The Lampasas Daily Leader (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 28, No. 160, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 9, 1931 Page: 2 of 4
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THE LAMPASAS LEADER
STAGE COACH
TALES
By EC.TAYLOR
The Idol of Stage Coach Days
ip EDDLNG BUNTING, “Red” to ev-
Av ei’yone, was- more widely known
and had more friends than any other
driver on the old National road. His
entire Service was the “Old Line,” the
National Road Stage company that
did the largest share of the business
along the famous highway of a cen-
tury ago.
“Red” Bunting was G feet 3 inches
tail in his stocking feet, and was
straight as an arrow. He was of a
reddish complexion, his features prom-
inent and striking, his voice deep and
sonorous. But he was not loquacious,
and had a habit of munching. He was
endowed with strong common sense—
the term “horse sense" originated
among the “Pike boys” of the National
road and was applied to him—and he
was affable, convivial and companion-
able.
This idol of boys and men alike
along the National road was born in
Fayette county, Pa. He was not only
a famous driver, but also was a trust-
ed stage agent, stage proprietor and
tavern keeper. He once owned the
Central hotel in Uniontown, Pa., and
probably would have died a rich man
had he not been a victim of despond-
ency and depression when the rail-
roads supplanted the old east-west
highway.
During the Presidency of Martin
Van Buren, it was deemed desirable
by the administration leaders in Wash-
ington that one of the President’s mes-
sages be spread speedily before the
people of the country. Arrangements
were made with the Stockton line to
carry the, message . westward, as the
Baltimore & Ohio railroad was not
then in operation west of Frederick,
Md.
Bunting, as agent for the stage
coach line, went to Frederick to re-
ceive the message and convey it to
Wheeling, w. Va. “Red” sat beside
the relay of drivers the entire dis-
tance, 222 miles, although he did not
handle the reins himself. The dis-
tance was covered in 23 hours and
30, minutes.
Changes of teams and drivers were
made at the usual relay stations. Jo-
seph Woolley drove the coach from
Farmington to Uniontown, making
sparks fly as the coach speeded down
the long western slope of Laurel hill.
Homer Westover drove from Union-
town to Brownsville, Pa., a distance
of 12 miles, in 44 minutes.
Mail coaches in those days carried
only three passengers. There was
spirited bidding for the privilege of
riding in the coaches directed by Bunt-
ing on this record ride. That was be-
fore they started. Two of the passen-
gers lasted as far as Uniontown, and
the third got but at Brownsville. That
speed in a lumbering stage gave them
too much of: a shaking up. It didn’t
disturb Bunting, at all.
This ride occurred before the tele-
graph wires extended west of Freder
Ick. The Pittsburgh Gazette had ar-
ranged to get an early copy of the
President’s message, and had agreed
to pay Robert L. Barry and Joseph P.
McClelland, employees of the National
Road Stage company, $50 for speedy
delivery of the message at their office
in Pittsburgh.
Brownsville was the distributing
point for the United. States mail at
the time, and Barry and McClelland
took the mail coach, the “Industry,”
famous along the route, at Uniontown
and rode to Brownsville on if, to ob-
tain the message afid convey it to.:the
Pittsburgh Gazette, •• ;• ' ■ .' ;
•When the mail was-.opened, -there
was no copy of. the message for the
Gazette, and : Barry. and McClelland
returned ■ home, disappointed, and the
Gazette had to wait for the next mail.
Jn 1846, after the railroad was com-
pleted tQ Cumberland, Md., “Red” Bunt-
ing . drove the great mail coach from
Cumberland to Wheeling that carried
the message of President Polk official-
ly proclaiming war with Mexico. He
left Cumberland at 2 a. m. and1 reached
Uniontown at 8 a. m. He breakfasted
there with the passengers at his own
hotel—he owned the National house
at the time—and then started off
again. He reached Washington, Pa.,
at 11 a. ra., and Wheeling at 2 p. in.
He made the 131 miles in 12. hours.
“Red” Was a firm friend and staunch
admirer of Henry. Olay, “father” of
the National road, and Clay often
stopped for days at “Red’s” .hotel in
Uniontown. ./Bunting named one of hi?
sons after the great Kentuckian.
((3), 1331. Western Newscaner Union.) •
Jewish Surnames
The American Hebrew says that
Jewish surnames date only from 1812,
when Hardenburg, the Austrian, de-
vised a specious and Ingenious form
of tyranny by which to afflict the
Jews, Since they had never had sur-
names and had preferred to remain
without them In the thousands of
years of their existence, Hardenburg
saw a new mentis whereby to inflict
discomfort upon the Jews. In this
wholesale naming the two most com
mon sources of names were the Bible
and the occupation of the person.
Denote Time’s Travel
The letter “M” stands for Meridian,
the highest point attained by the sun
in its daily course; hence, noon, or
twelve o’clock daytime. A. M. stands
for ante-meridian, or before meridian,
which is morning, and P. M sf‘,r,,W
for post-meridian—that Is. ufni
meridian, or afternoon.
OUR COMIC SECTION
0
Events in the Lives of Little Men
0
%■
AT TWO SIMMON
(SS AND ‘'ll A HST?
OOST A KMNUVE
1AOTHEP.
r
(Copyright, W. N. U.)
THE FEATHERHEADS
And the Crowd Grew and Grew
FINNEY OF THE FORC
E
rv iuIiJUUt- "JXi
Far and Wide
1- 1 Ah' xn.vt-I \ 1
Almost Succeeded in
“Cheating the Hangman”
The phrase “Cheat the hangman”
appears to have had originally a posi-
tive significance rather than to have
been applied to the mere accident of
being cut down prematurely. In 1G9G
a man named Richard Johnson was
hanged at Shrewsbury. He hung for
half an hour and still showed signs of
life, so the hangman went up to see
what was the matter. Noticing two
hooks at the back of Johnson’s neck,
he took him down, pulled off his shirt,
and discovered that the hooks were
secured by a rope wound around and
under the culprit’s body, the whole
device taking the strain off his neck.
The ropes were cut off and he was put
up again, when the job was effectively
completed. Johnson had previously
applied to the undersheriff for the
privilege of being buried in his full
garb, and if he had concealed the
hooks properly and been more adept
in simulation he would no doubt have
lived to tell the tale. The records
convey the impression that tricks of
this kind were not new, and that the
hangman assumed a knowing or frank-
ly suspicious look when he went for-
ward to investigate. — Manchester
(Eng.) Guardian.
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Odd Pledges Accepted
by Spanish Pawnshop
Pawnshops are often amazingly in-
teresting places—especially when you
happen to be hard up. And the most
curious of all of them is probably one
in Barcelona, Spain, where birds and
animals are accepted as pledges.
Bears, camels, horses and dogs are
accepted by this unique “uncle” as a
matter of course. The chief patrons
are circus proprietors. One polar
bear who was handed, so to speak,
over the counter by his needy owner
proved to have an appetite more re-
markable than that of any small boy
at a Christmas party. His owner could
not redeem him, and other circus pro-
prietors who visited the shop in search
of four-footed “turns” were apparent-
ly aware of his fame as an eater, for
no purchaser could be found for him.
At last he had to be killed, lest his
food bill ruin the business. A wom-
an snake charmer recently gave into
the care of ‘uncle” a collection of per-
forming snakes! She needed money
to return to her native country. A
few months later, however, she suc-
ceeded in redeeming her pets froia
their temporary home.
Tourists for 300 Years
Delft in the Eighteenth century
Was celebrated for its pottery and por-
celain—this repute has gone, although
there is a modern cheaper Delft ware
which gets some honor from the past.
The modern tourist hardly notices it
when he finds this really delightful
old Dutch city. He is more apt to be
led by his guide to see the Prinsenhof
on the Oude Delft, where the great
William of Orange was killed in 1584,
by his murderer Gerhard, or to see
the tomb of Admiral Tromp in the
Oude Kerk, for he was the victor of
32 naval battles, including the defeat
of the English fleet. Grotius, the first
International lawyer, also lies here.
The Dutch consider it one of their
most interesting places and for 300
years it has received tourists whe
praise it.
Not by Bread Alone
Man cannot live by bread alone. He
hungers and thirsts after knowledge.
He pushes the boundaries of his
mind’s dominion to the frontiers of
the cosmos. The distances between
the stars exist in his mental measure-
ments. Can one imagine physical air
waves accidentally falling together
into Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony,” or
physical type fortuitously arranging
itself into Shelley’s “Ode to the West
Wind,” or stones carving themselves
and falling together into the cathe-
dral of Amiens? There is a plus qual-
ity in such things that overpasses all
materialistic needs and that material-
ism never can explain.—Harry Emeiy
son Fosdick.
Divisions of Orient
Japan, China and the other coun-
tries on or near the eastern coast of
Asia comprise the geographical region
known as the Far East. “The Orient”
is a more general term and includes
all countries in Asia east of the Medi-
terranean. “Near East” is applied to
Turkey in Europe, Asia Minor, Ar-
menia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Persia,
Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Arabia
and Egypt. Thus it will be seen that
the Near East and the Far East in a
general way consist of divisions of the
Orient.
Ancient Rhodesian Foundry
An ancient iron foundry, buried six
feet in a cavern, has been dug up by
the Italian expedition which is search-
ing for traces of prehistoric man near
the Livingstone rocks in Rhodesia.
Here 3,000 or 4,000 years ago a su-
perior, intellectual race smelted iron
by primitive methods, such as are now
known to the Bantu people. The dis-
covery Indicates the great age of the
Zimbabwe and other Rhodesian stone
ruins, and throws new light on the his-
tory of metallurgy.
Pretty Tribute
“I have three grandmothers,” said
little Evelyn White to her mother.
“How do you make that out?” asked
Mrs. White.
“Grandmother Leach, Grandmother
White, and you certainly are a grand
mother,” replied Evelyn.—Chicago
Tribune.
Tenderfoot Showed
Them Something
By JACK WOODFORD
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(© by McClure Newspaper Syndicate.)
(WNU Service.)
TT WAS in New York that Marvin
A first met Eulalia. He had never seen
a girl like her before. He couldn’t
imagine, at first, what it was about
her that was so strangely different.
She was not palely beautiful, as
most of the girls he knew were—like
hot house flowers. She was ruddily,
healthily beautiful. Her lithe, slim fig-
ure had a brisk swing to it as she
walked. Her hair seemed to have
been dyed by the sheer gold of sun-
light itself. Her teeth were perfectly
matched pearls. She was so pretty
she made him gasp. And then meet-
ing her, dancing with her, taking her
to a show or two, he began to under-
stand.
She was a girl from the “wide open
spaces,” such as he had never seen
before. That strength and power in
her lovely, bright eyes came, doubtless,
from looking along wide vistas; that
glow in her cheeks was from early
morning rides over her father’s ranch.
Marvin fell madly, desperately in love;
so much so, in fact, that he followed
Eulalia back to Arizona, to be near
her.
Eulalia’s father welcomed him, but
just a bit derisively, until he learned
that Marvin could ride. Then he pro-
vided him with a horse, and they all
got ready to start out together.
Eulalia’s father’s foreman was to
ride with them over the range. The
foreman was a husky, roughly hand-
some man that Marvin could see was
in love with Eulalia; Eulalia, Marvin
noticed, viewed the foreman with at'
least admiration, perhaps for his
rugged manliness. Marvin had to ad-
mit that he didn’t cut much of a figure
in the ranch picture.
Trouble started as soon as Marvin
mounted his horse. He had never felt
such horse muscles under him before;
the horses he had ridden through Cen-
tral park were, he realized now, al-
most toy mounts as compared with
this one.
The horse reared. Marvin fell back-
ward sprawled in the dust. The fore-
man and Eulalia and her father were
most solicitous; but he could see the
glint of contemptuous amusement in
their eyes when they glanced at
Eulalia; the glances seemed to say:
“Is this supposed to be a man!”
And so it went, day after day. In
New York, Marvin remembered, he
had made some progress in Eulalia’s
affections; but here . . . her interest
In him seemed to be wavering. He
was heartbroken; for she was the one
girl for him, he knew. Not that she
actually was contemptuous of him
because he couldn’t ride horses, and
couldn’t get along in the ranch coun-
try _ . . but somehow because he did
not show up bravely, in juxtaposition
with her father and the foreman. At
last, desperate, he spoke to New York
over the long distance telephone. A
day and a half passed, and a buzzing
was heard over the ranch.
“That’s funny,’’.Eulalia’s father said,
“must be a mail plane off its route.”
“Not at all,” Marvin corrected;
“just my plane I had sent down.
Thought you’d all like a trip in the
air—that is,” he added pointedly, since
the foreman was present, “unless
you’re afraid. . . .” The foreman
turned visibly pale; Eulalia’s father
looked startled; but he frowned. Eula-
lia was ecstatic. She said:
“A ride in a plane! Marvelous. And
of course Don and Dad aren’t afraid;
they’ve both often admitted to me that
there isn’t anything in the world
they’re afraid of.” After that, there
was no question about the ride being a
foursome.
It was mean, Marvin had to admit,
to turn tail spins and do barrel rolls;
but, after all, they had deliberately
provided him with an almost unride-
able horse. At the end of the ride
Don and Dad were wrecks!
“Never again!” Don swore, trying
to make his legs behave so he could
walk away from the plane as fast as
possible.
“I’m too old to learn new tricks
like that,” Eulalia’s father declared
without reservations; “though I envy
you youngsters growing up in this gen-
eration.”
It was as they walked after supper,
with the chromatic tints of the sun-
set’s afterglow painting the raw land
in pagan colors, that Marvin said:
“Honey, I’m wild about ranch life.”
“And I’m crazy about city life,” she
admitted “though I sometimes thought
maybe city men were puny as com-
pared with western plains men. Butin-
as compared to running a plane, bust-
ing a broncho is child’s play.”
“How about our incorporating,” he
suggested, “and spending our time
fifty-fifty, ranch and city?”
“A swell idea,” she echoed.
The man in the moon saw their em-
brace and approved, even if, in the
distance, a jackal did howl disap-
provingly.
St. Paul’* Age Unknown
The exact date of St. Paul’s birth
Is not known, but it is supposed to
have been between the years 5 and 10
of the Christian era. As it is believed
that Christ was born some four years
previous to the date from which we
count our years, it is to be supposed
that Paul was from nine to fourteen
years younger. Paul was born at Tar-
sus, in Asia Minor, but was sent to
Jerusalem to be educated. He was be-
headed at Rome in the year 67 or 68,
during one of the persecutions of the
Christians under Emperor Nero.
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The Lampasas Daily Leader (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 28, No. 160, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 9, 1931, newspaper, September 9, 1931; Lampasas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth905993/m1/2/: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Lampasas Public Library.