The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-03-05
IN THE DAYS OF THE STAGES.
TEE OLD TIME YELLOW BIRDS, RED
BIRDS, AND WILDCATS.

How the People Travelled When B1eecker
Street and East broadway Were Up
TOwn-A Death Blow In - Single Day.
II will have to admit that your street cnrs
and your cable roads and your elevated rail-
| ways are infinitely In advance OF tho old stagcs
OF my day." he said but cannot SEQ them or
| ride in them without q certain feeling OF re-
| greet ! suppose this Is q sentimental weak
ness. But l suppose an old man may be par.
doned for reRretting the past especially that
part OF 1t with which ho was intimately con-
cerned in the prime Of his manhood. When
the stages went somehow felt rs IL tho best
Of my life was gone"
He sat In the pnrlor Of modest homo up
town. He was red-faced old fellow. with q
fringe OF white hair under his bald crown.
Those were good old days." he continued.
Rich people lived in Hester street. and East
Broadway was fashionable. The swels had
houses on Blocker street. and their wives and
daughters went down to Division and Cath
arine streets to do their shopping 1t will bs
difficult for you to realize how great a feature
the stages were. because the public convey
anccs to-day are merely an incident In n life so
much broader. faster. and fuller OF bust.
ness and amusement. Tho red birds
and the yellow BIRDS and the Wildcats
were familiar then. and tho stage
drivers wero unique features OF city life.
Broadway was tho great thoroughfare
for business. pleasure. and fashion. and
1t naturally became n Grent object with every
stage man to locate at least Il pnrt Of his route
there. Next to running exclusively IN and
down there the hes; business was in carrying
people from their homes to broadway and
back again. Tho franchises were SO nppor-
toned TINT number of lines from distant
rnn down to Bowling Green aud tho Battery.
thus Iva endless PROFESSIONS Of stages OF u
tinl"usy in tho central t thoroSs f ,OF eon
-, It was not until lS4O or thcreabouts. that
the free lance stages belonging to individual
form regular stage lines with set routes he
fore that timo the independent stages. known
travelled whore profit allied them. as cabs do
Wildcats Ss T 70
close o tho day to carry the Brokers s and Clerks
home. and ut that hour other parts OF the city
G, lack no Of e s9espt strse
Stages whose yesd Sy
front OF the thentres were overcrowded with
Wildcats long before the curtains drop,ned in
favorite localities became too brisk !or profits.
most OF the wildcats settled into more or less
REGULAR beats or routes, But it was not until u
IN and acquire franchises for certain specified
routes that the city was adequately staged
soil out. aud remained with us till tho street
ears car Mr iyngs always
Out sometimes ekcelIenl. ana pprpetuRlly get
ting into hot water for encroaching on other
peoples franchise rights.
y. One Of the most pornar OF the Broadway
lines in those days was known ms the Yellow
started from South Ferry and ran un Broad
Avenue ssee
The Empire line. which Francis, and James
street The stages made in Troy and had a
from south Ferryt41 Ninth street. and from
hs we're those S"O Of h saf KnoksF on
in blue., and covered with gold scroll. |
MS hfy were IS the ne
broadway went through all Kinds of changes :es
IN In the matter 81 payements, In the early days
S TEsS en9rmoas holoTi hnt IN VET
stages plunged with tremendous iolts.
inown n as hne Mfi bo
bodies OF red running gear. On, each side
was a painting Of a noted rae. horse OF tho
Known BY tho name Of tho ndiviisa pS Whose
picture it BORE The small boys at the street
these stSses rattle by. their drivers fully
stages. popularity known as the Amity street
line. wore also very gorgeous. They were a
sort OF cream white. with rcd letters. The
seats were Of red plush. They ran from Twen-
ty second street ut Seventh avenue to and
down Greenwich t,M aver avenue and into sixth avenue
Fulton Ferry; That WAS one Of tho best pny-
mt Ss s wish
in tho hall beside the Southern Hotel. on tho
corner Of Amity street and Broadway. thirty
stages We're loaded often there a night That
corner was always crowded with stages after
tho regular business hours Of the day, were
tho Tenderloin district Of those days.
From 40 to so the stage business -four
from day to day The city was growing then
and changing its character moro rapidly than
IL any, former ten years OF its history. Tho
stag" lines Increased in number with rapidly
men who controlle the bulk Of the bus mess
made fortunes which were considered large
!h"n. but would DO very moderate nowadays;
The regular fare, was g.. cents represented
tn osc DAYS; and known ms the, siXpenny
At the. time it met its death blow.
limos They were tho First. Second. Third;
day the stage business declined rapidly. and
IN n very short time was,a thing of tho past:
tim" after the E!rincipal north and south lines
r" I tho stages in JIroadwav AMI
Fifth avcnne. That, naturally. resulted in
Madison hvnnuo line. which disappeared only
VIII n Jake Shcrp ct hi. franchise for tho
street ear linc,on broadway and bought out
Nil the stages