Daily Kennebec journal., 1878-06-06

their fare, and they were going to iide!' Calvin
had both eyes open, and they flashed fire. as he
replied, "Then it NAV be that | shall drive YOU
into your graves" Down the hill be drove; hold
ing the horses till their strength gone then he
simply (tt them slde. DJwn the hill they thun-
dered, Just clearing the dangerous precipice sn-
gle stumble or blInder, and ovef they would have
gone Ga Treats hill, just out Of Bangor, whom
Rollins was driving on the Oldtown route, the
pole broke just as they were to descend the hill.
The passengers jumped out and seized hold of the
wheel, they would have all gone TO destruc ton
in Little while. The first stage coaches were
novel alta irs, the homey body resting thorough
braces in the shape Of bows and having the whole
spring Of the axle; low seats, about the height Of
a char, allowing tue feet to est on the bottom of
the coach two seats on the Inside, with room for
three passt ngers on seat; chance for pas
senser on the outside with the driver, that is if
the person would run the risk of having mis- brains
Knocked out against the back of the coach.
liamlen did not drive regularly till Colonel
Marshall bought in the line. The line then began
to steadily improve, as well as the horses. The
citizens of Augusta were the next proprietors,
with Smith l.. Gale agent. In 1885, Gen
Thomas got the contract from the general govern
melt for carrying the mail on the route named,
and put on opposition line This lasted for
some Is months and then Thomas was bought
out by the old company. the citizens pay ing him
1900, and that put an end TO the opposition.
But there lively times during its continuance.
The pay of Hamlen and L, lns, that had been
but Sl5 a month, was increased to S2j. The
teams were increased to six, shifting five times
the journey. Both lines had just as much "a they
could do. The fare was put at half price, s. 90.
The best horses that could be found were pur-
chased; our two old fiends assert thlt no such
hoises can be found now. The most of them were
purchased in Maine, and Col. Stanley had hand
in making the purchase, and showed 10 this good
judgment in the selection of horse flesh. There
were three four stables full OF horses each way
every day Nice Concord coaches took the place
OF the old ones with easy seats on outside and
inside. These were the finest coaches ever
brought into the State; and indeed no quipment
or outfit could compare with this, except possibly
tie line between Boston and Providence.
With these outfits and these splendid horses, the
trip from Augusta TO Bangor, a distance of 81
miles, wa. often made in SIX and one-haf hours.
The drivers seat was as easy As rocking chair,
land, says Amos, "sll We had to do was to let
the whip stay in the socket take hold of the reins
and steer" How changed were the duties of
these stage drivers From this being the poorest
and hardest route, it had come to be the
easiest and best. Before. the custom was to keep
su oil lamp burning all night. and the driver had
to sleep with one eye open, so as to be awake and
i NJ. a..
horses, or looking up passengers; this was all
done by persons selected for the purpose. An
alarm clock would arouse the sleeping driver, he
would arise, prepare himself for breakfast. and
then step aboard the elegsn, coach that was sll
ready for a start at the door. No more going up
and down the streets of Bangor or Augusta, look
ing up passengers, with icicles banging at the
ears and chin. They only wsn'ed nine hours
with that sort of team to make the trip easily.
1t was q pleasure to drive new, In Comparison
with the old times Of worn out teams and bard
ship past enduring.
The land speculation of 1885 36 was a great
event in the lives of these drivers. They are
sure that men never made fortunes rapidly as
then. Spccul uors who held eastern lands would
misrepresent their value, get up running bids,
and hundreds of spectators would come down
from Boston and elsewhere; some of them re-
turning perfectly "sold;" but it made an i'm
mense business for the stage folks. The late Jo-
seph Eaton of Winsow, was in the speculation
and made a good deal of money, At one time be
paid the stage company $50 to get him into Au
gusta at q stated time. The best horses were put
to the task and it was accomplished within the
given period, Hamlen holding the reins. Some
times when such job was accomplished the
agent would say to the driver, "You have spoilt
this team But then the job that was undertak-
en had been accomplished. well known indv d.
ual, known as "No. 6 Smith" THAT name being
given him because he owned NJ. 6, Piantation)
was a conspicuous figure in the land speculations
At one time the idea prevailed that he was bank
rupt. A large tract of State timber lands was to
be sold by auction. No. 6 was conspicuous among
the other bidders. A knowing wink was passed
around among the other bidders, as much as to
saw "let the lands be knocked down to No. 6.
aud then as he cannot raise the money, we'll
wade in and get them at discount"
So. sure enough, the lands all fell under the
hammer to No G, who very coolly and deliberate
ly took musiy wallet from his pocket, and
counted out sepeHfy HouS"fo "o1eu'S, 'he iui
amount of the purchase. Didn't those would-be
speculators have to "come down with the dosh" if
they got any of those acres! No. 6, at one time
advertised an entire township for sale, represent
ing that it was heavily tmbered, when in fact
there were but so acres in all. He asked the Bos-
ton gentlemen to come down and personally ex-
anime the land, offering to foot the bill of all
their expenses. This seemed fair enough, and
they accepted the proposition, and Smith kept
them for three days travelling over his fifty acres
Of wooded land, and they had idea that they
were wandering for miles aud miles, over q vast
township. While their attention was riveted to
the top of q tree, Smith would cause them 10 turn