Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-01-20
A FIRE ,CH NEW YEARS STORY.


here again! Just in time for telling
a little story, a very simple one,
which enacted itself under my own
eyes, in Paris, that cruel winter Of
1870.
All through the siege it fell to
my duty to 60 almost every night,
sometimes to the Northern railroad
station, sometimes to the Orleans,
with letters and newspapers which
the balloon people undertook.to de-
liver to our friends outside. 1t was
a long and tedious journey, es-
pecially in the snowy and freezing
weather of that hard winter. But
| had the rare good luck to light
upon a hackman who was willing to
drive me ON these nocturnal excur.
sions.
This man, endowed by nature
with an execrable temper, was cross
grained, morose, peeYlsh and porcu-
pinish to the last degree. His horse
was a little, ugly beast, all bones;
it had good head though, and legs
of steel. A few Jumps of sugar es-
tablished me in Coco's good graces;
but it was a much more formidable
task to get on the right side of
Coco's master.
One bitter cold night-it was
nearly one o'clock in the morning
| saw on the boulevard Montmartre
a hackman who was eyenidently
making his best speed homeward.
| hailed him:
"Take fare?"
"Where to%
"The Orleans station. There will
be a good pourboire drink money!
for YOU"
"Orleans station! You're joking!
Not much"
"But bark you here, my good fel-
lowl 1t is to the show I'm taking
you. A balloon goes tonight; you
will help to initiate it; you will see
the cages Of our poor little carrier
pigeons who take our letters and
dispatches to the country. Have
you ever seen all that9"
"Balloon-pigeons-letters-th
country grumbled my gentleman
to himself. "Come, it's q bargain !
in with YOU, bourgeois"
Coachy followed with lively curl
osity all the preparations for the
voyage; he even lent hand in the
work. The ascension, which was
really superb, put the finishing
touch oa his establishment and de-
light.
Two or three times after that /
had the luck to run across my man,
who took his late passenger without
making too much difficulty. The
balloon people got to know him;
M. GODDARD thanked him again and
again for his skillful and active as
sistance.
Toward the end of DECEMBER,
about two o'clock in the morning
in u wolfsh cold, | was pushing
toward the Orleans statiOn, when,
by happy chance, my coachy Ee,
cognized me and pulled up his
horse with o jerk.
We are going to the balloon,
amt we, bourgeoisy | have two
gentlemen inside to leave four steps
off; il you like to come up here on
the seat, we will head for down
there in a minute"
On the pretext that any hAak-
man had taken another paSsen-
ger on the way, the insider haggled
over the fare, and paid bin but
shabbily; he shrugged his shoulders
without saying II word, | was
greatly surprised at this Sadden
sweetness OF temper, and to get at
the explanation of the phenomenon
| staid on the seat With the old fell
low. lie carefully covered my knees
with the robes.
"Coco is a brave horse" said |,
by way of ingratiating myself.
Yes, sir; you are just right
there. Twelve years he has been
at the trade. He has little to eat +;
he doesn't sleep on feathers, but be
has blood in him and IL Won kna,v