Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1889-09-14
STAGING GONE 10 SMASH.
John Altman Says Ben Holiday Could
Not Tell a Horse from "a Mule.

John Altman Says Ben Holiday Could
Not Tell Horse from Mule.
"Staging has all gone 70 nothing in Cali
fornia, sid John Altman, the veteran stage
line owner, who has been in the business sine,
1857, TO a reporter recently 1T docsn'i
amount to anything. We'veal been thunpcd
and hammered back into the hills by the rail
roads until now there isn't q twenty mil,
stretch Of level staging In the state. us &
fact Our name is Dennis.
Here we began in the stage business away
back In the early days with more money thar
any Of the men who are NOW IN the big South
ern Pacific system, and What have we done
Why nothing, except % stick 70 III whil,
others projected railroads and ran us OF into
the hills There was a time when stage met
took pride in their business. They wert
bigger than anybody | reckon that was I
proper thing, too, for a mau doesn't amounl
to much who doesn't have good deal Of con
ddence in himself But now we're routed
horse foot and Dragon. and the railroad.
zilul the passengers
"Whnt has become Of the old stage mon
Very few Of them are alive now Old jim
Hayward Is one u them. He was presilen
Of the Old California Stage company. The
there is w I Hamilton, of Calaveras. an
Frank Chngge They aud myself are all tim
are left OF the old guard. Jim Burch we
lost on the steamer Central America Charlie
Green, Wash Montgomery and Warren Hal
diel a good while ago. Crnndall likewise.
and 50 did Morris Dooley and John Onion. q
stockton Charley Mclaughlin and Fishei
arc more Of the boys who have gone over
There aro few Of them left.
II was a heardess boy ID 81, when begai
running into Pstaluna from Cloverdale. NJ,
longest road is now l20 miles. Three or foul
years ago | was working between 600 and 90.
head Of horses on all my lines. Now | an
working less than 200. I'm letting the stag
ing run itself, while run couple of ranches
It's much the same with a few other stag,
men. For all this though, should say Their.
were some 5000 miles Of staging III California
You see, the state is very big, aud there j.
many line puts of from the railroad int
the mountains that we don't think about
mo, there are very few Concord coache,
any more They can't run very well ia thu
mountains for fear 81 tipping over, aud be
cause Of being hard to pull Lght spring
wagons arc used almost altogether now.
WAS / in the business when Ben Holla
day was at the head Of the Overland Stag,
companyl Certainly, but he didn't know
anything about staging. He was not a stag
man. He simply had his hand in the treas
ury, and he grouped about him a few dli
vers and Others and started in He couidn'
tell horse from mule except that the mul,
had longer ears than the horse
Yes; staging is taking a back seat Il
California progress, but don't regret il
Many Of the old stage men do. They hat
. see the old coaches RELOCATED and thi
railroads 60 ahead. ! don't. | say bring OF
the fleetest engines and the fiuest cars you'vl
got, and run them in every valley and higl
on every mountain. The fact is, I'd like t,
see perfect air ship and take a ride in tina
before die No; the old staging days wer,
good ones, but tho era Of railroads better, an,
If we get something better we can stand il
for nothing is too good for California. n-Sal
Francisco Examiner.