cnistonca uomina - Old Fulton History

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STAGE COACH DAYS AT WARSAW (cont.)
October 1957
In 18I4.9 a stage left Warsaw on Tuesdays^, Thursdays and Saturdays
at noonj, arriving in Bergen In time for the six o'clock train going
easto It left Bergen upon the arrival of the morning trains returning
to Warsaw in time to connect with the Perry and Pike stages y
in the afternoon0 The fare to Bergen was $lo00 and from there to
Rochester by trains fifty-five cents0 The Western New-Yorker states
that the traveling public had better and cheaper accommodations by »
this line than by any other 1 eaving here for the railroad,, The fare
by the Attica route to Rochester was $1085 That stage met the same
train at Attica that the other met at Bergen,, In 1859 there was
still a thrice weekly mail route from Warsaw to East Aurora which
the government was threatening to cut to twice weekly to save expense
„ It was as late as 1878 that a tri-weekly mail route from
Warsaw to Arcade was discontinued and Arcade mail went to the county
seat via B uffalo„
Colorful Stage Coach Days
These four horse post-coaches were run on turnpikes and other
principal thoroughfares but the poor man's purse was too lean to
bear a draft of $25o00 for stagefare and meals from Buffalo to
Albany before competition caused a reduction in fares. Stage
traveling was also not always agreeable„ A full week was sometimes
too short for a passage from Albany„ Coaches sometimes stuck in the
mud and were gotten out with the help of the passengers and drivers;
in spite of due care at times they were unable to keep them right
side upc On some routes, it is said, there were three classes of
passengers?: First Class rode all the time; Second Class walked up
the hills; the Third Class not only walked up the hills but helped
get the coach out of the mud or the ditch. Taverns abounded throughout
the country, and averaged about one for every mile of highway.
Stage horns announcing from the East Hill the approach of the
coaches on their winding way down the steep descent, gave warning to
the hotel-keeper and the postmaster to prepare for their reception,,
Stage horns were heard for many years from all directions. Sometimes
the number of toots told the innkeeper how many guests to expect
o
The recent history of Arcade records how "a traveler in 3 809
wrote that his accommodations at the better taverns were two and six
pence per meal and one shilling for a bed. All the innkeepers associated
on an equality with their guests and little attention was
paid to the choice or taste of a guest9either in eating or in drinking.
Brandy of inferior quality, sometimes gin, beer, whiskey were
found everywhere. The common inn served rum. The bottles were set
out and one took what he pleased. Many salt provisions were on the
menu."
Miss Julia Putnam, a resident of Warsaw in these stage coach
days, and a teacher in the local schools, gives the following description
of a stage coach; "There was a tavern (here in Warsaw)
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