Year: 1878

+ This world is foil Of paMiul dutie,
/ which are constantly assigned to the con
/ scientious journalist. Close upon the
sleigh riding tragedy mentioned in The
/ Times Of Saturday last comes the news
Of a still more appalling incident oi
| sleighing in New Jersey, which demands
I 10 be delicately, yet firmly, set before the
public. 1t is not the Journalists fault
that these things happen. It has long
been the opinion Of thoughtful men that


the constant tendency of things to hap.
pen ought to be checked but alas we
are as yet powerless to check It. Every


man will wish that the tragedy which il
now becomes our duty to relate had new
er occurred, but regrets are useless. We
can only strive to draw from il lessons
that may teach Us to guard against simi.
lar calamities, and that may sustain and
strengthen US in moments of heated
anguish.


The whole responsibility Of the affair
belongs to a young man whose name il
would be an unnecessary act Of cruelty
to mention. Ii is out of regard to this
we'll meaning but unfortunate person that
the name of the New jersey village in
which the tragedy occurred is not here
specified 1t is sufficient to say that he
was regarded as an expert in young la
dies, and had won universal female graft
tude by his intelligent efforts to please
the sex. When, therefore. he undertook
to manage what in the New Jersey dia-
lect is called STRAW sleigh-ride," it was
generally believed that the success Of the
affair was already assured @m


The essential ingredients of a straw
sleigh ride are from fifteen to twenty
five young men and women, large box
sleigh without seats, and q quantity OF
straw. The straw is strcwn in the bot
tom Of the sleigh, and the pleasure
seekers sit on the straw, leaning their
respective backs against the sides Of the
sleigh. OF course, they are uncomforta-
ble but the sense of doing something
Unusual and unconventional gives a zest
to a straw sleieh-ride which renders il
immensely popular with the young
There Is, however, one serious drawback
to the pleasure OF such an excursion.
The cold air will penetrate through the
bottom of the sleigh in spite Of the straw,
and viii exercise chilling influence up
on the mirth and the Ceniality of the
party. On this particular occasion the
Managing Young Man undertook 10 pro
vide means for keeping the young ladies
thoroughly warm, and the latter placed
unreseryed confidence in his wisdom and
skill


Everybody knows that bricks when
thoroughly heated and wrapped up in
paper will preserve their warmth for
many hours. The Managing Young Man
determined to warm the young ladies Of
the sleighing party with bricks, and 10y
an elaborate calculation arrived at the
conclusion that each young lady would
III A.
consist Of eleven girls and seven young
men, he laid in no Jess than forty -four
all of which he heated for several hours
in the furnace Of the Town Hall and sub.
sequeutE placed in the bottom Of the
sleigh, having FIRST neatly wrapped them
in copies Of the Tribune so that the girls
might feel thoroughly az home while sit
ting on them.


Al about s o'clock in the evening the
sleigh received its precious freight, and
the Managing Young Man was over
whelmed with thanks TOR his thoughtful
conduct in protecting the young ladies
from cold The heat from the bricks
was az first exceedingly welcome, but AZ.
ter a time a certain uue8siness on the
part of the young ladies was manifested
They conyersed in an absrnt-miudcd and
preoccupied manner. and evinced that
constant tendency to uneasy movements
which is said By scientific persons 10
characterize a hen when placed on a hot
griddle, although there Is no authentic
record that any such brutal experiment
has ever been tried little later aud
the gitls abandoned all attempts to Join
in general conversation, and WHISPERED
to one another with every appearance OF
anxiety and alarm Presently they be-
gan with one accord to erope neryously
and stealthily IN the straw, and several
of them suddenly shrieked aud blew yio-
lently upon their fingers At last the
astoni.hed Managing Young Man wa-
unanimously called upon with irenzied
energy to instantly stop the sleigh and
as soon as the order was obeycd the
young ladies sprang out with a haste that
disdalupd any masculine assistance


The smell OF siuged paper had by this
time suggested an explanation of the
mystery, and the demand which was
presently made that every brick should
be thrown out Of the sleigh left no fur
ther room for doubt ian the mind OF the
Managing Young Man. lie burned his
fingers severely while handling the over
heated bricks. but he cared not for his
own physical pain. The thought that
instead Of making the girls com Portable
he had inflicted upon Them the torturfs
OF ST. Lawrence filled him with humilia-
tion. The girls were merely human. and
it was natural that they should feel ex-
tremely dissatisfied with him, but it was