Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1843-05-13

ON h marble floor, then started hi bold relic
The shaggy rock born heinloek and poison latl
rel, penetrating the deep solitHaes, and max
ing 'flarAness visible where all before ha
been ohscurity. There too might be seen th
heat driven from the earth IN light fogs b,
the intense cold, floating upNbtds in ~[antastn
J forms, and SPREADING out i, thin ether as the
sought more elevated regions. AS far III III,
distance in every direction as The eye euf|'
reach, were the valleys Of Penn, all silent il
The embrace of winter and night, calling VI
most wildly the emotions Of Tho beautiful AM
the sublime.
allow are we to get down the outrageous
hill, driver bawled out q specuiatot II w est
efn lands, but who had amused us through The
day past, with nice calculations Of how mucl
he could have saved the government and him.
sell, had he had the contract Of making the
"National road over which we were travel.
ling. The reply of the driver was exceeding
" apt and Characteristic. sd.
There is no difficulty in getting dolcn the
hin, but YOU we'll know there are a variety Of
ways III doing the same thing; The Irag-chain
would be of little use, as The wheeI tire would
make a runner of it. | think you had better
all take your places inside, say your prayers,
and let me put of, and if yon g%rinning moon
has d wish TO see a race between d stage and
four horses down ball Mountain, she'll be
gratitied, and see sights that would make Il
locomotive blush"
The prospect was rather a doleful one We
bad about ninety chances in d hundred that we
would make, a 'smash ofsit,' and we had the
sane number of chances Of being frozen to
death If we did not take The risk Of being
smashed, for the first tavern we could get to
was at the foot Of the mountain. The driver
~ rs a smart fellow, and had some hostage in
t.e world worth living for, because he was
bt. three days married-had he been six
months We would not have trusted him. The
vote was taken, and it was decided 10 ''go
ahead" F. E"..
III were TO describe an unpleasant situa-
ton, | sllou Id say that it was to tie in a stage,
the door closed on you, with the probabilities
that It will he opened by your head tl,rustinr
itself through its oak PANELS with The axle of
the wheel, at The same lime falling across
your breast. 1t reened to Inc that | would be,
with my my companions, if | entered that
stage, buried alivt-so preierrl1g to see tho
coming catastrophe, | mounted the drivers
seat. with a degree of resolution that would
have enabled inc TO walk unter a falling
house without winking. i
At the crack of the whip, tho horses itnpa-
tient of delay, started with a bound, and ran
m n short distance, the boot Of tho stage
pointing TO the earth a sudden reverse of
this position, and an inclination Of our bodies
forward, told too plainly that VIC were on the
descent. Now commenced a race between
gravitation and llorsetiesll, and odds would
have. been safely bet on the former. One time
we swayea to and fro as if in a hammock
then We would travel a hundred yards side
| waye, the wheels on the ice sparkling with
fire aud electricity, and making a grating
sound; hs terrible to my nerves as the ex-
tracing of a tooth. The horses frightened at
tho terrible state of things in The rear, and
the lashing of the whip would pull us around
for n moment, and we would go again side
ways, bouncing, crashing about like mad. A
quarter wa3 down the mountain, and still
perfectly sound, but by this time the momen-
tum Of our descending body was terrible, and
the horses with feekIng hot sides and tisten-
ded n%ostrils, lay themselves down to their
work, while the lasiing whip cracked and
goadcd in the rear, to hasten their speed.
The driver, with O ~con'ness that never for
sock him, guided bis vehicle as much as pos
eible i'll zig-zag lines across the road. Obsta-
cles no larger than pebbles would project lis
into The air as if We had been an lndisn rubber
ball. and once as we fell into a rut, wts3scaped
upsetting by a gentle tap from the stunlp Of d
cedar tree upon the hub Of the wheel, that
rirhted us with the swiftnesa Of lightning.
On we went the blood starting in my chilled
frame, d~iIiuslng over me a glowing heat. until
| wiped huge drops OF persplratton from my
brow, and breathed in the cold air as if ] were
smothering. The stunning sound that now
marked our progress was scarcely relieved by
the gathering hoof Of the horses, and the mo-
ton became perfectly steady, except when a
piece of ice would explode from under the
wheel, as if burst with powder. Almost with
the speed of thought we rushed on, and the
critical moment Of our safety came. The
slightest obstacle, the stumbling of a horse,
the breaking OF a strap, a too strongly drawn
breath almost, would have, with tie speed we
were making projected us over the mountain
side as if shot from d cannon and buried us
beneath the frozen ground and hard rocks be-
meath. The driver, with dlstended eyes and
an expression of intellectual excitement,
played his part well, and fortune favored lis.
As we made the last turn in the road the stage
for All Instant yibrated between safety and de
Notwithstanding for several yards upon
one side, it exposed two of the wheels in the
air, whirlihg with a swiftness that rendered
them almost Invisible. With a severe contu-
sion it rigbted, the driver shouted, and we
were rushing TIP an ascent, For a moment
the stage and horses went on, and it was but
for a moment for the heavy body, lately so
full Of life, settled back upon the traces a dead
weight, dragging th5 poor animals.
"a pretty severe tug said one OF the in
sides to the driver as he stretched himself
with a yawn. "Woll, I rather think il was,'
said John, with a smile of dlsdaln.
1--WE driy on this road fifteen years, but !
never was go near---as to night. ii | was
on ~t'otler side of Ball Mountain and my
wife On this, (only three days married recol-
lect,) | would not drive that stage down Ball
Mountain as I have tonight to keep her from
running away with a nigger"
"ANhy, you don't think there was any real
danger do you!" Inquired another : inside"
thrusting his head into The cold air.
II calculate | do if to fore leader, when |
reached the devils rut,' had fallen as he in
tended, your body would now be as fiat as
either back seat cushion in that stage"
"Lord bless us, is it possible" sighed ano-
Their "inside," but it is all very well, one must
run a lille risk rather than to be delayed in a
journey" 3 .r 4
Approaching the terrible ordeal through
which hadpasscd better than my fellow trav-
%ellers, 1have often in my dreams fancied my
self on a stage coach, just tumbling down the
~ravines that yawn on the sides Of "Ball Noun
tain; and when | have started into Wakefui-
ness, have often speculated on that principle
of the American character that is ever impel-
ling it forward; but it never'so forcibly struck
me as a National popularity, until | read
Howitt's journey down hill, among the sturdy
Germans Of the Old World.