Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1860-11-15
Mistfllanecus.
LIFE IN EGYPT.
BY A BOOK PEDDLER.

l had been ordered into the twenty coun
ties known as Egypt, in Southern Illinois
10 sell out our remaining stock of Doug
las pictures and lives. 1t was not pleas
ant prospect, nor did it look to be profi,a
bic. But one must obey orders, and
wrote to ]. F. at Vincennes to rig me up
an establishment suitable, and l picked
out a proper quantity of old clothes, l
selected route given Messrs. Phillips,
Piatt & Schenck through the hardest part
of the benighted region, and, on the goth
Oct. last, left Cincinnatifor the scenes Of
my labor.
The express train stopped at Lawrence
vile station at o'clock A. NJ, the latter
part of about as dark night as Egypt
might ever hope for. While feeling about
for my wares, l heard (for seeing was out
of the question: the voices of three unhappy
stumbers sent down as missionaries to en-
tighten the natives. After had secured
my stock / joined them. Where to go
was then the question that agilated the
country. We might at any moment have
more rain, and was necessary to find a
shelter other than the station-house. Fully
impressed with the fact, the political
teachers made an attack on what seemed
to be tavern, some hundred yards from
the railroad, The heavy knocking brought,
for some time, no response. At last a
window went up, ard an ugly voice de-
manded our business. This was stated to
be lodging for the night.
"Can't git it here," was the unpleasant
response.
"Why not; is not this a hotel9"
swell, it was last week, but it's gone
up" and down slammed the window, as
Hood would have said, with wooden
damn, that served as a previous question,
closing up the further debate. Mr.. Phil
lips said that the town was at least two
miles away. Far or near nothing was left
us but to seek i.-and so we trudged away.
We had not made more than half mile
before Pialt gave out, and announced
gravely that in the road he and grief would
sit on hand trunk until the committee
with a band of music, waving great ban
ners, should come out and meet them
1t was useless to demonstrate; and nothing
but an offer on my part to carry said hand
trunk, leaving him TO transport said grief,
moved the orator. He begged me to han
die the luggage carefully, as it contained
his speech and clean shirt. After
tedious time of wearisome stumbling we
made the town, and found the sign post
that indicated so faithfully cheap indiges-
tion, bad whisky, and bedbugs. We as
sailed the house with furious knocks, and
in a reasonable time heard some one with
in, and soon the dim glimmer of a tallow
dip made darkness visible. A slender
specimen of weak humanity again gave US
the pleasing information that this, too, had
been tavern in days gone by, but like
the one at the station had "gone up," or
rather, to judge from appearances, had gone
down. l found the honorable geutlemen's
trunk, containing that speech and shirt,
entirely too heavy for further transporta-
ton, and so pushed by the nocturnal lu-
minary made up of tallow and ague.
81 guess" l said, giving my best speci-
men of Yankee vernacular, 1--WE can find
room to lie down if the whisky and grub
are out"
A silent assent was given to this prop
osition, and we were shown to large room,
where the remnant of some beds gave ev-
idence of departed glory. Here, for five
long hours, we fought the real owners of
the premises, and, after daylight, discov-
cred that we narrowly missed an excellent
house of entertainment, kept few PAGES
further on by good publican Republican.
The committee was grived at the manner
their missionaries had Jared, and said that
they had been expected by the noon train,
when the procession" would have conduc-
ted them in glory to the meeting.
So far have been blessed with beauti-
full autumn weather. The roads are in
fine condition, the air pleasant, and the
nights bright with full moons and no clouds.
/ propose to give some account of the men,
manners and real condition of this part Of
the Free States, where democracy yet
reigns in all is former glory.
Let me give you specimen scene
We were at Fairfield, White county, the
hardest place in the entire circuit, if we
except Carlo, where the original Douglas
Democracy is condensed into Irishism.-
i was told that Frog Island-one of those