The Slower Road

Here’s the rest of the Rider & Driver news bit (from the March 19, 1898 issue) on coaching, continued from yesterday’s post:

Out Grafton way, near Worcester, Mass., the members of the Country Club are joining George Inches in a plan to run a coach this summer from the clubhouse along the glorious rolling roads of that district and into Worcester daily. If this becomes a fact, it will do much to revive interest in the sport of coaching throughout that region, the residents of which won’t need much encouraging to bring out their teams and make the hillsides ring with the sound of the tootling throughout the entire season. Beverley Farms, of course, is to have its coaching parties as of yore, and so will Dedham and Myopia, so that not counting other routes already being laid out, Massachusetts will be well taken care of by those who delight in “tooling” four horses to a smart drag. — Commercial Advertiser

The Rider & Driver is inclined to believe the foregoing rather speculative and premature. We should be most pleased, however, to hear of its realization.

Mr. Guy Ward, formerly of Troop A, now Squadron A, one of the best of all-around horsemen, will put a coach on the road between the South Side Club and Babylon, L.I., beginning the first day of May. The distance will be about 15 miles. Residents near the Club and along the route will be picked up in time for the morning express train for town and met and set down again on their return in the evening. Mr. Ward says: “The coach will run rain or shine, hail or blizzard, and anybody who has the fare will be welcome to ride. And I’m going to have on the placards,” continued he, with characteristic good humor, “a notice to passengers not to forget to tip the coachman. I’ll take anything they gim’me.” Mr. Ward stands about six feet one, in his stockings, tips the scales at 220 pounds, has a back as broad as a barn, a hand like the Hand of Providence, and being young and agile, might well tackle a bull and come out the victor. Although not exactly pertinent to coaching, it may be of interest to mention that when Attila, the professional strong man, was giving one of his exhibitions at Bay Shore last summer, Mr. Ward, on a wager made by a friend, not only lifted Attila’s heaviest two-hand dumbbell, weighing 320 pounds, but elevated it above his head four times in succession.

I found this interesting entry in the March 19, 1898, issue of Rider & Driver:

The four-horse coach Pioneer will start from the Holland house, 5th Avenue and 32nd Street [in New York City], on Monday, April 11, at 10 a.m., leaving Ardsley on return, at 3:15 p.m., and arriving at the Holland House at 6 p.m. The coach will make daily trips, Sundays excepted, until June 4. This coach stops to take up and set down passengers anywhere on the road except between the Holland House and 59th Street. The route will be via Fifth Avenue, Central Park, Harlem, Washington Bridge, King’s Bridge, Van Cortlandt, Yonkers, Hastings, and Dobb’s Ferry. Single trip $3, round trip $5. Box seat $1 extra each way. Passengers are cautioned to be on time.

The public four-horse coach Good Times will begin its regular trips between the Waldorf-Astoria, New York, entrance No 2, 34th Street, and Woodmansten Inn, Westchester, on Monday, April 4, at 10:30 a.m. sharp. The season will continue with daily runs, Sundays excepted, until June 25. Daily time table will be as follows:

Departure from Waldorf-Astoria, 10:30 a.m.; arrival Woodmansten Inn, 1:00 p.m.; departure Woodmansten Inn, 3:30 p.m.; arrival Waldord-Astoria, 5:30.

The route of the Good Times will be as follows: Going out, via Fifth Avenue to Central Park, to 72nd Street to Riverside Drive, with stop of five minutes at Grant’s Tomb, to Manhattanville, to St. Nicholas Avenue and Kingsbridge Road, across Washington Bridge to Bronx Park and Morris Park to Woodmansten. Returning, via Jerome (Central) Avenue, Macomb’s Dam Bridge (Central Avenue Bridge), 7th Avenue, and Central Park East Drive. The fares will be single outside $3, inside $2; round trip outside $5, inside $3.50; box seat $1 extra each way. The coach will stop to pick up and set down passengers en route. The guard will book parcels. Seats may be booked at the office of the Waldorf-Astoria. A special $1.50 coach luncheon will be served at the Woodmansten Inn. We are requested to announce the following nota bene — Coach starts on time.

Mayor Van Wyck and Hon. George C. Clausen have issued licenses for running the public stage coaches Pioneer and Good Times from the Holland House and Waldorf-Astoria, respectively, through New York and the parks to Ardsley Casino at Tarrytown-on-the-Hudson and Woodmansten Inn, Westchester.

… to be continued tomorrow …