St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-01-22
My Night in a Stage Coach.

TIL >IpIl oF AN OLD CHRISTMAS.
The wear WAS l-J6 the month De
cemhcr the place Tamaqua. | "as II
Nnun" man then. and Il strong one. /
did Il good deal of travelling through the
state of Pennsylvania. going from coun-
~ town to county town from the begin
nIng ot the year to the close. Ii WIS
| pleasant business enough. for there was
less Iailroa,iing to bc done then than
now. and more staging. and not untrc-
quentlN long rides on canal boats in the
summer time. ! WAS not often hurried
on my trips. and took my own time
( Ny exact business at the county seats
consisted IN hunting up titles t" oh
/ >curc. Wild Lands. paying taxes upon
/ them. and getting them IN good cnndi-
/ tiou for immediate sale.
In consequence of the nature of this
business. knew good deal about the
Typography of PENNSYLVANIA. and Il
good deal that WAS worth know ing
about its roads and Its inns. Al: of the
latter were bad. but some were better
/ than others. One of the worst of them
there WIS at Tamaqua. and possibly it
/ L. there Vet. though when | last slept
/ under It's root 1t Wa~ i. altogether such
Il lanIcntahlr condition of decay. and
its roof WAS such very lcaky root in
deed. that doubt not il long ago dis
! appcalcd out of the sight of men. aud
possibly out of their mcnnric> also
lHm#THa having achieved Il raiIold
since. and. OF course. grown a> only
r.IlIuud towns do grow.
| arrived there in that prrcmicl "f
l-I6. on ii Monday Afternoon. which
WIS quite H. Geld and di>amI,cahlc Il
Monday afternoon ;lS | remember even
To have known. though when c"mpaIci
with the Tuesday that followed. it
might he considered FATHER waIm than
otherwise. / WAS half frozen when
got there. and ! MAS not quite thaW ed
out when LEFT. Tor had yielded to Il
burning curiosity to visit II coal mine.
and fancy that IamAqua is nothing
else tut Il coal mine. and | fancy
that Iamaqua l. nothing hut Il coal
mine. with Il thousand mouths that cN-
rlN moImin" swallow 80 many Thousand
miners and di>gorgr them every night.
1t was then, and think it Is now. Il
very black and >outN place. " itII II canal
Ia front of 1t, Il hill behind it. and the
huge mime have spoken of under it.
1t MAS not only black and Sout\ itself.
bat the people were similarly black aud
>ootN and 50 were It's horses or rather
It's mules. for it seemed to have few OF
the former and Il great many of the
latter. Even It's dogs and eats paltonk
ot the general SoOtinrSS. and were eVi-
IDENTITY greatly depressed 10y it. | WAS
very cold when | went down into the
mine. which had It's shaft just behind
the hotel. and | was colder still when
came out of it. | went to bed cold.
and | got up cold, 50 cold indeed that
thought | would never bc warm any
more. When | went down into the
frozen breaktaSt-room, looked out OF
the window, and saw that the ground
wIs covered deep with SNOW. and that il
was still showing as if it meant to eX-
hauSt the whole winters supply in five
minutes or 50, being very greatly press
ed to do it Immediately. | drank my
cold, black coffee. and ate INV cold
tough beetSteak III gloomy silence
thinking more than | had done for Il
long time before of home. of its pleas
ant cheer and warmth, and of the low
ing boys and girls in it. who were even
then. no doubt, expecting my speedy
coming. for this was already the morn
be Christmas Day. In that home wa.
st. Nicholas himself, for it was | that
brought home i'll the night the bray,
trcc with its spreading green branches;
il WAS that planted it firmly in the
middle of the wide parlor: it was that
found the infinite variety of toys. cakes
bon -honS. and glittcring bauhle> which
covered it: it was that placed he cvel
beautiful Image of the Christ Child oI
the t"pm"st bough; that lifted tn,
many -c"lored taperS. and | that at tn,
auSplcI"uS moment, suddenly threw
open the folding doors and let the chill
dren i'll I" behold the glory of that won
drouS Christmas miracle
In my frequent .journeyings through
the state, | had seen many places whicl
| wanted to get away from quickly. bul
never SAW another that | wanted +,
turn my back upon So much us Tama-
qua. 1t was not i'll any manner il pleas
ant place. and besides, if those nephew.
and nieccS of mine were to have {
Christmas hee at all in this year, 1856
thought must 90 home, fast us coulC
travel. | had come to Tamaqua in ;
stage. and | must 90 away in il stage.
not to Philadelphia, exactly. but to tn,
next railroad town. and that was dis
tant, knew not how far.
arose shivering from the drearN
breakfast. and hunted up the landlorC
oi the I'M. He was easily found, ant
was no better OF warmer-looking maj