The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-12-16
A NIGHT IN A STAGE COACH.

lne year WdS lOoU, tuc ihOHtu ASCCIh-
Der, the place Tamaqua. / was a young
man then, and strong one. 1 did a
good deal of travelling through the State
of Pennsylvania, going from county
town to county town from the beginning
of the year to the close. Itwas pleasant
business enough, for there was less rail
roading to be done then than now, and
more staging, and not uDfrequently long
rides on canal boats in the summer time.
Twas not often hurried on my trips, and
took my own time. My exact business
at the county seats consisted of hunting
up titles to obscure, wild lands, paying
taxes upon them, and getting them in
good condition for immediate use. In
consequence of the nature of this busi-
ness / knew good deal about the topog.
raphy of Pennsylvania, and a good deal
that, at that time. was worth knowing
about its roads and its inns. All the
latter were bad, but some were better
than others. One of the worst of them
was at Tamaqua, and possibly it is there
vet, though when last slept under its
roof it was in altogether such lam nta-
BILE condition of decay, and its roof was
such a very leaky one indeed, that l do
not doubt it long ago disappeared out OF
the sight of men, and possibly out of their
memories also-Tamaqua having &C,
auired a railroad since, and of course
grown as only railroad towns do grow. !
arrived there in that December of 1856,
on a Monday afternoon, which was quite
as cold and disagreeable Monday after
noon as remember ever to have known,
though, when compared with the Tues.
day that followed, it might be considered
rather warm than otherwise. / was hall
frozen when 1 got there, and was not
quite thawed out when / left, for ! had
yielded to burning curiosity to visit a
coal mine and fancy that Tamaqua is
nothing but coal mine, with thousand
mouths that every morning swallow so
many thousand miners and disgorge
them every night. 1t was then, and
think it is now, very black and sOoty
place, with canal in front of it, hill
behind it, and the huge mine have
spoken of under it. 1t was not only
black and seoty itself, but its people
were similarly black and sooty, and 90
were its horses, or rather its mules, for it
seemed to have few of the former and a
great many of the latter. Even its dogs
and cats partook of the general sootiness,
and were evidently greatly depressed
by it. a.a., :,
I went to bed cold and got up cold
so cold, indeed, that / thought ! would
never be warm any more. When went
down into the frozen breakfast room i
looked out of the window, and saw that
the ground was covered deep with snow,
and that it was still showing rs if it
meant to exhaust the whole winters sup,
ply in FIVE minutes or 80, being very
greatly pressed to do 1t Immediately.
drank my cold, black coffee, and ate my
cold, tough beefsteak in silence. thinking
more than had done for long time OF
home, of its pleasant cheer and warmth,
and Of the loving girls and boys in it,
who were even then, no doubt, expecting
my speedy coming, for this was already
the morning of Tuesday, and Thursday
would be Christmas day. In that home
was st. Nicholas himself, for it was |
that brought, home in. the night the
brave tree 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-bons, and glittering bauble,
which covered it; 1t was i that placed
the ever-beautiful image of the Christ
child on the topmost bough; i that
lighted the many-colored tapers, and
that in the auspicious moment suddenly
threw open the folding doors and let In
the children to behold the glory of that
wondrous Christmas miracle. a
In my frequent .journeyings through
the State i had seen many places which
wanted to get away from quickly, but
I never saw another that j wanted tc
turn my back upon 90 much as Tamaqua
II was not in any manner q pleasant
place, and, besides, if those nephews and
nieces of mine were to have Christmas
tree at all In this year, 1856, thought
must 20 home as fast rs | could travel.
had come to Tamaqua in q stage, and
must 20 sway from IL in q stage--not tc
Philadelphia exactly, but to the nexl
railroad town, and that was distant
knew not how far.
arose shivering from the dreary
breakfast, and hunted up the landlord o.
the inn. He was easily found, and wal
no better or warmer-looking a man thar
his accommodations promised him to. be
] paid his extravagant charges, and ther
Informed him. that i wished to reach q,
quickly as possible the nearest railroad
station, and to take the first train going
East. sfgss a ssisS -,
"The nearest station is Ilium; Iliun
Ia twenty two miles distant you can not
get there before night, fiat all. / think
YOU won't get there at all,