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Thomas Carbert, porter at Escrick Station, Yorks, dreams that he saw Mr. Thompson, the stationmaster, lying with his legs cut off – and tells him
Identifier
026707
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
The Future and Beyond – H F Saltmarsh
This case is taken from Proc., XI, 517.
At the end of February, or the beginning of March, 1883, Thomas Carbert, porter at Escrick Station, Yorks, dreamed that he saw Mr. Thompson, the stationmaster, lying with his legs cut off close to a heap of coal and against a small cabin at the back of the station.
The accident had been caused by what was called a 'pick-up' goods train, and, in his dream, Carbert knew that it occurred in the month of May. He told his dream to Mr. Thompson the next day, who laughed at it, though it made him uneasy. The same morning Mr. Thompson told of the dream to a Mr. Hartas Foxton, who confirms the account.
On 18th May of the same year, Mr. Thompson was run over by a 'pick-up' goods train and both his legs were cut off. The accident happened at the back of the station exactly in the place seen by Carbert in his dream. Mrs. Sidgwick, commenting on this case, appeared to think that accidents of this kind to railway officials were not rare enough to raise the incident above chance.
While I hesitate to differ from so great an authority, I cannot help thinking that the number of stationmasters killed every year on the railways of this country is a relatively small percentage of the whole, and when the details of the precognition are taken into account, viz., the cutting off of both legs, the exact place of the accident, the month when it was to occur, and the fact that it was caused by a certain type of train, it appears to me that chance is a very improbable explanation.