The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-05-02
PROFITABLE STAGE LINES.
How the Companies Made Money in tn
DAYS That Are Past.

Days That Are Past.
"The stage coach days are about over
in Montana and Idaho," said S. f.
Shannon at the Tacoma last night.
with the extension of the North Pa
cific branch into Lewiston, Idaho, the
little stage line into that town will
have to give away. There are but three
stage lines left in Montana, and it is
only matter of time before they will
be gone. But those We're great days
when the great Gilman Salisbury lines
were operating in Montana" and Mr..
Shannon lapsed into silence a moment
as he thouht of the old days when he
was auditor of that line, stationed at
Helena.
With the stage coach lines from their
infancy to their days of power and then
with the railroad when it was finally
completed through to the Pacific, and
now in other business, to look back on
those earlier and at least equally hap
Ply days. has been Mr. Shannon's ex-
perience. He is intimately acquainted
with the heads of the Northern Pacific,
and was with that road long before the
present management came to the helm.
He is personal friend of the old-time
frontiersman, and withal a good bust
ness man of the later days
staging now is not what it was in
the early days." he continued. 1.-THE
trouble now is that whenever a stage
line begins to pay, a railroad is built,
and the stages have to move further
off into the newer sections of the coun-
try / took ride UP through Okanogan
county to the British Columbia line a
short time ago on the stages in opera
ton there, and it was one Of the worst
experiences / ever had. The stages are
little more than mere wagons-not the
easy going, six to twelve horse teamed,
luxurious coaches, with accommoda-
tons for any number up to thirty-six,
that we had In Montana. The roads
are bad, and one jolts along over the
trails expecting every minute that the
next will be his last, and he arrives at
his destination thoroughly exhausted.
but in the old days we had stages.
Equipment is the word for their furn-
ishings. They were as luxurious as it
was possible to make them. They rode
like rocking chairs. On our lines run
ming from Mandan to Missoula, and
from Corrinne over in Idaho to Helena,
by way of Deer Lodge, the coaches had
accommodations for eighteen, twenty
four and thirty-six, and were drawn
by teams of six to twelve horses. 1t
was matter Of get there" with them.
They had the mail contracts, and We're
receiving 1854 for every mile they car
ried 900 pounds of baggage and $3.50 for
each extra leo pounds They had a
monopoly of that traffic, and that is
what caused the star route investiga-
ton in 1884 The coaches could carry
1000 pounds of express and the same
amount of mail and baggage, besides
their passenger lists. They averaged s
1-3 miles over the entire distance, or 8
IL miles actual running time. This
was over mountains and plains and in
all kinds of weather. Our stages used
to leave Bozeman in the morning and
arrive in Helena, 9S miles away, in the
evening.
Montana was in it's stage lines Sec
ond only to California. There will new
err be another country such as those
two for stage lines. The roads We're
all good and hard through all kinds of
weather, and the horses could fairly fly
There was money in staging then. The
Gilman saulb1rv companv is said to
have made SIG oO0 600 ont of their stage
lines and T euess that 10 true. The