Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-12-24

~ oEnsgasS0 PARrV avn fTs
GHDaOUs ADvESfUxEs.
y the sledges with the bells,
"a Human bellies.
~ 4 world of tnerrfment IN

~ world Of rnerriment their melody foio
How the merrie voices minsio
In the icy air of night,
TIL II r. right hard to single
~ Merrie laugh from metal Jingle, |
Both OF crystalline delight,
"A long nay oyteT Poe.
ga cold night full moon and vast pro |
1p1Cn Of flying clouds that veil and reveal |
oiOry. Six inches OF snow packed hard |
14 eWo Of Ice, and the gay young blades and |
o9hing bellies must gather for sleghing |
E1y.
Cutters OF many kinds with bells of many |
nn12 double teams with double loads, all |
A - md repass the rendezvous while wait |
g Sog the last sleighs. Cold, very cold but
~ Folr Of hot bricks 10 rest the feet on, and
S1obea fur caps and muiilers make all feel
s1ondy for the drive and bright enough to
1nugh nj the dullest joke. Passers-by think
~ flock Of geese as they listen 10 the rattle
ynn0 cistter OF tongues, but each talker only
tbinks Of those around him how bright
they all look, and how musical the voices
sound a. they fall through the clear, cold air.
Every voice Is heard against a back ground
Y cf laughter, made by the mingled happy
voicea.
The FIRST sleighing party of tho season, and
b ths horses are wild to be OIL.
Old nags, that would bring a smile by day
Hight, go prancing about with their beads
: well up, and the fire of younger days in their
eyeA The sleek coach horses stamp, aud
8 ret and champ their bits, and the skeleton
7 Myers q racing fang go wild foi the fray be-
y0Iu control, and are kept a'spinntng back
s nud forth until the word is given i" Ready -
and away they go, far in the lead, while the
osher sieighs are swinging in place; ~ compr
THE NOISY oRQYIness
The noisy crowd so scaent or.l.
I line becomes less noisy, 9 tered in a long thin
quiet Between the Sraud then 10y contrast
mases SSn SSsnd dTttt Tie Ol1s II and the miugng mu.
\ sic OF the other sleighs. Sudden, strong and
clear, come the ringing notes of bugle, rs-
Ing. falling, TO gather strength and rise again
In one long final blast, 80 piercing clear II
seemed the very stars must hnd an echo
for It.
Ho! whoa whoa comes from all along
the line, as the drivers strain and tug at the
lines in vain effort to restrain the horses,
y wild with the sound of the pugle. As We
clear the top OF hill at a tearing pace we see
that our bays are rapidly overIaklnS acu'ter
just ahead.
The driver has all he can do to hold his
seat, and for instant things look danger
Gus. but the bays are swung quickly To the
lett, the sleigh plunges after on one runner,
and leaning, rights itself in the softer snow
as We rush past the cutter with cheer.
Gliding on with easy motion, swift and
steady, the parties in the larger sleighs all
let their happy feelings out in song Music
good and bad, all welcome, jokes the poor
est sure OF reward of laughter, for the lad
or lass who don't feel cheerful on night like
this, in such a jolly party, had beter pre-
tend to feel so Just Tor the fitness of things
The memory OF other sleighing parties warns
us to save our voices, and after the first mile
the horses settle to more steady gait, the
yells and cheers, and laundering choruses
give place to bright though quiet converse
ti0n, with songs and quaint old carols, sung
tn M lntr M
muilied hoof beats. Packed close and warm
In the sleighs, with the cold air in your face,
and the faces of all around you transhgured
81 fry-shc moonlight and happy thoughts, the
effect is more than exhiarating, II is intOxi-
eating.
These people arc all more or less drunk
with pleasure, and show II in different ways
according to differences of character, Just as
they would under the unnatural stimulus
OF champagne Some are bOisterOus and
guy, Dlt the greater number lit pacidly,
smiling at nothing but their own pleasant
feelings. They seem to be listening to the
conversation, but hear the noise, not the
thoughts (; the combined musical chime OF
bells aud voices of tho whole procession,
broken now and then by the snOrting OF
N horses, the crack OF whip, and a hearty
gruti, "Git upn'
THE TRAGEDY OF \ CUTTER,
A silent pair in cutter watch the broken
clouds, drifting in strange shapes and mystic
tpQNOlullOns, llhs inc Wf1tus OF great Souls
doing reverence in the pure moonlight to an
almighty power beyond the stars. The
sleigh is gliding down an easy hill two sll.
yer crested clouds are flying towards the
moon not Tar sDart they will join and reach
1t together Not word Is spoken, but
thoughts are passing, Nearer, nearer, eclipse
sudden, com mplete, horrible quick lurch OF
the sleigh, which had been travelling wher-
ever the horse chose to take il, had thrown II
over on ono side, and planted the cloud
gazers In snow DRIFT with a shower OF robes
and hot bricks. The horse trots oil to the
foot of the hill and then stops and laughs as
horses do, a hearty, aggravating, sarcastic
neigh. The blade and belle get up on end,
with thoughts anywhere but in the clouds.
For q few seconds they try TO get the snow
out OF their eyes aud ears theu they fud
that small avalanches are sliding down thelr
necks Tableau
The clouds have passed ths moon and are
sailing far apart A man from the sleigh
ahead has caught the horse, and rs they come
trudging towards him, heavy laden with
robes, the blade is elOQueuuy, but not Iu-
cidly, explaining how it happened /; and the
belle Is kindly and CheeTiully assuring him
that 1t did not matter bit
The songs came again with their Old volume
rs the crowd went racing through the str cts
of the village, and when they all alighted
and crowded into the hotel, and close around
the fireplace of the parlor, the cackl ling and
chattering Of the starting were not repeated
but while thawlng the racing gentlemen com
pdiou uOtes anu liiClueuls, anu all talked to
getbef quietly aud cheerlully.
Well warmed, they found that they were
as hungry asa pack OF wolves and call ed
to tho dining room, they made havoc among
the wailles, passed tOasts and speeches and
again to dancing i'll the pariOr, more singing
and the sleighs Tor home.
THE HoMEsTRETCu.
The horses know that they are bound for
the stable, and need no bugle peal to awaken
their spirits.
The grooms can hardly hold them as they
paw and snort, and then go down the village
street at rattling gait, strainiug to reach the
sorrels just ahead and eager for a race on :
gentle slope we have room TO pass, WhiT
'em up"' no need of whip away go IN,
foar horses like the wind, sorrel ahead, necL
and neck, bays ahead The hll groWs
sleeper, the road narrows on one side, anC
with all his weight on the limos the driver
pulls our horses back. At a turn of the road
there Is room TO pass on the other side bu
Ia himself and horses he "lets them go, u
and they do go! The sorrels, taken by sur
prise, are passed with ease but with the
gathered momentum We go flashing down
me sieepincline like great tOboggan. Sud
denly the driver shouts:
" "Open that gate 90
Horror the tollgate at the foot of the hiIl
y closed, not hundred yards away. The
men shout together with all their might q
man runs TO the gate will he get il open in
uhe the driver is doing all that can be-
done with the horses, but they cannot stop
q fFT NgFrFf Inn N.aU3 -.