The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1873-03-01
About Stage Drivers.
EUCLID.

For many years we have journeyed tn and fro
those most necessary auxlliaries- Concord
COACHES and have sat behind many +. six in
hand,' As passenger. and have often wondered
how men could stand the strain upon their minds
in guiding safely their bctiInes wild stock with
the additional responsibility of the lives Of hu-
man beings upon their hands. Then. though i,
SEEMS like the idea Of the old woman. who
thought going to sea was easy business. ~ all
one had To do to sit down and let the ship
20 AlonR, IT Is . fatiguing life. and wears men
out who make IL . means of livelihood. Did 1t
ever occur to You. rader. when rushing furi-
ously along an ley road, mufiicd up in overeoats,
furs. etc. that the pilot, or the driver. by one
mistake in losing the grade, could easily preeipi-
tate his valuable load over some yawning preci-
pice. and send them all into eternity People
will say that the professional driver il aeeus-
toned to the roads and can ind his way at any
time. but. even II this Is the case, horses often
become frightened and shy ON one side. and the
wAtchful pilot must be ever the alert to
" catch" them In time and bring them down to
their work. Through the snow and sleet. rnin
and dust must the stage be run time must
engineer, pilot. and master Of his craft, and Is
expected TO bring in his load safely. II has al
ways appeared TO that who pass their
lives on the box. all sorts of roads and In all
kinds Of weather. and escape without accident,
must be possessed Of more than ordinary nerve
and physical endupance. But. notwithstanding
tire hardship of the life. the professional stage
driver. after trying some other means of liyeli-
hood will invariably like the sailor. return to
the old business and again commence the old
wear and tear. They ART, too, q class, quick
Of perception. generally good-natnred. and fair
judges Of human nature. Nothing is more an
noying to this type than to have a nervous pas-
senger in fear Of overturning. reach over and
grasp the reins-the utmost contempt IL exhibit
ted by them for timid men-in women they can
overlook such things but In a man, never. The
old class are fast dying out, and anew race seem
sprinSing up. The days when Horace Greeley
took his memorable ride with the yeritsble Hank
Monk. have given place to many changes. The
old stage roads which once honey eombed Cali
fornia. have been supplanted by the iron horse.
and the old time stage driver has retired before
the shrill whistle Of the locomotive to pastures
new, II not green. We have heard people say
they would not givo up the treasure-box II or
dered no TO do by foot-pads highwaynien
Wonder II they ever mentally calculated from
optical illustration the diameter Of the bore of
shotgun, with giant behind it7 We guess not,
and would advise such consider 1t cowardly
for driver to pull up and deliver the treasure,
when urged to do 80, to try II themselves. In a
few years a. most, the crack of the drivers whip
will be heard only ON the desert plains of Ari-
zona and other territories they must give place
to the march of progress, and soon we shall have
only remembrances of the good old days which
Dickens 40 felicitously describes in his Pick
wick. But we must all agree that no class Of
men earn their pay with more hardship than the
stage driver.