Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1885-01-17

To the Chroniels:
Happy greetings to yourself and
readers. May pleasure and pros
perity TO you all mark the passage
Of the incoming year.
Santa Claus has como and gone.
leaving Ia his train things appropri-
ate to all the conditions OF society.
There Is to me much comfort in the
fact that children of the poor have
as much, II not more, pleasure In
his frugal dispensations to them as
do those OF the rich in the glitteEing
bestowments made on them. Do
my little readers know of any chill
dren where Santa Claus did not
come? Poor little creatures, how
we pity them. We have sometimes
thought it little bad for him to
lay aside his nom-de-plume and
mask, allowing his real name and
parsonage to be known. But how
much worse for him not to come at
all, or to come with an empty hand.
II we should find any such, we
ought to try and make them happy
in some way. How many will do
this? AS many as do will be them
selves the happier for II when Santa
Claus comes around again.
Again our parsonage home was
not slIghted. We had laid in about
what we thought a depleted purse
would justify, which our good wife
thought quite meagre. was dress
ing a pig, and she and the children
were as busy rs bees, cleaning yard
and house, cooking, cutting and
sewing. ironing DC, preparing the
wherewithal of Christmas subsist-
ance and apparel, mindful OF the
fact that our first quarterly meeting
was to come off at our home church
during Christmas week.
Ileave the EXPLANATIONS OF wife.
in the worry OF fixing, cleaning and
cooking, to the imagination of your
readers. They had scarcely escaped
her lips when / was interrupted in
my pig.dressing by halo! at the
gate. A driver, colored mas ]
did not know, stood with his wagon,
and announced that he had some
Santa Claus boxes from the Rock
Spring neighborhOOd, but could not
reveal the names OF the donors. :
still do not know who they are. but
have friendly suspicion, and con-
tent myself with ascribing all to
Santa Claus. There were two boxes
well filed with good things to de-
light the eye, to crafty the palate
and to contribute TO the material
comfort of the physical man. One
thing especislly appreciated was a
hOme-spun blanket. There were
articles crOcheted Of zephyr and
goods for several dresses. Among
the edibles were hams, sausage,
souse, butter, quite q number OF
ChhCS W niAlCIChI hAuNrS AAuIto,
dried, canned and preserved.
Christmas came, and was pleas
antly spent at home. The quarter
ly meeting came, and with 1t, an
other Santa Claus box, with a sack
OF potatoes which, for some reason.
had failed to get in the wagon. The
quarterly conference devised liberal
things for another year (Of course
bused upon the prospect OF another
cotton crop.) and replenished our
purse. So we start out upon anoth-
er year with grateful heart and re-
newed hope, under the blessing Of
God.
We had the most rainy sea son for
our quarterly meeting believe that
1 eyer saw. 1t commenced Friday
evening and continued almost with
out any cessation, day and night,
till Tuesday. Many bridges were
washed away or damaged. Saline
river was said to be higher than il
had been since 1912. The creeks
out-did their highest wafer marks
in the rise of 1882. Had il not been
for the freeze which so closely sue.
ceeded the rain, the damage must
surely have been much greater.
1t has moderated again, and the
rain has put in faithful work for
good part of last night and nearly
all day. There were thick clouds
and very heavy thunderings to-day.
rude eight miles through the hard
est Of the rniu to get home, lest the
creeks should cut me off. AS the
children had 10 come through the
rain from school this evening, lad
a good blazing fire ready for them,
which made our room uncomfOrta-
bly, warm till about an hour ago.
But now the wind Is roaring from
the North West, and The prospect
good for another blizzard by mid
night. JOHN III. GOLD.
Monticello, Ark, Jan. s, 1885.
Anti-Failroad Sentiment