The Concordia sentinel. (Vidalia, Concordia Parish, La.) 1882-current, 1920-02-21

nightmare. Some of us walk or have waiked ID
our sleep; most of US know people who do Ana
a few of us have lad experiences so similar to
that Of James Sapienza that We shiver at the
remembrance Of them.
Those OF us who have had such experiences cun
readily understand why ]. s. Plumb. a manufac-
turing chemist OF Jersey City was irnpelled TO-
write the following letter to the prosecutor OF
Newark:
II am strIklngl; reminded OF a painful expe-
rience of mine many years ago, and relate 1t
to you for what 1t may be worth as bearing some
what corroborativeIy upon the Sapienza case.
early in my married life was In the habit Of
sleeping with a revolver under the mattress at
the head of my bed. i kept 1t there because 1t
was equally as accessible but much less In danger
of accidental discharge as when under my pillow.
zone night 1 had wild dream of graphing
with a burglar. and was awakened by my wifes
scream, or by my own action. or both. to find to
my horror, that had my wife's head under my
left arm while was digging for my revolver with
my right
at was all over in a minute. with serious
damage being committed. but it dreadful
thing, as l had naturally grabbed my wife rough
w. 1t made me realize that light have killed
my beloved wife had secured the weapon before
fully awaking. as would have been quite probable
had IL been a little handler under the pillow.
Never again. said and the revolver has been
The literature of dreams Is vOluminous, as is
TO he expected from mans interest in these mys-
ferries of that mystery we call sleep Science.
attempting to classify dreams. has set aside
class which II calls nightmares ineubuses.
To those which go beyond the limits Of the ordi-
nary nightmare it has applied the name som
nambulistic automatism." In this class In
Guided the nocturnal adventures 'n which persons
commit violent acts of which they retain no wax
ing knowledge. Apparently the person Is sleep
ing He appears to have entered state which
is short Of total oblivion vet beyond the dividing
line of consciousness. Evidently to them the
real and the unreal are confused; the unreal
is to them as real as real itself. Dream re-
suits In physical action.
Certain 1t Is that have little exact knowl-
edge of the essential nature of consciousness
even in our waking hours. We do know. how
ever that merely portion OF the mental life Is
represented In clear consciousness. Many com
plex brain processes are carried on In the pres
ence of a consciousness so slight as to be prac
tically absent. and the organic functions of the
human machine are performed without any con
seriousness whatever,
There is a theory that dreams are frequently
merely the working out Of suppressed Desires
Several of the criminOlogisJs, somewhat In cor
roboratiOn of this theory, hold that the commits
sion of crimes during sleep is entirely possbl,
under certain conditions They express the be
lief that the power OF suggestion IL SO stronS ina
In some cases of somnambuIistc autOmatlsm TN
sleeper is the victim of self-hypnoss and carries
out the idea which In his waking moments hat
Obsassed him.
Says Dr. Smith Ely JeIline Of New York. au
thor of a work which devOtes considerable spac
to disordered dreams: without in any wa
Judging the facts in the Sapienza case, 1t mus
be admitted that a crime like his under such eli
cumstances as alleged by the defendant is entlrel
possible"
Assuming that James Sapienza has told tn
whole truth. is the unfortunate man answerabl
to the law for killing his wife?