I flipped over to a story called "The Wreck of the Golden Mary", which didn't sound very Christmasy, but was being retold by the narrator at Christmastime, so perhaps that's how it fits in. It was a very engaging little story, but I guess at the end, Dickens got writers block, because the ending is sudden and inconclusive.
Regardless I found this interesting quote:
I have heard it broached that orders should be given in great new ships by electric telegraph. I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for us. But it will never be a substitute for the face of a man, with his soul in it, encouraging another man to be brave and true. Never try it for that. It will break down like a straw.
I just wonder what Dickens would think of the internet!
