Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 57, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 March 1919 — BEFORE THE AGE OF STEAM [ARTICLE]

BEFORE THE AGE OF STEAM

Reminiscence* of Time When the Stage Coach Waa Most Important Method of Travel, "It was a hill village on the stage road midway between - and . stage roads tn the year 1840 varied with the seasons from bad to worse. In the spring they were rivers of mud through which the Jaded horses dragged the coach wearily; tn the summer the passengers were choked with dust, aud In the autumn, by reason of the ruts and holes In tbe road, they were tossed about like dice in a box; In winter the roads were blocked with snow, but the stage, when there was a stage, always came into our village with a clatter of galloping horses and sounding horn, its round body, swung on leather straps, Jts gallant driver, Its four smoking horses and its merry horns were followed by shouting boys, who swung from the straps of the boot or fell off in a cloud of dust The stage driver was a personage in every village that depended on his arrival for the daily mall and the latest news from the outside world. He was gazed upon with awe by the children as a sort of hero of romance, who never worked, but drove galloping horses back and forth through a perpetual holiday. He was an expert with the reins whose reputation was counties wide. As he whirled up to the tavern porch, the leaders of his team, which. It was whispered, bad been sold to the stage company by the fanners because of their vicious tricks, walked around to the stable with drooping heads and into their familiar stalls as soon as their traces were unhooked, as inno-cent-looking as If they had never kicked a farmer’s boy or picked up a groom by the collar.” —William Henry Shelton in Century.