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Show MIJVD SIX MONTHS VLAJVK. Six months passed as n single night, dropping to sleep In California, awakening awak-ening In n forolgn land, thousands of miles across the sea; retiring In affluent af-fluent circumstances, arising n beggar beg-gar ; passing Into tho "death of each day's life" a happy married man, returning re-turning to consciousness n widower these nro tho strange experiences undergone un-dergone by William S. Smith, special, organizer of the American Federation of Labor In California, who has Just arrived in this city on tho liner SI-borla, SI-borla, says tho San Francisco correspondent corre-spondent of the Detroit News. One night last June Smith dropped to sleep In a railway car on the "owl train" en route from Los Angeles to Son Francisco. Tho next morning, ns ho thought, ho nwoko In n strange room. Rubbing his cyeB, he gazed nbout him. It was n sordid room, un-llko un-llko nny he was accustomed to inhabit. inhab-it. He nroso ond lifted tho curtain. The country ho looked on was unllko anything ho had seen In California. Descending tho stnlrs he found himself him-self among peoplo as unfamiliar as his surroundings. They talked English, Eng-lish, but with a forolgn accent. "Whero am I?" naked Smith, addressing ad-dressing ono of the men. "Whero nro you?" reiterated tho stranger. "Well you must hnvo been umong good company Inst might You're in New South Wales, of conreo. Whero did you expect to be?" "What month is this?" was tho mcxt question Smith put. Tho company gazed nt him in amazement. ."You look sane enough," wns tho reply, re-ply, "but you ask Idiotic questions. This Is Docombor. Would you Ilko to havo it nltored?" Half a year had elapsed since Smith closed his eyes In tho Callforala train. In Hint tlmo ho hnd crossed half tho globe. When he told his story his audience waB convinced of his Insanity. Insani-ty. When ho asked them for money to travel to tho coast, ho got laughter for his pains. So ho tramped to Sydney. Syd-ney. In tho capital he looked up the labor la-bor council and narrated his experience experi-ence to union men. They Investigated and found he wan what ho represented hlmBelf to bo. They arranged for his return to America, securing a passage for him on tho Siberia. Tho first letter Smith receive from his home at Los Angeles contained nows of tho death of his wife. |