Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-03-10


ance Now millionaire, solely for amusc-
ment, will run coach from some hotel,
over hard, smooth roads, for distance
OF ten or fifteen miles into the country,
for the benefit of n select fashionable
circle, who are properly "booked" before
hand. IL may seem singular to those
who arc not vcrsed In the cxpedicpts of
people with abundant wealth and nothing
to do to pass the time that any man
should voluntarily furnish coach and
horses, to hire seats to his friends and
drive them himself. But such is tho case,
aud now almost every large city in the
United States has its coaching club, with
some ono Of its members during the senson
10 play the part of driver. These gentle
mon are usually successful In initiating
the coachmen Of the last century in one
rarticular-in resorting to the warming
cup after handling the whip.
There is little village In Hungary
called Noes which IL supposed to be the
birthplace Of and to have given its name
10 tho coach. The Hungarian coach Is a
kocsi, the French cocha--our word coach
being derived from France, where car
riuges were used after they had sprung up
in Germany. The slow growth of the
vehicle from the Fourteenth century to
the time 1t became u public conveyance in
common use, or when it gave place to tho
railroad, is only on par with tho long
tInc required to develop any method for
facilitating communication in those slow
times. 1t is probable that the state of the
rolds had good deal to do with the back
wardness OF the people In developing the
coach. The highways were the only ave-
nues by which passengers and inerchan-
disc could be transported from ono place
to another. A highway is n fine sounding
name, but in early days it was simply q
way for passage over the ordinary ground,
with deep ruts and precipitous descents;
IN fact, it was hardly equal to an ordinary
dirt road of the present day. At night it
was difficult to keep in the road from its
being darkened by the inclosing
heath and fen on both sides. The
consequence was that travellers frc-
G0cntly lost their way between the towns.
1t j. singular TO MS of the present day to
think of u travelling coach being off the
road within n short distance of London,
an'l the co,cbman unable to find his way
b'ck to it, the passengers every moment
c,:~ccting the genflemanly highwayman
of tho period. Then there were terrible
times when two vehicles met in portion
of the road which was high and dry, with
quagmire on each side One Of the
methods of settling the right of way was
for the drivers to get down and have II out
with the knuckles 1t was common
occurrence for n team to get stuck, and
for the coachman to call in tho assistance
of u yoke of oxen before he could be cx-
tricated. One important dignitary is re-
corded as being five hours going fourteen
miles. Between certain points where
the roads were especially hard to get over,
the coach was taken TO pieces and carried
from one point to the other. In winter
many OF the roads were for long while
iDpassable, and even in summer, so
great was the difficulty of transporta-
ton, that the farmer often allowed his
product to rot in the ground.
by the middle ofthc Eighteenth century
the stage coach between London and Bir-
mingham traversed the route, 116 miles,
In three days, a distance that has been
passed by u railroad train in less than
two hours. The first regular coach be-
tween London and Edinburgh was adver-
tised in 1875 us "a two end glass coach
machine hung on steel springs, exceeding
light and easy" 1t was to 60 through
in ten days i'm summer and twelve in win
ter, and the passengers were to stop over
Sunday on the way. During the latter
part of the last century the mail coach
came in, and was brought to great perfec
tion during tho early part of the next