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Show FAST DRIVINC. A short time beforo I left Simla Barbfirii I cbtinccd to lake a lew hours' rkle on tbo ebiiie to a little town callod Eincon, wbero I spent sevuni! ibiys sboll-pilherinK. There wtis on the box besida iho driver another man, a driver of! duty a faw days ior a bunt and fishing frolic He amused mo very much by his storits. In speaking of this anticipated antici-pated fast railroad trip, he told mo , of a ride he once bad down the mountains. S.iiJ he: "If I do say it myaeif, I am known aa "THE FAi-TKST DRIVER IK CALU'OKSIA. Whenever they want fast driving they send for Charlie Crowel. I drove Bowm and Ricbarddon and all them fallows over the Sierras; but the t.ill-e.-1 time I irv. r made was when a wager of ten thousand dollars was pending between the old California stage company and tho Pioneer stage company. 1 drove for the California. 1'he track wad from Virginia city to San Francisco. Old Lent you known Lent ono of tho richest men in the si.'iln ttuin days well, lie telegiaplud me to drive him fiftj-miics fiftj-miics of the way. Smjm he: Have your horses and everything ready to I suit at a dash. Says lie: Get a good: ,.,,,i i 'ti,., kiii r i-,. IfiUJ, ...Hi X M I-nj HH. i Lent, you know; I knew what he meant by a gund ready; go 1 took a good dra! aboard, I wasn't drunk, an' I wasn't sober. I juat had enough to make me determine to win ttie job or go to tho devil. I strapped myself on the box and Lent and two oilier fellows jumped into the stage, and I laid my whip on. There- was six huise.j, us Cue Uesli as you ever seen. Tht m borsea was worth $10,-000. $10,-000. I just laid on the whip at every jump. I never look oil the whip during" tiie whole fifty miles. We was goin down tirade, down the Sierrus; the road was pretty rocky, and some times I didn't skip the chasms, a thousand iet dei-p, by more than two inches. It makes my flesh crawl now to think ol it, but then I was just nerved up to do anything, any-thing, and we come down that grade a thinking. I had sent word to Taylor (he is now the superintendent of the 'Coast line'), I sent word to him to bavo bis coach and horses roadv. nnd when hr sfrn nin a crim ing, if 1 couldn't pull up my horses to I follow right af'.er me down the road Oil I checked up. So Taylor, lie was all ready and he was to drive the next fifty miles, and he seen me a commin, and be said he thought of John Cilptn, and Jehu, and Bays he 'hell to blazes if I don't think Cliarlies mad,' says he 'them h-jrsis can't cheek up till they run into the Pacific ocean,' and be starts down the road and me alter him, and we run each other five miles beforo we could pull up and change passengers. I was black and blue all over, but I made nlty-tivo miles in four hours; the times' on record or I wouldn't tell it. That's the fastest time ever made with a stage coach. The California beat by one hour and twenty minutes fhe wh'ile diUt'.ce. Tne Pioneer ined on us in the '.-iy. Our company com-pany owned an o.-ian strainer, but she couldn't keep up with the hiub-prc-sure North river boat. t?he wasn't bui t for shallow water, but tor all that we lauded our p avengers. : in Frisco just an ln-ur aod twenty min'jtes before the uld Pioneer came steaming in. " 'Tne company gave me a fine go!d watch for thu driving 1 did that day.' S iv." Lent, says be, 'Charlie, you savul us,' e:tys he, 'and i'i;t says it.' S.iys lie, T , never trok inch a ride. Half the lime I didn't know win tlier I was in fr out ol the Ciiai'I, and I was bruised from bead to l.-ot lue jelly, but all tl.c lime says i to the oilier boys, 'Charlie knows what he's about.' :-3 he, 'lie's I be beat whip in these diin'e,' pays be. Win'iirvi r I mean bii.-MmFs, 1 send fur Cliirlie Cmwel, and he'd drive to tin- devil it I want him to.' " I T!ot." said Crowil, after a bit, "I wou'dn't t:ike that rule iignin for all the money in this state. 1 wonder I w.ii-u'l killed. 1 can't -ee what eavul niu. 1 w:i juL full (tiough to be a h, thal'r. tl.e truth of it; but for all that I got the gnltl watch, iuui a re-pnUtiou re-pnUtiou fur timing liiitcr ttinn tint licvd, and I havo pride enough nt to gu buek on my reaird. |