Even In Dreams

1895

"Lyresby was telling me that he had a dream that an angel appeared and told him that he would go straight to heaven when he died. Now, what do you think of that?"
"Oh, that's just like him. He couldn't even dream the truth." — Indianapolis Journal.


Swedish Bread

The common bread of Sweden is a rye cake about the size of a batter cake and with a hole in the middle. These cakes are baked twice a year, and after baking are hung up to dry. They are said to be nourishing and are about as easy to chew as disks of mortar.

Smashes His Fist In Dream

1916

Dentist Thinks He's in a Fight and Punches Wall.

TORRINGTON, Connecticut. — No teeth are being drilled, filled, drawn or quartered in the office of Dr. Arthur E. Guildford today because his right hand is all out of shape.

Dr. Guildford dreamed that he was horsewhipping another man, but his blows were so violent that he soon wore out the whip. His victim realized the predicament and sprang at the dentist. Doubling his right fist, Dr. Guildford lunged such a terrific blow at the horsewhipped man that he almost knocked a hole thru the wall next to the bed.

The blow awakened every one else in the house and a physician had to be called to apply arnica and bandages to Dr. Guildford's battered tooth-pulling hand. Every one in Torrington would like to know who Dr. Guildford dreamed he was horsewhipping and why.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 7.

The Wonders About Us

1910

Let not care and humdrum deaden us to the wonders and mysteries amid which we live, nor to the splendors and glories. We need not translate ourselves in imagination to some other sphere or state of being to find the marvelous, the divine, the transcendent; we need not postpone our day of wonder and appreciation to some future time and condition. The true inwardness of this gross visible world hanging like an apple on the bough of the great cosmic tree, and swelling with all the juices and potencies of life, transcends anything we have dreamed of superterrestrial abodes. — John Burroughs.

Lord Brougham's Dream

1917

Lord Brougham was one of the stubborn believers to the "common sense" explanation of ghostly appearances as dreams. At Edinburgh university he and an intimate friend drew up an agreement written with their blood that whichever of them died first should appear to the survivor.

Years passed; the friend was in India, and Brougham had almost forgotten his existence. Arriving late one night at an inn in Sweden, Brougham had a hot bath and was going to get out of it when he looked toward the chair on which he had left his clothes and saw his friend sitting on it. Brougham seems then to have fainted.

On getting home be received a letter announcing that the other had died in India at the very time. Yet this incident, which most people would put down to telepathy at least, was dismissed by Brougham as a mere dream and pure coincidence.

They Do Say

Massachusetts, 1916

That all the world loves to josh a lover.

That the lunch cart boys take their meals at all hours.

That the average messenger boy doesn't look like a runaway.

That taking all in all it is just as well dreams don't come true.

That a change of scene is the only thing to cure the vacation fever.

That some women show wonderful ingenuity in distributing an obese figure.

That some girls can be modest even though their skirts are short and full.

That sometimes 'tis love's young dream and other times it is a nightmare.

That while tenements are in great demand rents have been creeping upward.

That there's not much difference between taking a jitney and taking a chance.

That postal cards from El Paso, Texas, show that there are many fine buildings in that city.

That the fellow who hangs around looking for a political job ought to get life at hard labor.

That a few of our school teachers might with advantage have stayed in school a little longer.

That the fellow with the right kind of civic pride will not throw papers in the streets or parks.

That the price of meat is practically prohibitive for the poor man with a large family of small children.

That life is full of annoyances, including the man who comes in and presents a letter of introduction.

That some widows' soon wish they could take back all the mournful things they said after the funeral.

That the reason a woman always loves the sweetheart she didn't marry Is because she didn't marry him.

That there should be a statute compelling the gossipy man to wear petticoats.

That frequently the man who thinks. he knows it all doesn't know enough to keep still.

That while we wouldn't give our kingdom for a Ford, we'd consider one at a bargain.

That every time a fellow sees a girl driving an automobile he gets out of the way.

That Joe says there isn't any use of washing the windows when it looks like rain.

That the hens are beginning to get that independent look they wear when eggs are going up.

That Jack and Jill went up the hill to feed the little deer, and when they fed the little dear he acted very queer.

That there is a certain contradiction between downcast eyes and striped stockings — when they belong to the same girl.

That sick babies will gain more by one day in the woods than by taking any amount of medicine in the stifling heat of the city.

That a great many people who try to raise vegetables in their gardens show a woeful lack of skill in handling corn, potatoes, tomatoes and lettuce.

—The Lowell Sun, Lowell, Massachusetts, July 15, 1916, p. 4.

The Fall of Miss Minnie B. Werner, Chicago, 1916

1916

Girl Will Live

CHICAGO, Jan. 25. — St. Luke hospital attendants announced today that Miss Minnie Werner, the stenographer who yesterday plunged sixteen stories from a window of a loop skyscraper, may recover fully from her injuries. An auto-truck load of cardboard boxes broke her fall.

—La Crosse Tribune, La Crosse, Wisconsin, Jan. 25, 1916, p. 5.


"I Must Be Hard to Kill"

These Are Words of Girl Who Fell Sixteen Stories

Chicago, Jan. 26 — Miss Minnie B. Werner, who fell sixteen stories from a window of the Transportation building last Monday, recovered consciousness today.

Her first words were: "I must be hard to kill."

—St. Paul Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minnesota, Jan. 27, 1916, p. 1.


She Things She is Hard to Kill

Chicago, Jan. 26. — "I must be hard to kill," was the comment of Minnie B. Werner when she recovered consciousness at St. Luke's hospital and heard how she had fallen sixteen stories to the netting of an auto truck.

Miss Werner, who is 22 years old and lives at 2417 North Washington, sustained a broken shoulder bone and possibly internal injuries. Physicians say she has an excellent chance to recover.

Elsie Werner, a sister, said she fell by accident, although the police were inclined to think that Miss Werner jumped intentionally.

—The Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois, Jan. 26, 1916, p. 10.


Excerpt from article called "Escapes a Matter of Luck," originally from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

She escaped with a broken shoulder and a few bruises.

She worked as a stenographer for a publication concern in the Transportation Building, 608 South Dearborn street, Chicago.

One day, about three weeks ago, she complained of being ill and left the office. An elevator took her to the sixteenth floor where there is a rest room for women. From the time she left the elevator until she was picked up, broken and unconscious, no person seems to have seen her. Whether she had leaped or fallen could not be determined until she herself was able to tell about it and then she said she fell.

From the window of the rest room to the ground is a distance of about 200 feet and Miss Werner fell headlong. That she was saved from destruction was due to a queer freak of chance. The driver of a big truck, laden with paper boxes, had stopped under the window. She fell among the boxes and they broke her fall.

When she was picked up after the fall a policeman rushed up and asked if she had leaped. "I fell," she said, although at that moment she seemed actually unconscious. As soon as she could talk intelligently about the matter her sister, Edith, asked her to tell how it happened.

"I did not intend to jump," she said. "I felt dizzy and went upstairs to the rest room. When I got there I couldn't make out the details of my surroundings. I went to the window for air. The next thing I knew was when I felt myself falling."

Then she told of how she found herself plunging, head down, toward the earth. Although she could have been in the air only a few seconds at most, so rapidly was her mind working, that it seemed almost an eternity. Her memory divides the period into two distinct phases, the first of which is clear and accurate in detail; and the second obscure and uncertain. She seemed to have a curious, detached feeling, as if if were not she but another who was falling, a sensation not uncommon in dreams.

Her first impression was that she was suffering a nightmare in which one imagines himself falling through infinite space. She felt that sickening faintness persons frequently feel when an elevator unexpectedly starts downward. Her chest felt compressed, as if inclosed with bands which were squeezing out all the air. The air seemed to pluck at her eyelids as if about to tear them away. There was a ringing in her ears and her body tingled all over.

She realized that she was perfectly conscious — able to stream. She idly wondered if she could move her fingers. She tried and found she could. And then came the realization of what it all meant. She was in full possession of all her faculties and yet she couldn't avert the disaster that lay below.

Then she passed into the second stage. The speed of her fall was accelerated. Now she did not seem to be falling. Instead she was caught in the midst of a canyon and the earth was rushing up to meet her. Where the buildings had been were nothing but white streaks and below them was the black street. She had a hazy impression that she was all right, but that the world had suddenly been turned upside down. Then the white streak and the black merged into one vast chasm of blackness. Apparently she never saw the truck before she struck it. Her fall carried its load of papers with her to the street and a few minutes later she was pulled from the wreckage.

—The Washington Post, March 12, 1916, p. 1, Miscellany Section.


Girl Who Fell Sixteen Floors Ready to Work

CHICAGO, Ill., March 13 — Miss Minnie Werner, the stenographer, who ten weeks ago fell out of a sixteen story window of the Transportation building, will be back to work in a week, it was learned on Sunday.

Miss Werner fell into a truck load of paper boxes, and her most serious injury was a badly fractured arm.

"If you ever had a dream that you fell out of the mountain you know something of what my experience was like," said the young woman. "Any way it shows that the popular idea that a person dies after falling a hundred feet is not true."

—The Racine Journal-News, Racine, Wisconsin, March 13, 1916, p. 2.

Dreaming He's Fighting Intruders, Hacks Brother With Ax

1902

MURDERS IN A DREAM.

NASHVILLE, Ind., June 28 — Dreaming he was fighting burglars, John Snyder, aged 18 years, the son of Newberry Snyder, living near Beck's grove, eight miles south of here, seized an ax and literally chopped to pieces his brother, Grover, aged 20 years.

The young men had attended an ice cream supper at the home of County Superintendent Manuels and on their return home they were told by their mother that she had heard someone prowling about the premises and she showed them where she had placed the ax which she intended to use to defend herself if she was attacked.

The young men retired, and a short time afterward Mrs. Snyder was aroused by the screams of her son and rushed into the bed room to find John standing horror-stricken beside his brother's bed with a bloody ax in his hands. The victim is terribly lacerated about the body and legs and his recovery is considered impossible. John claims he was dreaming burglars "were in the house and that he was beating them off when he seized the ax and attacked his brother.


CONFESSION OF BOY ROBBERS.

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind., June 28. — Eleven boys, aged from 8 to 13 years, have been arrested and jailed in this city for numerous robberies at the junction. For several weeks the cars and stores in that neighborhood have been looted and much valuable goods taken. To-day the police bagged the entire organized gang of juvenile robbers, who confessed.

—Fort Wayne News, Fort Wayne, IN, June 28, 1902, p. 8.

Sees Sir Isaac Newton in Dreams, Ignorant on Science

1914

LEFT HIM IN IGNORANCE.

No Wonder the Shade of Sir Isaac Newton Was Disgusted.

Augustine Birrell, author and statesman, at a newspaper men's dinner told a unique ghost story.

"I have been haunted ever since I was almost a boy," he said, "by the constant repetition of one and the same dream. It comes to me again and again. It is this: I dream I am walking about somewhere in some plain or desert, and I suddenly encounter the agitated ghost of Sir Isaac Newton. He approaches me, his eyes almost starting out of his head; he tells me who he is and how ignorant he is of all that has happened in the world of science since he left.

"'Now,' he says, 'I want you to tell me in a few words, for I have only a quarter of an hour left, all that has happened to the race — the progress. How is it? I know what it was when I left it. What is it now?' My heart sinks, and, covered with confusion. I stumble. I stutter. I stammer. I become more and more involved, my ignorance becomes more and more apparent, and at last the unhappy ghost, throwing up his hands, leaves me with dismay.

"That dream constantly comes to me. The only difference is that the moment the unhappy Sir Isaac Newton sees me now he says, 'Oh, that old ignoramus!' and departs." — Pall Mall Gazette.

Hundreds Fear Being Buried Alive

1889

DREAD OF LIVE BURIAL.

Hundreds Who Fear the Coffin Will Close on Them Alive.

Many people who come to us have a dreadful fear that they may be buried alive, and, while there is a remote possibility that this might happen, says a N. Y. undertaker, I have not known a single instance of it in all my experience. These people insist on my promising to observe the utmost precaution even so far as to run red-hot needles into their bodies, and other equally barbaric treatment, before they are finally consigned to the earth.

About four years ago a young man called upon me one morning in a terrible state of agitation. He had dreamed the night before that his sister, who had been recently buried, had come to life after being placed under the sod. I tried to prove to him the utter improbability of such an occurrence, but without avail. He insisted that her grave should be opened that he might be satisfied. I was actually horror stricken at the suggestion, not that I had the remotest idea that his dream could prove true, but the thought flashed across my mind that if it should be so the shock would make him a raving maniac.

I tried to persuade him to defer the matter until the following day, but he positively refused. Finally, as there was no other way out of it, I consented, and, having obtained the necessary permit, the body was exhumed and to my inexpressible relief the absurdity of the young man's dream was proven. The effect on him was magical. He looked sorrowfully on the face of his dead sister a moment and then burst into a flood of tears, and, throwing his arm around my neck, he wept from pure excess of joy.

—The Kellogg Enterprise, Kellogg, Iowa, December 20, 1889, page 1.

The Dream Came True – Story of George Washington

1916

But Washington Warned "Light Horse Harry" to Dream No More

The relations that existed between General Washington and his younger friend, "Light Horse Harry" Lee — the father of General Robert E. Lee — were exceedingly close and tender. It is an authentic tradition in the Lee family that Washington regarded the brilliant young cavalry officer almost in the light of a son.

Lee was inclined to be a spendthrift and his lavish use of money often brought on him the paternal reproof of his older and more discreet friend — and the reproof was often followed by affectionate assistance in extricating him from his embarrassments.

Mrs. Washington was almost equally fond of the young officer, who often made long visits at Mount Vernon. During one of his sojourns there, Harry Lee remarked to his host at the breakfast table:

"General, I had a singular dream last night, which I must tell you. I actually dreamed that you made me a present of your Westmoreland place."

The next day, at the dinner table, Harry Lee found under his plate a document — nothing less than a deed to him of the Westmoreland estate. For some moments, dazed with astonishment, he stared at his friend.

"Now, Harry," said Washington calmly, "take good care not to dream Mount Vernon away from me!"

—Stevens Point Daily Journal, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, July 29, 1916, page 3.

Dreaming, Crawled Out Window, Fell Two Stories

Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1909
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IN DREAM CRAWLED THROUGH SECOND FLOOR WINDOW

George Huber Hurt About Hips While in Somnambulistic State.

Dreaming that he was caught under some hogs and endeavoring to escape from them, George Huber, an employe of the Eckart Packing company, crawled out of a second-story window and was only aroused from his somnambulistic state when he struck the ground, alighting full upon his back and hips. His injuries are also internal, but it is the opinion that he will recover. The unfortunate occurrence took place at the man's home, 1717 South Harrison street, about 2 o'clock Tuesday morning.

Huber's fall was twelve feet. In lifting the curtain pulled down over the window, Huber thought he was pulling aside the burlap used in rooms at the Eckart plant. He was crawling on his hands and knees, when he emerged into the empty air.

Mr. Huber was kept in his home Until late Tuesday afternoon, when the matter was reported to Trustee Branning, and he was removed to St. Joseph's hospital. That branch of the Huber family has been very unfortunate recently, one of its afflictions being the critical illness from typhoid fever of a daughter.

--Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, September 15, 1909, page 9.



Sacramento, California, 1922
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Mother Fails to Die In Eighth Attempt

BY INTERNATIONAL NEWS SERVICE BY UNITED PRESS

SACRAMENTO, Aug. 4. -- Mrs. Antoinette Harlan, young matron of this city, shot herself here today in the eighth attempt she has made to commit suicide in the past six months. She will recover. Mrs. Harlan is the mother of an 18-months-old baby and is said to have been depressed as a result of a destitute condition.

--The Oakland Tribune, Oakland, California, August 4, 1922, page 1.



Battle Creek, Michigan, 1907
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STRANGLES SELF WITH STRAP.

Tennessee Banker, Fearing Associates Would Rob Him, Suicides.

Charles W. Shulte, a wealthy banker of Memphis, Tenn., committed suicide by putting a strap around his neck and tightening it notch by notch until he strangled himself. His wife found the body in a bath tub where it had lain for several hours. Shulte came to Battle Creek, Mich., two months ago to rest in a sanitarium. He believed his bank associates were plotting to secure his wealth, and that the bank faced a failure. Though not ill, Shulte brooded so continually at home that it was thought a change would do him good. His suicide came without warning. Shulte was 63 years old. His wife is much younger.

--Daily Herald, Chicago, February 1, 1907, page 2.

Do You Believe in Dreams and Visions?

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BELIEVE IN DREAMS?

If Yea, What Would You Do In A Case Similar to This?

If you should dream that a man with whom you were acquainted killed his wife, if you vividly saw him plunge a dagger into her heart in your vision, would you tell the wife of your premonition of a tragedy?

This question has been puzzling a number of people in London. A married couple were inspecting a house which was for rent in Surrey some time ago. While the husband inspected the stables the wife remained in the parlor.

Shortly after her husband left the room, the wife said, a man and woman entered. The woman was young and pretty and in tears. The man was angry. After gesticulating a few minutes he rushed to the girl, drew a knife from his coat and plunged it through her heart.

With a loud shriek the woman who witnessed the tragedy arose and staggered to the door. She looked about her and saw that the couple had vanished. She realized she had either been dreaming or had seen a vision. When her husband returned she told him her experience. They did not rent the house.

Some time afterward while attending a reception the woman was introduced to a young lady and her fiance. She recognized the characters of her vision. Later the young couple to whom she had been introduced were married. To her dismay, the woman learned they had leased the very house where she had experienced the harrowing dream. What was she to do? She asked her friends. They were at a loss to give her advice. The woman was convinced that she was given the premonition of a tragedy. At the same time she dreaded provoking a disagreement in case there should be nothing but a hallucination. What would you do in such a case? This would depend, of course, as to whether or not you believe in dreams. Do you?

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Pointed Paragraphs
As a matter of fact there are no very big fish in small puddles.

You can usually find a pin almost anywhere but in the pincushion.

A fool is the greatest nuisance in this world. And there are quite a few of them.

It is beyond some men to understand the difference between pomposity and dignity.

We have always wondered what women do with the 2 cents saved in purchasing a two dollar article for $1.98.

Have you ever stopped to admire the self control of the man who can pick up a lead pencil without marking on something?

Every man would have a pretty fair reputation if people looked for his good qualities as carefully as they look for the good qualities of a dog. -- Atchison Globe.

--The Indiana Weekly Messenger, Indiana, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1907, page 2.

Superstitious

General Grant believed in dreams.

Nelson, the English naval hero, always carried a horseshoe with him into battle.

Von Moltke, the hardy old German general, would never begin a battle on a Friday.

Prince Bismarck of Germany would never sit down to a dinner with thirteen at the table.

President Davis of the Confederacy believed that the presence of children brought him luck.

James G. Blaine would never turn back to re-enter his home even if he had forgotten something.

The father of Nicholas II of Russia guided his actions by the advice of an American spirit medium.

Admiral Farragut says he used to be guided by a still, small voice which told him what to do in battles.

The ameer of Afghanistan, the sultans of Morocco and Zanzibar and the khedive of Egypt all maintain official astrologers.

--The Indiana Weekly Messenger, Indiana, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1907, page 7.

Diagnosed Case in Dream

A romance that dips into the realm of mysticism lies behind the marriage of Miss Elsie Turner to Dr. Lawrence F. Keith at Boston.

Miss Turner was stricken ill with a mysterious ailment. Specialists treated her with no favorable results. She was finally taken to the home of Doctor Keith. He was baffled till one day Miss Turner calmly told him what the trouble was and prescribed the treatment.

"Why, where in the world did you learn that?" Doctor Keith asked in amazement.

"Doctor ------ told me in a dream." The young woman named an old friend of the family long since dead. Doctor Keith followed out the dream diagnosis. She is now well.

--Thousandsticks, Middlesboro, Kentucky, March 30, 1911, page 7.