The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1912-12-05
SPENT 81 YEARS IN TRANCE

There have been several cases of
long sleep quite apart from the cele-
DRAFTED sons of Ephesus and Rip Van
Wrinkle. One of the most remarkable
was the long sleep of German gov
CTAIl20t OHcidl named Aruhein, who
had an accident in which his head
was injured in 1904, and falling asleep
was still unconscious four years after
ward and may be sleeping still.
But the most interesting example
was that of woman, Caroline Ols-
son, living in the little island of Okuo,
on the coast of Sweden. who fell
asleep in 1875 and did not wake up
till 1907. DR.. Froderstrom of the
Salpetriere asylum in Paris has made
a detailed examination of her expert
ence and now publishes the result OF
his inquiries in the asylum journal
1t seems that the sleeper of Okuo"
was born in 1861. The first fourteen
years of her life was passed in per
feet health, although extraneous diff
fIculties prevented her from attending
school. 1t was not till just before her
fourteenth birthday that she received
any schooling. At the following
Christmas she fell i'll.
On the all-eventful day she came
home from the school, which was
three miles off, and complained of
toothache and indisposition and was
put to bed. A very few hours later
she fell into trance, uttered no
word, seemed to hear nothing and
showed no trace of feeling anything
when needles and such like things
were run into her arms For thirty
years and more, according to her
mothers evidence Caroline remained
in this condition without a sign of
change. Only once in reply to the
despairing cry of her mother for
prayer did she move her lips and say,
Jesus. have mercy on me"
Some three or four times did the
invalid leave for a moment her bed.
on which all the rest of the time she
lay in a crouching posture with the
bedclothes drawn up over her head
It is said that her whole nourishment
consisted OF two cups of milk a day
When her mother died Caroline must
have been conscious to some extent
of the fact, for she burst into tears,
though otherwise no change was no.
ticeable in her condition. After the
mothers death a brother undertook
the charge Of the sleeping girl and
her food. but after two years he was
drowned, and this sad event occa-
stoned a second violent fit of weeping.
The care OF her then devolved upon
a hOusekeeper and Caroline seems to
have shown more intelligence and
sharpness in noticing her presence. 1t
began to be noticed that her hair was
always kept tidy and that her nails
did not exceed the usual length. AS
the result of an experiment in leaving
her alone Tor some hours of the day a
suspicion arose that her trance could
not have been so complete and I'm
broken as formerly. At last there was
no doubt about it Food disappeared
mysteriously.
A few months later Caroline sud
denly asked for her mother. and when
her brothers hurried to her side she
waved them away, saying, You
aren't my brothers; they were quite
small" From that moment she was
a different being. The trance had
ceased and left her quite we'll and
hearty The most careful examina-
ton failed to reveal 10 the doctor the
slightest trace of weakness or Of
mental defect. She remembered ev-
cry detail of her early life but showed
a great reluctance to speak about her
illness.