! This Is hei
very guide. l
Uupn my life, fast asleep opsef'c i,
her: stand close" {
A few weeks ago | contributed "
the Sunday edition of he Messenger
q short story, Lost Roll OF BANK
BiIls." narrating the act, Wnlle d.
sIeep of a clerk, in hiding a pacKae
of money under the bricks OF the
hearth in his room, and its dlscoV-
cry many years afterwards. Though
If is .'horribly personal" as Martin
Chuzzlewitz in Dickens expresses IL,
7 am much tempted to try and amuse
the readers of The Messenger with my
own experiences in that line.
In my early life both Somnambulls1n
and ~Somlooualism CD were kinks Ill
my bodily and mental makeup. FROM
ten to fifteen years these physical anu
psychic alterations were most 1re-
ouent, pronounced and startling, until
thew eliminated in almost a tragedy
T was a sleep talker before | was d
sIeeD-walker, and the former proDa-
bIv brought on the latter. These de-
veiopments appeared to De lhuuceu
and provoked by accidental and eA-
traneous circumstances, such as Wouid
tend to excite the imagination ana
disturb the mind.
Frequently, after supper before pea
time after some ghost story or other
LID L4nn no rQtQ0 nv
brothers and sisters would say'
eeMind. Buddy, you'll nave the 'blddy-
diddies' tonight" This was an alluS-
ion to the fact that the beginning o.
my sleep-talking was a glpoerlSh
sounding like 'biddy-diddy" repeated
over and over. But, after this intro
ductory gable my nocturnal mono
yopue became more elevated. At ina
lime / was a pupil at the Donaldson
Academy on Haymount, Latin oelh;
nv fayorite of all studies; and hav
heard nv father say that after
got down we'll to business | Woul
glibly reels lines of Virgil's Aenel'
and even ''scan" the verses. Gene1
aIly a touch on the shoulder suffice
10 awaken me, somewhat startleu ah
dazen, but now and h l mlgh
ne led back to bed still asleep, an
knowing nothing of it until the ne'
morning.
But my infrmity seemed to mo
than keen pace with my growth, eau
ing nv parents much uneasiness. MO
and more frequently [ would
found moaning about the house, al
even occasionally going up and doS
stairs. which was especially alarmlr
NV father's house was very lars
containing ten rooms; in fact, II "
= double house, having two st;
WAYS. The small room, in which
slept alone, opened into that oc(
pied by my parents.
One night in summer I arose fr'
the bed in my sleep, climbed up
the window sill, turned around on
knees so that I faced into the roc
and let myself down to my I
length. holding on by my hands
tne sill. 1t has now been more tt
fifty years ago, but to this day l
member lOOhlIAS "iobA
moving in the wind, nitlclng that
night shirt was unbuttoned, and pa
fully feeling for a support to my I
for nv hold on the vindOw-sin
fast giving out
NV mother happened to be ava
and, hearing the knocking Of my
against the side of the house, divi
- dash Che CrranO r
the bed, rushed into my room,
without even glancing at the /
as she said the next morning, lea
out of the window, and seized
under the arm pits and then she c
NV father was there in an instant,
I was hauled into the room. My
.caDade was & mine days" wonder
the neighborhood, and my sch
mates looked upon me as a sort
hero, to have passed through s
an experience.
Serious as this adventure was
gave rise to some amusing lnclde
NV father was a wholesale SrO'
MERCHANT. and went to New \
once Or twice a year to BUY go
generally taking me with him. A
the window episode he always car
a rope in his trunk, and tied me
and foot to himself, at night in
room of the New York hotel. He
a keen sense of humOr; and, v
we were undressed, and bound toe
- tr hard and fast, like a pair OF
,l;vfcts, he delighted to ring the
and mystify the waiter with the
aecountable picture presented.
- man would hardly have enough
nossessiou left to take the order