Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1888-07-14 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

STRANGE ADVENTURE IN A RAILWAY TRAIN.  EXTRAORDINARY HALLUCINATION.  When a lady and a gentleman are Oc-4-tfte In a railway carriage, and the alarm bell ie rung, it is invaria.bly assumed that the sterner sex has been endeavouring to take some undue schwa. tage of the weaker ; but an exception to the general rule he.s just occurred in • train running from Lille to Paris. The occupants of the carriage in question were • florist, a married woman, and her baby. It was evening, and the florist was soon in a sound sleep. Meanwhile, his fair neighbour, wishing to give her infant its supper. had unearthed from the recesses of her travelling bag a bottle of milk, at which the [ child was busily sucking, when suddenly the [ worthy man awoke with a start. To the infinite surprise of the lady he displayed unmistakable signs of terror. Pointing to the bottle he shrank into a corner, boon he screamed and cried for assistance, and finally, despite all the efforts of the lady to calm him, he pulled [Ze alarm-bell, and, opening the door, he fled to • neighbouring carriage, to the outside of which he hung. Meanwhile the train bad been brought to a standstill. The lady kindly volunteered an account of the adventure. It was assumed that the man had jumped on the line, and on arriving at the next station the guard gave instructions that diligent search ; should be made for the body dead or alive. A few hours afterwards an extraordinary telegram, addressed from Paris by this hero to a friend at ; Lille, was intercepted at one of the post offices. ' He related that, worn out with fatigue, he had gone to sleep, when he was suddenly awakened by a lady who, with menacing gestures, pointed a revolver at his head. He called out for help, she hesitated, and, opening the door of the carriage, he was so fortunate as to effect his escape from his would-be murderess, although the train was proceeding at full speed. When the engine stopped he was too frightened to alight, and fora long time he hung on to a carriage in the darkness, finally reaching his destination. He wished to ask his friend's advice as to whether he should lodge a complaint or let the matter drop altogether. There could be no doubt about it. This was the man who had stopped the Lille train. The police called at his house, and found the poor florist in a sad state of mind. He was still' all of a tremble,' and he believed firmly that but for his promptitude he would have succumbed to the attack of an assassin. The only [ explanation of his panic is that, waking with a start from • nightmare, he had mistaken the bottle from which the baby wise feeding for a [ revolver. The lady's protests onlY added fuel to flame, and the more she tried to convince him the more alarmed did he become. The mind of the unlucky florist is now quite unhinged by the trials through which he has passed, and the doctors are so far of opinion that the mischief has been entirely reused by the extraordinary hallucination of which he has been a victim.  SERVES HIM itzsar.—A German editor has been sentenced to a month's imprisonment for libelling the Empress Victoria. "