The Louisville Journal of Monday has the following:
Mrs. Carter who lives on Green street, between Ninth and Tenth, as a son about seventeen years of age, who is so accustomed to walking in his sleep that his mother has found it necessary to have him sleep in the same room with her, so that he may be watched over. Yesterday morning, however, about two o’clock, he arose in his sleep, and was not discovered in time to prevent him from leaping over the balustrade of the back porch, in the third story of the house, to the pavement below, a distance of about twenty-five feet. After this freak the family rushed down stairs, expecting to find him lying there a bruised and mangled corpse, but all their searching was in vain. Pretty soon a vigorous pull was made at the door bell, and the door was opened, when in stalked the somnambulist “as large as life,” and inquired “what’s the matter?” A surgeon was immediately called, and the young man was found to be not seriously injured, he having only a few slight bruises on each arm. It is said that he did not awake until after the physician had made his examination.
Somnambulism is a sleep disorder, more common in boys, often starting before age 9.
I thought that the Louisville Journal later became the Louisville [Courier-Journal][], but after reading the newspaper’s “About us” page, I’m not so sure. They say they’ve been delivering papers since 1868, but this article suggests that there was a Journal earlier than that.