The Rathdrum tribune. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1903-1963, 1917-01-19
STACECOACH DAYS
Travel often Spelled Misery Be-
fore We Had Railways.
TALE OF A WINTER JOURNEY.

Discomforts and Hardships mat Hao
to Be Endured by tho Passengers In
an Old Style Trip Across the Allie
aheny Mountains In 1886.
How travelling is metamorphosed
these days, to be sure! Yet some men
fond of handling the ribbons and
some women who want to see the
scenery at their leisure" still regret
the spanking bays and rocking stage
coach Of the past"
Here is the way the Allegheny noun
tains were crossed In 1886:
ut was midwinter when we arrived
at Wheeling, and as the stagecoach
was to start at o'clock in the morn
ing no one thought of going to bed, SO
we took our way through the frozen
streets to secure through tickets to
Philadelphia. 1t was pitch dark and
bitter cold - the damp, penetrating
weather that reaches the very marrow
of our bones.
"The little den, called by courtesy
the office, was filled with passengers
rs damp, cold and i'll natured as our
selves. There was a handful of coal
burning in small CRATE, and around 1t
were grouped the round shouldered.
unsympatheti: people who were to be
our fellow passengers. They glanced
at us and closed up all the open space
near the fire, as IL to say: You don't
get in here, we can tell YOU You have
no right to travel in our coach, any
way!
"At one side stood a table, and on 1t
was a coffee pot and CUPS, some sau-
sages frozen stiff and an unattractive
loaf of bread. over which presided a
tall darby, who leaned against the wall
! fast asleep. We were told that we
could get good breakfast twenty
miles away from Wheeling.
"At the appointed time the heavy
old coach came up. and we all clam
bered In and slowed ourselves away
pell NELL A short way from town
there was long hill, up which the
horses toiled, so this gave us all time
to settle down for quiet nap. One
snore after another announced their
success; in few minutes six out of
the nine passengers were oblivious of
their misery.
mot being sleepy, studied'the snor-
ers. A large fat man opposite me had
short. angry snore. He .snored SO
loudly that he woke himself up and
glared about him impu6ently, as
though he hoped they wouldn't make
that noise again!
1.-THE old lady who was crushing me
up in the corner snored deeply and con
tentedly.
Some one off in dirk corner had a
genial way of joining i'll as though BIZ
snored merely to o1Dge the passen
gers; but the grand musician of Tho
company sat opposite me. | nevel
heard anything approaching him either
for quality or compass. 1t was a bacl
action snore that began i'll n bold agi
tato movement, suddenly brought vi
with jerk and ended with whistle
The whole band was in full pla,
when we stopped with tremendou
jerk, and everybody woke up with oath'
or 'Pshaws! over n bad jolt. The sum
nit gained, there was a sharp crack o
the whip, the horses started, and ev
erybody was jerked violently back
ward. Soon the chorus began agaiN
( however, and joined in till the coac
, came to full stop at the table wher
the horses were to be changed.
stiff and sleepy and cramped frou
sitting so long in one position, the SUI
now rose and came in at all sorte. o
= places, waking and binding every
body. What a discontinued lot w
werei And we all hated each other!
"At last, breakfast-ah, hot coffee
ham and eggs and buckwheat cakes
The meal was not half over before w
were n band of brothers. We could nc
do enough for each other. All was han
mony and peace"
Nor was that all. for they drove int
a severe mountain storm and intens
cold, darkness; the horses fell on tn
icy roads; the stage rocked wildly
the wind and nearly blew over. Twer
ty-four hours of this, driver froZe
stiff and assisted down from the bo,
We do 1t now In six hours in a con
} Portable bed, In warm, well lighte
car. Some modern imps" are might
good angels.
: Our chief loss has been the gres
cheerful, roaring open fires that peopl
had in those days. The domestic vi
tues began to decay when people wei
reduced to sitting around hole in tt
wall or a gloomy metal register. wit
out armchairs, stories, songs, gran,
parents and little children roasting a.
piles or popping eorn-friends and stral
gers dropping in and getting a war
welcome, a place in the circle an
what Spaniards call "the love of Il
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