The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1865-05-13
For the Union.
''Thoughts and Observations in an
Omnibus
BY JUNIUs

Ill JHlS WOuuorIuL era OF LOcOmOJlOn anu
commotion, ride in an omnibus always
carries US back to the days of our grand
fathers when that discarded vehicle formed
the "sannmuua bonuna' Of travelling convent
ence. We imagine ourselves so or 100
years behind our time, and contemplate
with much interest the customs Of society,
its advantages and facilities at that period.
Association brings the eight of other days
around u.s." and all that we have ever heard
or read of our progenitors from the nurse
ry rhymes and traditional stories told us
by our Grandmas, as they sat before tho
blazing hearth, knitting and smoking their
pipes, to the no less interesting stories of
Peter Farley, comes floating through the
mind in panoramic procession. The un-
plastered Cabin standing in the clearance"
made by the axe ofits stalwart owner in the
slvan domain-its curtilage, consisting of
potato patch" and garden !; the whole en-
closed with poles or stakes driven perpen-
dicularly in the earth, and cultivated by
the industrious housewife the boy upon
the commons yigilantly guarding the cattle !;
the saw mill upon the creek--the village of
humble dwellings, with its grocery" school
house and church, and its swarm Of visitors
on market days." anxious to dispose of
their weekly produce these and thous-
and other contemporary seems are pictured
bv the magination with stereoscopic exact
ness. The young athlete in his new suit of
"Beayerteen" or "Linseywoolsey," accom-
panying the roseate maiden of his choice to
church, may be selected as an example of
our Sunday "reminiscences. Here, the at
tention to religious duty was never divert
ed, nor the eyes of young men dazzled and
deceived in judging of feminine excellence,
by the glitter of silk dresses studded with
square buttons, and high-topped bonnets
that give their wearers a sort of ''facial
elongation." Tow-linen was the only frame
in which "beauty's picture hung admired"
believe it. was under an inspiration of this
kind, that Thompson who lived in those
days, wrote that beautiful sentiment "Beau-
ty when unadorned is: then adorned the
most" Il Perhaps 1 should have said this
SubrosG.) J. Ii r3heu 7nmo5cI 5a ~ .8,1 ta
While indulging in reflections of this,
kid was c0ziiy seated in corner o. one
of the aforesaid vehicles ON my way to a
country village, whose inhabitants had as
yet never been startled by the shrill whis-
tie of the locomotive or appropriated the
of steam to their Industrial pur-
suits. It was New Years eve and the
earth was covered with snow that was con-
stantly increasing in depth by accessioHs
from the sky. l was upon the point of
drawing parallel between the modest
"Lavinia" in Thompson's Seasons and
Saxe's an odern Young Belle," when my
meditations were. abruptly terminated by
the addition of half q dozen more passen-
gers to our already crowded numbers. The
pleasures of Imagination, not yielding. very
readily to that of benevolence, reluctantly
Joined some of my fellow-travelers in CIV
ing seats to our newcomers, most OF whom
were of the opposite sex. The bodily pres
sure was now great, exhibiting the falsity
of our Drivers remark that ian Omnibus was
never full."'a Like the old negro who, upon
being impressed into the service of COM
pany to capture whales, said, che had been
pressed to get OIL" many of US we're press
ed to get air and room.
Abandoning the beautiful vision OF the
past. upon which l had gazed with so much
interest, l now turned to contemplate the
one before me. Reader, didyou ever study
human nature in an Omnibus Did you ev-
er look into the faces of promiscuous
group and attempt to read the diversity OF
personal character from the physiognomy
of each one Did youever note the differ
ent stages of intellectual development, the
idiosyncrasies of constitution, and the style
or manner of conversation?
No place affords better opportunity for
this pursuit than all Omnibus. Here you
are not obliged to take into account the
influence of direct contact with business
engagements all before you are away from
home and business, socially journeying in
one direction. You are in room, surround
cd perhaps by crowd of strangers, all OF
whom like yourself have relinquished till
tho end Of the ride, all thought of the
worlds pursuits. Then again, the jostling
of the stage gives vivacity to thought and
ronders conversation more animated.
On the present occasion, was favored
with standing posture Immediately under
the drivers box, and had an ample opportu-
nifty for considering the variety OF forms IN
which humanity presented itself to my no
tice, as we'll as that ofinclination ana taste'
manifested by the incessant "talK apous
me. Here. sense and nonsense, WISDOM
and foolishness. knowledge and ignorance
woro ~ he seen upon the same seat, like
.sfa;rv tales" and philosophical essays"
mon the same shelf in library. What q
madley would the conversations to which /
was an unsupported listener afford A book
containing them, as they fell from the lips
Of the different individuals would portray
human nature, more graphically and cor
rectly than all the nOvellettes of the day,
and prove Enthusiastically, that there is more
novelty in truth than in fiction. Every