Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1880-08-26
The Western stage. Driver.

Ahk hkoRNhhA 4fftfAff y NhANNNld
III IS worth days Journey TO get
acquainted with the average Western
stage-driver, to listen 70 his stories and
observe his ways. Tie Is only pas
senger, is slang expression which |
sometimes hear used Ia the East 10 de-
scribe person who thinks he manages
some important eUterprise which is
really controlled by nther and more inn
portant men; but never appreciated
how forcible 1t was Until took my seat
on the box by the side Of q Western
stage-driver. The conductor of rail-
way train is the maii who comes along
through the car at Intervals aud punches
q peculiarly SHARP I1ltile Ia yoar ticket,
or tears of coupon as you approach
the end of a division. He waves his
hand or swings his lantern for the train
TO start. but the fact that he is the man
into whose hands we commit our lives,
the autocrat of the train, never occurs
10 me unless some accident happens
through his negligence.
The stage-driver Is the conductor, en-
gincer, fireman and brakeman; he is
the captain of the ship, its complement
OF officers and the crew, and when he
gathers up his lines, unwinds his whip
lash from its stock and "pulls out he
is the boss until he reaches the end
of his route His coach is not run by
telegraph; he does not wait at stations
for orders TO "go ahead;n he goes fast
or slow as he pleases. And tine stage
driver generally knows his own import
anee aud makes his passengers feel it.
III Ngr srof ON ia ,.sa~ -. r L l.
will crowd the journey full of interest
and pleasure, but II he conceives dis
like or contempt for you, the sooner
you get a seat inside the coach the bet
ter il will be for you.
A majority of the Western stage
drivers are middle-aged men Qess than
fifty, but they have lived hundred
years If time was only measured by the
experiences they have had. 1t is rare 10
meet one nowadays who did not drive
on the old overland route. and many of
them served their apprenticeshipsi in the
States east of the Missouri River before
that route was established. To hear
man whose hair has not begun to turn
gray tell of his adventures on the plains
and in the mountains before there was
a Pacific Railroad is 20 me almost like
listening to a soldier of the Revolution
describing the battle of Bunker Hill.si
One period seems little more remote
than the other to one who never saw
this country until he could come here by
rail, and to our children they will be
equally remote periods of the romantic
past.
! think l would know n Western
stage-driYer wherever / might see him
on the box. Though not uniformed,
there are certain peculiarities in the
way they wear their clothes that, though !
difficult to describe, are unmistakable. |
But there is more in the manner than |
IN the dress. They sit upon the box !
as though they were part of il, they
hold the reins in certain way, and |
the butt end of the long whip. when /
not in use, lies loosely between the |
thumb and forefnger of the right |
hand, while the top rests across the |
lines. If saw man who'was driving |
in this way take all the reins and the |
whip in his left hand when he came TO |
q level piece of road or q slight ascent, |
draw the end of his whip-lash tenderly |
through his right hand, aud then, by a |
continuation of the same motion, raise |
his hand very slowly as he let the snap
per drop, and taking his hat by the rim |
behind push it forward over his eyes, |
should be disappointed il, when asked |
him If he did not drive for Wells, Fargo |
Il Co. or Ben Holiday in olden times,
he did not reply: "You bet," OF II |
should remark -
These fellows are generally rough and |
profane, but they are men of undoubted |
nerve, brave as a lion and full of re- |
sources when in danger or difficulty. |
Toward ladies they are, almost without |
exception, | believe, polite and gallant. |
To their friends they are as true as |
steel, and there is sense of honor prey |
alent among them that makes them |
Trustworthy Il treat ev-
cry man white who treats me white,
and don't you forget it, )" said Prank
the driver with whom l rode to Silver |
Cliff the other day, in speaking of his
relations with his employers. "They |
always done what's right by me and |
cant kick" he added. And this was
said in way which showed that he
meant ii. Cor ~ Y Tribune.
Lovely WOman-Her Rights and Her
Wrongs