SLEEP-WALKERS WHO SING

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2279, 21 May 1921, Page 1

SLEEP-WALKERS WHO SING

AND SWIM. AMAZING FEATS IN UNCONSCIOUS MOMENTS.

The recent case of a Cumberland woman who, clad in night attire, was discovered by a shepherd descending a treacherously steep mountain path in the early hours of the morning calls to mind some curious eases of* sleep-walking. Sleep-walkers ofton get into the most dangerous situations without experiencing any signs of terror, Some time ago a miner named Johns was sleeping in the sumphouse of a mine at Dedruth. Two boys saw him get up and walk to

the door, against which he leaned. Shortly afterwards he moved from

that position and, walking in the direction of the engine shaft, safely descended to a depth of J2oft,, where he was afterwards discovered by his comrades resting on the ladder.

When they roughly aroused him, he was quite unable to give an account of how he came to he there.

A Southampton doctor once fell asleep while floating on his hack in the local swimming bath, and slept for nearly tin hour without sinking

or moving. A still more extraordinary case occurred not long ago in an Irish

coast town, when about two o'clock one morning l a watchman on the quay was surprised to see a man swimming in the water about a hundred yards from the shore. The crew of a boat got him safely intp their craft. Having aroused him, they had great difficulty in pert suading him that lie was not in his I bed. Jt was discovered later that j he had left bis house at midnight, j After having walked two miles along a dangerous rend, lie had been swimming about for an hour and ulmlf before being noticed by the watchman. THOUGHT HE WAS IN BED. Another interesting case was llmt of a clergyman who was in the habit of getting up in the middle of the Alight, lighting his candle, and writing his sermons. He would afterwards read them over and make nu- * merous additions and corrections j before returning to bed again. Dur- | ing these performances he was a!-

ways fast asleep. A medical man on one occasion retired to bed at an earlier hour than usual. An hour or so later he walked into the room where his family were assembled with his eyes open, conversed with them in his accustomed manner, and afterwards entertained them with a song, without uii.v of them suspecting he was asleep! When he awoke he had no knowledge of what he had done. Sleep-walkers have been known to walk over housetops, scale precipices, and descend ravines. A hoy told his parents one morning that the previous nigh! he had dreamed he got out of: bed and climbed lo the summit of an enovmous rock, where he discovered an eagle’s nest, which he brought away with him and placed beneath his bed. B was discovered later that these events hud actually taken place. The precipice hr had ascended was of a nature that baffled even the most experienced mountaineers, and the nest was discovered beneath his bed just as he had stated. Some sleep-walkers may lie awakened by being gently touched or called; others by a Hash.of light, by .-•tumbling in their wanderings, or by setting their feel in water.

Others remain so heavily asleep that it is necessary to shake them vigorously before they show* signs of waking. But sometimes it is not wise to wake the sleep-walker at all, and there have been eases where sudden rousings have proved fatal.