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Show I STAGE COACH j TALES By E. C. TAYLOR I Breaking Up a Whig Parade C !-:OIGE FISUER was one of the ' best known stage coach drivers on the old National pike in the lS-10's. He was noted for his manipulation manipu-lation of fiery steeds. There was a fractious team at Clays-ville. Clays-ville. Pa., that was the terror of all the drivers on that section of the road. It had "run off" once, killing one passenger and injuring several, on Caldwell's hill, seven miles west of Washington, Pa. Every driver who had been given the team had despaired of taming these fiery horses, so Fisher was sent for. He had been driving out of Washington, Washing-ton, Pa., and after taking charge of the team he soon had it under control. He drove it many years without an accident. Fisher was driving this team in 1S44, during the celebrated political contest between James K. Polk and Henry Clay, opposing candidates for the Presidency. Fisher was an ardent ar-dent supporter of Polk, and bitter In his enmity toward the Whigs. One day in 1844 there was a large mass meeting of Whigs in Washington, Washing-ton, Pa. An "extra" coach, specially chartered, passed over the road going west, with Fisher at the reins, going from Claysville to Roney's Point. There was a delay just beyond the state line of West Virginia. A delegation dele-gation of Whigs, flaunting banners and with music blaring, were en route from West Alexander to Washington to attend the mass meeting. On their return home in the evening, eve-ning, while they were parading along the National pike, with banners flying fly-ing and bands playing, they were overhauled by George Fisher and his coach. Fisher drove his teams, one of which was the famous "unbroken" span he had mastered years before, and his coach into the Whig procession proces-sion at several points. Buggies were damaged, carriages and light wagons broken, and several persons were injured. in-jured. Colin Wilson, a prominent citizen of Washington, Pa., was one of the injured. The town of Washington demanded de-manded that Fisher be held to account for his action, and the resultant investigation in-vestigation stirred that section of the country as nothing else had done for years. Fisher explained that the "bad" team he was driving became frightened fright-ened when it encountered the banners and the music. He claimed that the breaking up of the Whig procession was unintentional, was just an accident. ac-cident. The reputation of his team was well known, especially in the vicinity of Washington, Pa., and his explanation served as a plausible excuse. The fame of the team saved Fisher from prosecution and probable severe punishment. pun-ishment. But the Whigs of that neighborhood went to their graves solemnly believing be-lieving that Fisher did it on purpose. Fisher in later years would not discuss dis-cuss the incident, but he intimated to his many friends that the team must have known the paraders were Whigs, and had the same feeling toward them that he had. The same team, just before Fisher took the reins, had made a reputation as "killers." One man had been killed and several injured in a mad dash of the horses. A few days before Fisher took charge of the recalcitrant team, the horses dashed down the long hill from the locust tree at Caldwell's tavern, to Wickert's bridge. A Mr. Moses He never was identified identi-fied further was seriously injured ; the driver was severely hurt and three passengers were injured. Mr. Moses, a Kentucky merchant, suffered a badly crushed leg. He died two days later in the hospital at Washington, Ta. The driver of the stage coach was so seriously injured that he did not recover until the next spring. He spent the winter recuperating at the Caldwell tavern. The other passengers in the coach were not injured. ((c). 19S1. Western Newspaper Union.) |