New-York tribune., 1902-01-12
STAGE COACH DAYSINWEST
GREAT COST OF TRAVELLING AT THE
RATE OF FOUR AND ONE-HALF
MILES AN HOUR.
From The Atchison Globe.


The stage line between Atchison and Placerville,
Cal, which daily coaches for about five years
coach business In equipment no similar line
could equal it. It was the greatest stage line on
In 166t-'65 it cost more for meals between Atchi-
with meals added The run from Atchison to Den
is now made in something like hfteen hours
one time fare from Atcnison 10 Denver was SIS.
the railroad fare at present is sl5 The quickest
Denver was four and half DAYS Ben Holiday.
from Pacerre Cal TO Atchison two thousand
miles. in twelve days and two hours beating the
Holiday 10000. but it a great advertisements
for his line, The stages. when crowded. carried
fifteen persons, besides great quantities of mail
One Of the coaches used on the Atchison-P1acer-
Washington After leaving Atchson 1t was OPP
times captured by Indians and outlaws Once
when captured by outlaws it carried $50 600 in gold
In this attack three guards were killed Buffalo
Biz heard that the old coach had been abandoned
Rd In Il it it T the In P2nce 4S Of
Wales and AL the notables Of Europe have H: eX-
1886 this famous old coach was exhibited with
the Wild West show at Concord; n. H, where it
coach factory gave the historic old stage a great
@ OF aas in is h bore one d
the old coaches is owned by j. Sterling Morton, at
where it is still in for ly-ho purposes
Including Atchison and Placerville there were
Gs13 niles The fare was s225 or about p cents
n
miles apart Some days 5000 was taken in at
the stage office in Atchison for fares alone Each
gage; each pound Of excess cost 81. which was the
price for CARRYING express. The fare to Denver
passenger. The stages were nearly always crowd
several DAYS at Atchison before they could be ac-
commodated. A minister once refused to travel on
Sunday ana abandoned his place. He did not get
this time he concluded that. under certain circum-
times passengers booked for a certain day sold out
for bonus of from 500 to $50 and waited for
The quickest route between New-York and San
The western terminus of the line was changed
from St Joseph TO Atchson completion OF the
Atchison was eight miles nearer Placerville than
81; Joseph The stage line ran little north Of
Marysvie. one hundred miles west thence con-
side OF the Little Blue and over the divide into
the Platte Valley; thence by way of Fort Kearney.
Plum Creek and Julesberg TO Denver. The road
between Atchison and Denver was in the form of
a crescent; - FaIons Bl4f was one hundred miles
of the line was between Atchson and Fort Kear-
a half miles an hour. night and daya including
stops. Occasionally the drivers would make fifteen
very fast The express messengers received $50 80
ride beside The dT{a @ ana were o4pehed 10
out rest, except as they could sleep while the
of nine days every three weeks on going to bed
after after trip they frequently slept, twenty-four
to SO a month and board on the main line there
were, -,'W norses ana mules and one hundred
coaches. The annual cost of operating the line
S2,425O00
The passengers nearly all men, and they
had hard time amusing themselves A gay party
OF eight once started from Atchison and they
sang for two days and nights, using rbald words
to old church tunes. Finally man proposed
a collection With the money thus raised they
bought jug of whiskey at a station. Then there
were a spree and quarrelIing and poker playing
One man said he had been robbed by of the
players, and he insisted so strongly on a hght
that the stage was stopped and ring formed
Ihe two drunken men rushed at each other
bumped each other down and could not get up
The other men helped the fighters TO their feet
and the harmless battle renewed. Finally the
driver would wait no longer and the stage went
on. with the passengers quarrelling the inside
At last they engaged in a general fight and then
went off into q drunken sleep