Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1881-02-24
Staging In Texas,


cohort of cats celebrating the election re-
turns. There is something awfully unreal
about it, even ghOstly. cannot help lis
tening to its dreary monotony-its bewil-
dering plaints-and shaping themselves
into cries unearthly. All at once host of
demon spirits dash against the glass and
shrek out angry imprecations. 1 shudder
like creature afraid, and pull down the
curtains to shut out the storms hoarse
roar. Anon the rain dashes down and
sideways, rushing with clash and shock
against the frail wooden walls, pouring
from the low roof, dripping, deluging,
saturating all the earth. On, do not hike
those stormsl For three days at time
they never cease. Rivers OF water fall,
rushing down the narrow valleys, tearing
away the soft earth, chapnelhng out the
streets and filling the streams TO the very
TOP of their limestone bluffs. Our San
Antonio is brave stream and seldom un-
equal to the emergency. The water fire.
ulently rises fifty 1eet in a single night,
Int it rarely overhows. Last August it
reached over the banks for more than fifty
miles and ruined 500, 900 worth of corn,
notatoes and cotton. Such a calamity may
oo,,r again in a lifetime. With every
heavy rain these Western rivers rise 1rom
twenty to fifty feet, and this renders lne
building of bridges extremely haIAiuoue'
Az this time there are very few bridges lh
Western Texas, which renders travelling IN
wet weather somewhat dangerous as well
as amusing. The crossings are effected, III
h,ch water. by means of poontoons or Ter
ries. and in dry weather by 'fords." I" lhe
descent is not like that which Virgil de-
scribes. into 'faCilis but, on
the contrary, quite the reverse. The bluff
drops off from the first second or third
terrace, and each drop is worse than the
preceding one. The last is usually con-
sidered "a drop too much" Ii just lifts
YOU out of your boots. The bluff is per-
pendicular wall of sand or adobe clay,
gulched by running water, and is appro-
priately described by the feminine term
perfectly awful"
If YOU are lady you go down with the
driver in the hacl.-who says there is no
danger-until you reach your final plunge,
and then you shut your eyes and pray. 1ou
never expect to see the sun again, just as
if YOU lived in London, but somehow you
do. The sure-footed mules slide down the
ragged edge" the driver leans both feet
upon the brake and swears softly to him.
self; the coach rocks and plunges; you feel
yourself slipping down, down, down, like
frightful nightmare, and at length you
are on board the boat. The boatman puts
his head in, hopes you are not frightened,
and says $50 cents" or, if he is native,
flour bits" You hand 1t out mechanically,
never thinking to ask what the charge is
for. You are so bewildered that had he
said ''$5" you would have paid it as read
lily and felt that you had escaped cheap
enough. He turns a crank, the ropes
creak and strain, the boat swings round in
the narrow, boiling gorge, and N five min
utes you find yourself reeling up The red
clay bank on the further shore. You wake
up. The motion has ceased. The driver
shouts, swears, lashes - the thing has
stopped and refused to move. The jehu
puts aside the curtains and says:
you'll have to get out mum This old
scare.crow buzzard's carnage can't tackle
the bluffs, dash 'em!''
''Muds purity bad Sorry, mum Got
any rubbers9 No. That's bad. Kin lend
you my slicker if ye'l put it on. Kinder
keep the leak Off" DRIVERS are always
kind, polite and respectful to ladies here.
1t is raining furiously. The wheels are
slipping back. You feel yourself going
dowu. You realize what it means. If
nervous you scream and faint. If not you
open the curtains. The driver whips up
his iaded ''carron." The coach stops
sliding down. You leap nimbly out. The
mud catches you and holds you. You are
safe at least. Then the fun begins. You
drag a good sized farm up the awful bluff.
Your companions follow and bring up all
the mud you left. The mud is very kind.
1t sticks close to you-it follows you-lt
prevents you from flying if so disposed
it goes with you like Ruth, and stops with
you when you stop-quite out of breath
and moral reflections. Your feet are red
as well as your face. Somebody says it
seldom rains in Texas. Don't believe it.
/ never saw prettler rain in my life. Such
mudl Prepared glue is not ordinary muci-
lage beside 1t. The sharpest knife will not
cut it from your shoes. You stand on the
upper bank unable to move There are
sheets of water falling upon your spring
bonnet, torrents of it rolling from your
best clothes, waves, rivers, oceans of it be-
meath your feet. Your only solace is that
your disgusted and dripping companions
cannot laugh at you.
The driver discharges a new volume of
oaths, all neatly bound for the occasion
with Texas leather. The lashlng and
cursing cause the rain to hold its breath in
astonishment. AT last up he comes-the
Red Sea is crossed and you resume your
place. The thoroughly saturated passen-
gers have enough to do hewing off the
mud to occupy them till the next station
is reached, and somehow the conversation
lags for want of encouragement.
Very few people are killed in these stage
journeys, few seriously injured, but there
are plenty of old citizens here who never
ride across river. They invariably get
out and walk down. When asked if they
apprehended danger, they say, ''No, but it
is safer
But the concord" and Email coach"
are doomed in Texas. Their race is nearly
run. The iron horse is pre-emptlng all
their valuable territory. Railroad stock is
more valuable than horse stock. The age
of progress has reached us.
The Switch Engine.