Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-07-19
SLEEPLESS TWENTY YEARS
Remarkable Experience of Jersey.
man started by AghtninE
bolt.

4hioheV WIRE once fhleA OF police o.
Hackettstown. N. j., fell asleep few
nights ago for the first time In twenty
years. The third night he died. not having
returned to consciousness since his eyes
closed The end came apparently from an
affection OF the lungs and the bronchial
tubes. Up TO the time he became III, about
three weeks ago. Wire was In perfect
health, despite hts unrefuted assertion that
his eyes had not closed In sleep for twenty
years He was the first OF family OF
seven brothers and a sister to die.
Thirty years ago Alonzo Wire was a farm
hand, employed by one OF the wealthy
farmers Ia this vicinity. One hot summer
day he was driving team OF horses draw
ms loads OF new-mown hay from the
meadows TO the barns. A thunder storm
came up suddenly and everybody ran 10
shelter except Wire, who was Obliged 10
stay with his frightened horses. AS he
stood at the animals heads there was a
flash of lightning. lie fell unconscious still
clnging to the brides in his hand.
When he revived he found the horses
stunned and half dead from the effects Of
the bolt. lie soon noticed. too, that he had
become deaf From that time on Wire
was different from every other human be,
ing he ever had heard of. He went to
many ear specialists, but none of them
could relieve his deafness. So he resigned
himself to his fate and learned the deaf
and dumb alphabet. BY the time he reached
the letter u his deafness had disappeared
and his hearing has been perfect since
Then the insomnia began.
Year after year it increased and for ten
years Wire suffered torments from being
unable to sleep But, strangely, his health
remained unimpaired. His sleeping hours
grew shorter and shorter and again he
consulted many specialists. Almost every
physician had different theory ABOUT
what the electric stroke had done to his
system, but none could suggest cure.
Finally Wire learned TO- do without any
sleep whatever. TO rest his body he would
lie for several hours on a couch, but his
eyes always remained wide open and his
brain apparently always was active. He
frankly told his friends OF his afflctlon,
and several physicians who doubted his
word put him to extreme tests Those tests.
however, never served to make the man
sleep.
! 1t is only for the last fourteen years that
Wires malady has been known outside OF
| his home. Although he said he had not
slept in six years before the outside world
knew nothing OF it. When newspaper ac-
counts and magazine articles on the subject
of his sleepessness first excited wide inter-
est Wire was employed as night flagman
on the Lackawanna railroad The directors
| of that road read the stories about their
employe with great alarm, and his case re-
ceived special attention oho9 a''f
'If IT is true that this man does not seer
in the daytime or any other time, how can
he be relied upon TO perform his dut es
! DronarlNt9'' ipunipad ana of tl,a ard
Suppose wreck were TO occur on our
system" said another. the whole country
would hold us up to scorn because we EN-
ploy man who never sleeps TO flag our
trains"
This Alonzo Wires insomnia lost him his
railroad job. Thereupon he entered pohtcs,
and not finding it necessary to waste tire
in slumber. he soon became a power in the
community Eventually he was appointed
to be chief of police, job for a real wide
awake man. No crook ever bothered Hack
ettstown much in the period that It had
the only police chief who keeps both eyes
open" The only effect of his inability TO
take his rest as other persons take theirs
was decrease Of few pounds In his
weight.
After serving his township for several
years and having saved enough to keep him
comfortably Wire retired and lived in
sleepless peace with his wife and daughter.
Even during his recent Illness his brain
never stopped working but his physicians
said that did not seem to make his lung
trouble worse. Gradually, however, his con-
dillon became worse Two nights ago. just
before his eyes closed for the last time, ne
called his wife to his side.
"The Lord be praisedY ne whispered.
I'm going to sleep at last."-Eew York
Press.