The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1876-01-27
A NIGHT IN A STAGE
A True story Of Christmas.

The year was l7jG-the month II De
ccmber-thc place Tamaqua. va. .
young man then. and 2 strong one
did a good deal Of travelling through iht
STATE 81 PENNSYLVANIA gong from comfy
town to couptV town from The beginning
~ ne ycAf o. thr Close il was picasan'
hu-iucs, cnsuCh, iol thrrr VIZ less rail
upiinc 10 hr done lhrH than DOW and
more staging. and moi uuircqutniIy long
ride, % caMH4 bGais IN the summer time.
wss moi often hurried on my tnps, and
touk nav own time. NV exact business
at the uuuntv -eats consisted Of hunting
up title 10 obscure, wild lands, paying
take, upon them, and getting them IN
GOOD condition for immediate sale.
In consequence Of the nature Of this
business, | knew a good deal about the
topography Of Pennsylvania, and Il good
dcal thaL,at that time, was worth knowing
about its roads and its inns. All Of the
latter were bad, but some were better
than Others. One Of the worst Of them
we're at T%amaqua, and possibly it is
there yet, though when | last slept
under its roof, it was in altogether such
4 Iamcntablc condition of decay, and it,
roof was such 4 very Ieaky roof indeed,
that ] doubt not it long ago disappeared
out of the sight Of men and possibly ont
Of their memories also-Tamaqua having
achieved a railroad since, and, Of course,
grown Az only railroad towns do grow,
arrived there that December OF lSjG,
ON Il Monday afternoon, which was quite
~ cold and disagrccablc a Monday after.
noon ~ remember ever to have known
though, when compared with the Tues
day that followed, it might be considered
rather warm than otherwise, ! was hal
frozen when | got there, and ! wB moi
quite thawcd out when ] left, for J ha'
Welded TO n burning curiosity to visit
coal mine, and | fancy that Tamaqua i
nothing but Il coal mine, with Il thousant
mouths that every morning swallow s.
many thousand miners and disgorgc
them every night. II was then, and
think il il now, a very black and Sooty
place, with n canal in front off 4, and a
hill behind it, and n huge mine | have
spoken Of under IT,. II was not only
black and sooty itself, but its people were
similarly black and sooty and 50 were
It's horses, or rather its mules, for IL
seemed to have few Of the former aud a
great many of the latter. Even its dogs
and cats partook Of the general sootlncsS,
aud were evidently greatly depressed by
it. was very cold when ! went down
into the mine-which had its shaft just
behind the hotel-and ! was colder still
when came out Of it. ] went to bed
cold, and got up cold, 10 cold indeed
that | thought I would never be warm
any more. When ! went down. into the
frozen breakfast.Toom, | looked out 81
the window, and saw that the ground
was covered deep with snow, and that il
was still showing M if it meant to cX
haust the whole winters supply in iiy,
minutes or 30, being very greatly presSc,
To do it Immediately. | drank my cold
black coffee and ate my cold, tough beet
steak in gloomy silence, thinking NOR
than I had done for n long time belor
of home, Of It's pleasant cheer aud warmth
and Of the loving boys and girls in it VIII
were even then, no doubt, expecting N
speedy coming, for this was already tn
morning OF Tuesday, and Thursda
wonld be Christmas day. In that HON
war st. Nicholas himself, for it was
that brought home in the night tn
brave tree with it's spreading gree
branches; it was | that planted it lirml.
in the middle Of the wide parlOr it wa
that found the infinite variety of toys
cakes, bon-bons, and glittering baublc
which covered il; it was | that place.
the cv|cr-bcautiful image of the Christ
Child on the topmost bough; ! tina
lighted the m~any-colorcd tapcrs, and
that, at the suspicious moment, suddcnl
threw open the lolding.doors and let i
the children to behold the glory of tina
wOndrous Christmas miracle.
In my frequent journeys through tn
State, ! had seen many places which
wanted to get away from quickly, but
never saw another that | wanted to tur
my back upon - much as Tamaqua.
Wa not in any manner n pleasant place
and besides, If these ncphcws and niece
of mine were to have Il Christmas tree a
all in this year, 1856, ! thought, ! mus
go home rs fast az | could travel. ha
com to Tamaqua in stage, and ] mus
go away from il in a stagc-not to Phil
delphia, exactly, but to the next raj
road town, and that was distant, ] kne'
not how far.
! arose %shivering from the drear
breakfast, and hunted up the landlord
the inn. lie was easily found, and wi
n, better or warmer looking n man tina
his accommodations promised him to b
paid his extrayagant charges, and the
informed him that ] wished to reach
quickly IA possible the nearest railroa
station, and to take the frt train for II
east.
"Thc nearest station Is at Hium
Ilium is % miles distant; YOU can n,
pt there before night il at all. | thin
you won't get tlpr At ALL
All this was spoken nfectiycly, ar
with deliberatiop. &c
"If I can get there by 10 o'clock t
night, can ! make the eastern express
"You can, but | doubt if you can &
there at ALL"
"Why?" | asked.
lie was not a mar Ia waste wore
lie only said:
The stage won't go-On account
the storm"