Old Coaching Days
ONES: Yes, the Dunstan road was bad by all accounts. Do you remember the time Jimmy Miles was driving, one night in a snow storm and a wheel came off; to make matters worse just ahead of him were seven drays with their teams at a standstill, They couldn’t find the right track. ROBINSON: And the lamps had to be taken from the coach and a search made in the dark for the road-and when it was found the passengers led the way with the lamps, the drays following. JONES: Did you ever manage: to get a box seat beside the driver? ROBINSON: Very seldom. A box seat was an honour indeed: gold couldn’t buy it. I remember a rather bumptious Minister of Mines once demanding the box seat as his right, but he didn’t get it. You see, it all depends on the driver’s favour.
JONES: And he’s not a man to be trifled with-in fact, I always feel somewhat in awe of him myself, with his velveteen coat and braided waistcoat. Seated on the box seat of the coach, hatted and gloved, he has a fine air of distinction. ROBINSON: Cobb & Co. have had a bit of competition in the coaching business at times,
haven’t they? JONES: Yes, and used all the wiles known to business to beat it. For instance, there was an opposition coach on the Dunedin-Tokomairiro run and so Cabbage-Tree Ned, driving for Cobb & Co., reduced the fare to half-a-crown a head until he had run the . opposition coach off the road, and then raised it again to £1.-("Background of New Zealand: Land Transport,’ 2YA August 5).
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 61, 23 August 1940, Page 6
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275Old Coaching Days New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 61, 23 August 1940, Page 6
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