The weekly Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1872-1887, 1875-03-06
Anto-RailrOad Days.

Two centuries ago, there did not exist
i'll all England single navigablc canal,
not an inch of railway Gas we under
stand the tcrln) not n public conveyance
that would bear comparison with the
most numbering farm wagon that can now
DC found on the prairics beyond tho Miss
issippi, and not n milo of road which tho
traveller of to-day would not consider rs
impossible. by tho public highways
both travellers anil goods passed from
place to place, and those highways an-
pear to have been far worse Than the most
ruinous roads that can now he fonnd out
side of the sleep walks of Australia or
the junglcs of South Africa.
( tThorsby has left us accounts Of journeys
made with guide along roads TINT seai
"oyer most prodigious high hills, "stcer-
or tEan The roofs of many houses" or
rides "Glong tho edges of prccipiccs
that grew to that hoight and stcep-
ness, and withal so exceedingly narrow.
j. that wo had not an inch of ground to set
foot upon to alight from our horses" and
Of tramps over, highways "lull of ice and
snow, roughcr than ploughiield, vet
= hard as IRON" IIagbusl lime, tho nrin-
cipal bride path from London to tho
North OF England, was worn so deep that
tho riders head was beneath the level of
tho ground on either side, and SO narrow
as barely to afford passage for u single
horscmnn. Indeed, in many parts, being
once in it, to turn back became utterly
impossible, such was its extreme narrow
ness Nor docs this seem to be the cx-
ception rather than tho rule.
Many other bits of road were almost, iC
not quite, "a bnd. Even on the roads
which the Englishmcn of that day were
accustomed to regard as the best, the ruts
were deep, the dcccnts prcciptitous, and
the mud often luy so thick that all com.
municntion was cut off for months ut n
time, between towns separated by scarce
~ q score OF miles. Over such roads ms
these, ms may we'll be supposed, the only
practicable method of travelling was ON
loot or on horse. The rich rode; the poor
walked. To add to tic iliscomfurts of the
situation, highway robbery wns I'M admit
ted and apparently irrcmgdiablc evil, rs
mounted highwnymcn we're to be found
on every main road. And yet with all
the obstinacy Of his nature, John Hull for
q long time opposed tho introduction of
the sthgc-coacb, saying among OTHER
! things that sucli an Innovation would bo
ruinous to tradc, as saddlers and spurricrs
would DO ruined by hundreds; tic pco.
plo who rode on horseback wore out more
clothing than those who kept Themselves
clean and neat in coaches, "and were
forced to nave now very often, and that
increased the consumption Of tic manu-
{ fsesurss and the employment of the manu-
facttirors, which travelling in coaches
doth no way do" Such were tho cot,cnt
reasons for which our worthy furclathcrs
demanded that the stage coach should be
"put down." lIowit ultimately triumplIctI
over NIL opposition, and became, with its
rosy gildcd coachman, facctious guard, its
npscts md break downs, its "0utsidcs''
and "insidcs,'" Il peculiarly English insti-
ton, Is familiar TO all readers Of Englisl,
noTcls for three generations back.--IHo
l'roof Iyhetk. V 49, -