MYSTERY OF DREAMS

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 3492, 30 October 1926, Page 12

MYSTERY OF DREAMS

SOME STRANGE TALES. WARNING OF CO-MING EVENTS MANY RE-MARK ABLE CASES Science has only recently occupied itself with that mysterious realm Into which persons can pass when they close their eyes in sleep. Dreamland was formerly not regarded as worthy of attention of serious investigators. It is finite otherwise to-day, when more and more enquirers are gathering facts—startling facts sometimes —concerning dreams. Certain marvellous things, declares a writer in an English paper, ane now Known beyond all doubt concerning Dreamland. First, there is a groat number of thoroughly authenticated cases of dreams which have predicted future events. Then, there is also an equally impressive number of dreams, which have given the dreamer clairvoyant sight, or the ability to see events happening far off at the moment of the dream.

A strange example of the prophetic or premonitory dream is related by Dr. de Sermyn. One night the doctor dreamt that his favourite child fell into the fire and was burnt to death. So powerful was the dream that he rose and went to look at the child, who was sleeping calmly.

Next day the dream warning of the child's death followed him. He examined the child, but found it perfectly healthy. The day after however, a sudden bronchial pneumonia set in and ended fatally. Was this mere coincidence, or a Dreamland vision of the future? Seven years ago an old lady, living in Philadelphia, dreamt that she saw her son crushed to death by a street tramcar. She awoke, slept again, and again dreamt of her son's tragic death. So powerful was the dream that she took the train to New York, where he lived. She arrived in the morning, left the station, and crossing Seventh Avenue when she saw a crowd abaut a dead man. It was her son, and he hadl been run over by a tramcar. The victim of this tragedy was Mr William Cooper, a millionaire manufacturer. The case has been thoroughly authenticated by the famous French scientist, Camille Flammarion. Three Months Before Event.

One day an Irish girl told her mother at breakfast that she had had an absurd dream. She found herself in a train standing in a railway station. Friends were about the door. As the train started a little package was thrust into the carriage. She opened it and found therein a biscuit and a bar of soap. At that minute the train ran into a tunnel. Throe months later, while she was travelling in Scotland, the exact incident came to pass.

The great German prilosophcr Schopenhauer tells a similar story. One day he upset his ink and rang for the maid to clean up the mess. "I dreamt that I did this last night,” she said as she stooped to mop up the black fluid. “Nonsense, you lie” said the philosopher. “I do not lie, sir,” said the girl, “Ring for the cook. I told her of my dream this morning.” Sure enough, the cook supported the housemaid’s statement. Take the case of Edwin Reed, the naturalist. One day he dreamt that he was walking down an avenue when he came upon a cross with the inscription: “Edwin Reed, naturalist, Nov. 7 1910.” Ho told this dream laughingly to his family. But he died on that very day. Saved By A Bream Warning.

Dreams seem at times to possess the power to. warn the dreamer against coming disaster. Thus, on the day before the famous Brooklyn Theatre fire, -which resulted in the loss of over 300 lives, a Captain MacGowan cancelled seats for himself and his two sons as the result of a dream which had warned him not (o enter the theatre that day. This strange case wan investigated and vouched for by Professor Sir william Barratt. Has any dreamer ever consistently dreamt the winners of future horse races? Probably not, though cases of people backing horses which they had seen win in their dreams are numerous enough. But such dreams might easily be explained away. The sleeper -would have, perhaps, the names of 13 horses for the race in his mind, of which ho iiad been thinking during his waking hours. To dream the winner, therefore, would be merely a 15 to 1 chance. But what of the -well-attested dream of the famous French doctor, Baron Darrey? The baron dreamt of four numbers for a coming lottery. He backed those numbers, which proved to be the prize winners. What were the odds against Ibis being a mere coincidence? They have been reckoned out and proved to bo about 2,555,189.