The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1879-12-26
California Drivers.

The California rspchmen have wonder
ful aptitude for driving, and one Sees some
pretty good examples among the hills The
road down the mountain sides is entirely
usgraded upon the outer edge, and the de-
scent in most places is precipitous- A balky
horse or fractured wheel, or slight care
lessness in handling the reins, might easily
send the carriage load of people to destruc-
tion-and an awful destruction too. The
path is wide enough for one pair of
wheels only, but, at intervals, in favorable
places, it broadens so that teams may pass
each other. To drive in such manner as
not TO meet another traveller midway be.
tween these places is special branch of
the art. The huge lumber teams which
carry wood from the mills in the mountains
to the yards in the valleys, being unwieldy
and very heavy, are especially hard to man
age. Yet the drivers always seem easy
and nonchalant. First there is large oak.
en- truck, with a seat in front ten feet aboye
the ground behind it is another truck,
somewhat shorter, but still enormously stout
These are fastened together and loaded with
from ten to fifteen freshly sawn tohs of lum.
ber-boards and joists. This mass is drawn
by six or eight mules or horses, guided by
reins and prodigiously long whip. The first
wagon has powerful break, worked by the
driver upon his seat The driver is man
of nerve and courage. His skill must be of
,l L.; "a ,.,, H., g. -.
to take fright even if in immediate danger,
and he must know to hairs breath where lie
can 60, and where he cannot. Towering up
far above the road, overlooking the most
stupendous depths, and guiding with few
slender lines a tremendous force, he must
needs be an adept and tireless one. But
beholder-ignorant of the danger that con-
stantly surrounds him-would say that his
work was simple, and that he managed mat
ters with ease. True he seems SO. With his
broard-brimed hat shading his suuburnt
face, his sinewy hands holding the reins
with caielessness, his legs out.stretched,
with one foot feeling the allimportant
break, he jogs onward with his monster
charge without trouble or concern the
bells upon the horses breasts jinglihg little
tune f; the great wheels crushing tue stones
in the path the load creaks like "a ships
hull in sudden gust wild birds sweep
down in into hazy, sunny depth below
yet the driver seems to take no heed. But
let scare take place let heard of cattle
appear at bend and set TIE hores
wild and then see what will happen
The day dreamer will become giant OF
strenth; he is up in flash; he shortens his
hold upon the reihs, and feeling his wagon
start beneath him, places foot of iron on
the brake. The horses snort and rear and
surge; the harness rattle, the dust arises, the
load sbrieks again, and the huge wheels
turn fatally faster and faster. An instant
may hurl the wagon down into the valley
with its struggling train-a mad rush to the
other side of the way may end all in one
horrible plunge. Muscle, eye, brain, skill
are then brought to work so splendidly
together that the peril is averted, and the
locker on, who knows not the way of the
land, regards the tesmster with profound re
spect tn ereafter.-,Sn Francisco Argus.