ended with considerable danger on the part of ladies. To
ride in one is to incur considerable fatigue, for they are as rough as an
old-fashioned country wagon. Unlike the European omnibuses, they have no
seats on top, but an adventurous passenger may, if he chooses, clamber up
over the side and seat himself by the Jehu in charge. From this lofty
perch he can enjoy the best view of the streets along the route of the
vehicle, and if the driver be inclined to loquacity, he may hear many a
curious tale to repay him for his extra exertion.

The stages, however, as inconvenient as they are, constitute the favorite
mode of conveyance for the better class of New Yorkers. The fare on
these lines is ten cents, and is sufficiently high to exclude from them
the rougher and dirtier portion of the community, and one meets with more
courtesy and good breeding here than in the street cars. They are
cleaner than the cars, and ladies are less liable to annoyance in them.
Like the cars, however, they are well patronized by the pickpockets.

The driver also acts as conductor. The fares are passed up to him
through a hole in the roof in the rear of his seat. The check-string
passes from the door through this hole, and rests under the driver's
foot. By pulling this string the passenger gives the signal to stop the
stage, and in order to distinguish between this and a signal to receive
the passenger's fare, a small gong, worked by means of a spring, is
fastened at the side of the hole. By striking this the passenger
attracts the driver's attention. A vigorous ringing of this gong by the
driver is a signal for passengers to hand up their fares.

All the stage routes lie along Broadway below Twenty-third street. They
begin at some of the various East River ferries, reach the great
thoroughfare as directly as possible, and leave it to the right and left
between Bleecker and Twenty-third streets, and pass thence to their
destinations in the upper part of the city. The principal lines pass
from Broadway into Madison, Fourth and Fifth avenues, and along their
upper portions traverse the best quarter of the city. As the stages
furnish the only conveyances on Broadway, they generally do well. The
flow and ebb of the great tide down and up the island in the morning and
evening crowd every vehicle, and during the remainder of the day, they
manage by the exertions of the drivers to keep comfortably full.

The stage drivers constitute a d