The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-04
AFTER 56 YEARS SERVICE.
NOT fl STAGE TRIP MISSED IN FOR-
 TY-THREE TEARS.

The Blizzard of 1888 Was the First In-
 terruptioA of the Old Line to Banks
 ville-Aged Driver Has n Proud Rec-
 ord, and Has Earned the Rest He
 Now Takes.
 Yesterday completed the fifty-fifth 1 year of service of Derby's stage line be-
 tween Banksville and Greenwich sta-
 tion, and the proprietor, Silas Derby
 after his daily trip yesterday, tied the
 familiar conveyance up for good, and | discontinued business. MT. Derby is
 now past eighty years old, and up to
 the time of the memorable blizzard of
 1888 proudly boasted that for forty-three
 years he had never missed a trip be- | tween Greenwich and his native ham, | let. He even attempted to make the trip during the blizzard, but became
 snow-bound at Stanwich, and suffered
 much from exposure for several hours
 before he was dug out of the huge bank.
 He was obliged to take rest of seve-
 ral weeks then, owing to a heavy cold which he contracted, but he was soon on
 the route again.
 The old stage line was established by
 Mr. Derby in the fall of 1S44, about the time of the opening of the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad through here. At that time Banksville was thriving business place, several shoe factories being in operation there, where many of the old settlers, now living in the northern sections of the towns of Greenwich and Stamford, and in and about North Castle, N. Y., found employment. MT. Derby was then a comparatively young man, and his dali ly trips to Greenwich village were like clockwork. His schedule time for leav- ing Banksville was a. m, arriving in Greenwich at S25 thus making the distance, eleven miles, through all kinds of weather, in less than an hour and half, and he rarely if ever, failed to connect with his train.
 For many years the line paid him we'll. Besides carrying passengers and freight, and filling the position of daily messenger to the Greenwich stores. he tdIliCQ liit ulsiiS pClNCCH loolih6NlilC and Greenwich. This latter hetted him fair sum until competition, brought about by the Star route system of rural mail delivery compelled him to give it up few years ago, a newcomer in the field from North Castle having taken the contract at a lower figure.
 Of late years the carrying of the mail was of great aid to him in continuing the stage line, as the busy Banksville of years ago had gone back, from a business standpoint; the shoe factories had discontinued operations and those of the neighborhood who had not fol- lowed the industry to other localities en- tered upon farm life
 The stage had been run, practically | at loss to the owner, for some time | past, but he was averse to giving it up, SO infatuated had he become with the daily routine for more than half cen- tury. Friends prevailed upon him within the past few weeks to discon- tinue the service. and now the famous line is a thing of the past
 MT. Derby is quite well-to-do, not his small income from the line for a few years back. and he in- tends to take matters easy in future. He enjoys the distinction of being one If the very few persons to secure free for himself on the New Haven road This privilege was ac- ,orded him by the railroad company at ts infancy, and to compensate him in a measure for the accommoda tions grant, d patrons of the road by his stage line During all these years he has taken ad- of this privilege but once or vice, and on one of these occasions a Boston limited express stopped and let linn off at Greenwich the train hands as much care as though he vas one of the railroad officials If Si- as Derby, of Banksville, should be aken with desire to board a train for Iew York or New Haven tomorrow, e will, no doubt, upon making himself nown, be accorded the same privilege s that of years ago.-Stamford Advo- ate.