I have intimate acquaintance with a lady in one of the counties of Kansas who is of Scotch descent, well bred, intelligent, and truthful. Within a part of her family relationship she exhibits at intervals an exceptional mental endowment, either subjection to impressions on the brain from great distances, or the pervasion of space with her sense and sensibility, or clairvoyance, or spirit mediumship. Which is it?

      The periods at which this condition is active coincide with misfortunes to distant members of her family. Her sisters are endowed as she is. Throughout their lives they have had immediate intelligence of disaster in the family by dreams, subsequently confirmed in every instance by letter or telegram. These dreams are visions of things seen, not messages by word or sound. They are pictures of events as if seen with the eyes in the daytime.

      My Kansas friend has a dream, bare in outline, severe in simplicity, with not a word of speech, rap, or motion of pantomime in it, with no ghostly shade in the chamber. She wakes up with a full knowledge of a misfortune that has happened to a blood relative. Her vision intelligence covers only relations by blood. Relatives by marriage may die, be wounded or violently killed, and the sisters will know nothing of it. And this clairvoyance or mediumship does not extend to the male line in the family. It is restricted to the females. Now for a dream which Mrs. — describes:

      "My brother Dan had disease of the lungs. It was aggravated by exposure and hard service in the Army of the Potomac. Rendered unfit for duty, he threw up his commission in the Pennsylvania Bucktails and went to Cuba. At that time I was living in Terre Haute, Indiana. My husband was absent, in the Army of the Cumberland. A lady friend lived in the house with me. Dan was my favorite brother. At short intervals he wrote to me. One day I received a letter from him in which he said that he was strong, that the disease of his lungs seemed to have passed away, and that he intended to take the next steamer for New York, and then go into the Leathercracker region of Pennsylvania and settle his business affairs. The settlement made, he intended to return to Cuba and engage in business. He urged me to meet him at Altoona, and be with him during his short stay in this country. An impending battle in the Southwest, where my husband was stationed, made me undecided about going. I hesitated, not knowing whether to meet my brother as he requested, or remain at home until after the battle and until I had heard from my husband. I went to bed at 10 P. M., and dropped to sleep at once.

      "At 10½ I was awakened by a short, vivid dream of warning. Alarmed, I roused my friend and said: 'I have my warning. Something is the matter with Dan.' My friend laughed at me. I soon recovered from my nervousness, and again dropped to sleep. Instantly it seemed the scene was changed. I was on the cars travelling east. Opposite me sat a white haired man who had a covered basket on his knees. There was a hole in the cover of the basket. The aged man occasionally peeped into this hole. I was curious about the contents of the basket, and was pleased when I discovered there were fish in it. The train stopped for dinner. Getting out I met a lady I knew, and we had dinner together. I have forgotten the name of the station, but I remember that there was a misspelled sign over an adjoining restaurant. The incidents of the dream were those of a journey from Terre Haute to Altoona. I was happy, pleased with the changing scenery, and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. I looked forward to meeting my brother at Altoona, and in the dream I never doubted that I would meet him.

      "Soon after my Western train ran into the depot at Altoona, the Eastern train came thundering in. I stood by a post on the platform watching the passengers get off the train, expecting to see my brother. I began to doubt his being on the train, when an expressman passed me wheeling a great box on a truck. I looked through this box as though it were clear glass. In the box was a coffin, and lying in the coffin was my brother. One glance showed me that he was dressed in heavy gray Scotch twill. From a buttonhole of his coat hung a black ribbon. On his feet were shoes that had perforated toes. Never having seen shoes of this style, they attracted my attention. The buttons on the coat and vest were very peculiar, and forced themselves on my notice. The expressman wheeled the box past me, and it Was put on the express car for Hollidaysburg. I got on the Hollidaysburg train also.

      "The intense vividness of the dream awoke me. I sat up in bed crying. My friend arose, lighted the gas, and talked to me. With tears streaming down my face, I insisted that Dan was dead. The hands of the mantel clock indicated 11 P. M. Knowing that something was wrong, I resolved to go home on the day that my brother had requested. Again I slept, this time a heavy, unrefreshing sleep that lasted until morning. At the breakfast table I told my dream. Good humored ridicule from my friends had a beneficial effect on me, and after two days I was almost persuaded that I was attaching too much importance to a dream.

      "The day for my departure came. I entered the car in the Terre Haute station. I seated myself and looked about me. In an opposite seat sat a white haired man. I recognized him at once as the man I had seen in my dream. He had a fish basket on his knees. The faces of the passengers were familiar to me. At the dinner station I met the lady I had seen in my dream, and we had dinner together. Arriving at Altoona, I stood watching the Eastern train come into the depot. I was sure my brother's body would be put off the train. As I stood watching the passengers hurry into the dining room, the expressman I had seen in my dream said to me: 'Please give way, madam.' I turned to look at him, and on truck lay a large box that was addressed to my father, I took the Hollidaysburg train, and on arriving home was met by my father, who said: 'Dan is dead. He died at sea five days ago from heart disease.' In answer to my question as to the time of day he died, I was informed that it was at 9 P. M. The difference in the time of the East and the West showed me that Dan had been dead some four hours before I saw him. Silently I stood in the house by the side of the box when it was opened. The lid of the coffin was removed, and there lay Dan, dressed exactly as I had seen him in my dream.

      "I have no explanation to make of the dream. I simply tell you the fact of my having seen an apparation of events that were to occur, an apparation of inanimate objects, of dozens of strangers, and of my dead brother's body."

      Knowing the truthfulness of the lady, I believe her strange story.

FRANK WILKESON.