Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1874-01-07
English Mail Coaches Before the
- Era Uf Railroads.


"Soon after the Introduction Of mail
coaches, an Act was passed, declaring that
all carriages and stage.coaches employed
to carry His Majestys mail, should hence
forth be exempt fl ON the payment of ,ot,
both on post and crossroads. In consa-
quence, inn-keepers, the principal owners
Of stage-coaches, bargainea for the carr
riaee of mails, frequently, at merely nom-
inal prices, in order to obtain the prIvl-
lege Of running their coaches free OF toll.
The turnpike-keeperS, naturally, looked
upon the mails and all connected with
them, as moving in sphere beyond their
control. AT the approach Of the mail
coach, turnpike gates few open, and all
around were Difference aud obedience to
the omuipotcnt will of the driver. The
feeling Of importance Thus cngendered,
communicated itself to the passengers, and
they felt themselves, in consequence, to be
formed Of superior clay. Even here, how.
ever, there was divided opinion, for the
inside passengers considered that they
were porcelain, While the outsiders were
merely delf, tor some time the insdes
would not sit at the same table with the
outsides and as the latt, r was so presum-
Ing as to push into the coffeeroom, tine
waiter would beckon and eDtice them into
the kitchen. AT last the outside passen-
gers rebellcd, and, after great struggle
obtained recognition. .at er..0
The starting of the mails became one
of the numerous sights OF LoLdon. Every
night from eight o'clock to fifteen or TWEEN.
ty minutes later, Lombard street was
crowded with s'glt>eels gathered together
to witness the procession and departure OF
the coaches, which filled the street in doub-
le file. In the last year Of mail-coaches,
the number which left London every night,
was twenty seven. .. ..
"But if the nightly departure vas %
sight worth seeing what words can express
the excitement on those nights, during the
time Of the great war, when the country
learned that it had gained some grand
victory. On those casions, the coaches,
horses and men were all decorated with
laurels and flowers. with oak leaves and
ribbons, so hat wherever they passed, the
glad news might be made apparent to all,
and be quickly circulated through the land.
Victories followed each other so rapidly
that all were in a state Of expectation,
ard the mail-coach was known to be the
national aud authorized medium of COM
municat;on, by which the FIRST news of any
great event was published to the wcrd..
"AnoIher fpc sight which London en-
joyed, was the annual procession Of mail
coaches, which took place on the kings
birthday. The route was from Mllbank
TO Lombard street. About noon, the pest
men, guards, and coachmen. with their
friends, dincd at Milibank, aud at FIVE
o'clock the gay procession set out. All
the horses had new harnesses, and the
guards and postmen, new scarlet coats.
the cavacade was headed by the general
t-letter-carrers ca horseback then
followed tho coach, filed with the wives,
children, friends, and relations Of the
guards and coachmer, aud the rear was
brought up by the post-boys. Bells rang
out, and all was gaiety and joy till the ar
rival at the post office when the coaches
were prepared for their departure TO the
country at The regular hour. All this is
now as if it had never been; roads thas
once were filed with couveyances, are now
deserted, and inns that once exhibited
signs of the most vigorous life, echo in
in their vacant rooms to the footsteps Of
the solitary travellers who successfully Wis.,
it them. ."-American artisan.