Weekly Calaveras chronicle., 1866-04-28
Road Agents.

les, insteadeof being rare occurrences. begar
to be quite frequent; and horse-stealing
which formerly had been sporadic, becam,
alarmingly epidemic, making property il
horse flesh very uncertain investment.
was supposed at that time that loyal confed-
crates were taking this irregular mode of i'm.
pressing Northern property for the use of tn,
Southern Confederacy, and were only sup
plying themselves at our expense with tht
sinews of war. preparatory to their emigra.
ton to the land of cotton. With the wal
this symptom of feverish lawlessness ough
to have passed away but instead thereof
we have return fit, with greatly increased
virulenee. Highway robberies have become
standing topic of conversation, and have
added romance to our country travelling
which is exceedingly exciting. History re.
peats itself with pleasant variations. As ar
old highlander, in tramping over moor was
| constantly on the qui rire for an elf or hob
goblin to leap out of heather-bell into hi:
pathway. SO we of the present day, in taking
our little mountain journeys, are constantly
on the lookout for the ubiquitous road
agents. The old nonotony of the road i:
extinct. Instead of plodding over wear,
miles as in days gone by, consuming himself
with his own thoughts, and grumbling at the
distance between taverns, the traveller now
a-days takes very lively interest in the sur
rounding beauties of nature, and bowls over
the road at gait which is so very hard on
horse flesh that livery stables are doing q
losing business. Every turn in the way, ev-
cry stump or gnarled tree is eyed with mi
mute attention. That bush, thinks he, would
be very lovely--if it were not so near the
road. But it is when the highway cleaves
the ever vernal jimasal that the beauties Of
the changing vista become absolutely over
powering. and he hurries up his nag, fearful
that the surfeit of loveliness may be toe
much for his over-tasked nerves. If he be a
painter as well as travel t, then it is a thou
sand to one that he can sketch a panorama
of his route of travel without omitting any
object in the landscape large enough and
near enough to the road to hide footpad
Distance lends enchantment to the view,
and it has become a matter for exciting spec
| ulation how far bush should stand from
the road to look its best. The road agent
has become a standing institution of the
country. He turks in the chapparal by day,
and when night comes to the village he comes
with it, and when two or three are gathered
together on the street corner, or in the gro
Gerry or saloon, he is there in their midst,
taking notes for his next days operations.
1t IS pleasant thing, when you and Smith
are having social game of cards for the
drinks, to think that the distinguished stran-
ger at your elbow is listening to what you
say to Smith about your next trip out OF
town, and that he is so much struck by your
distinguished appearance that he will not be
able to deny himself the pleasure of meeting
you on that trip, under the greenwood tree,
and having short conversation with you,
which he will finish by asking very impress
sively for the loan Of your purse. And it
may even be that Smith, good man, though
he cannot go himself, may tell friend of his
about your trip, and send that friend out to
meet you upon the road, and ease you Of
your burden of cash. AS strange things
have happened. 1t is curious fact, not be-
fore made public that near toll bridges and
on toll roads depredations from road agents
are very unfrequent, if not altogether un-
known. Whether the agents think that af-
ter a man has passed toll gate he is not
worth plucking, and if he is going toward ii
he will want all his money to get through, is
more than we can say, as we are not in theil
confidence. 1t is likely, however, that some
such chiyalric notion possesses them, for they
are high-toned set of 'cusses,' and some
times return their wages when SO small thai
to keep them would look too much like
working for nothing. They have been work
ing the roads of this county very thoroughly
for nearly a year, and, by their immunity
from punishment, have become pampered
and unreasonable, for, not considering the
hardness of the times, they complain tina
their victims are travelling light this is al
wrong. because, as a man should be paid fol
his work according to his labor and risk
and as their business is not more laborious
and certainly less dangerous than mining
they should in all conscience be satisfied
with miners wages. But perhaps roat
agents have no consciences, which account.
for-the milk in the cocoa-nut.' When mar
has good thing, and don't know it, he i:
sure to lose it. 1t is to be hoped that these
gentry may soon find themselves in that fix
1t was saying of an elderly friend of ours
that when things get bad, the sooner they ge
devilish bad, the better. We should think
that desirable point was about reached now
Things once got to running very badly il
San Francisco, but Vigilance Committe,
Strengthened them out, and they have run a:
smooth as clock-work ever since. Tn,
American people are long suffering, but wher
they get a-going they make the fur fly. Oul
road agents had better think of these things
and for their own precious sakes not pres!
their luck.
GoD SAVES THE WoMEN.-A French gen
tleman has recently made the discovery, say.
the Stockton Independent, from voluminou
statistics on the subject, that women are very
seldom struck by lightning. In proportion
to men. they suffer in this way only as % il
to 100. The Frenchman says this is not ow
ing to the habit the ladies have of hiding /,