These new Fifth Avenue stages were brightly painted: the
body of the coach was navy blue, the running gear white, striped with
red, and the lettering and decorations of gold. A strap which enabled
the driver to open and close the door without descending from his seat
was looked upon as an impressive innovation! Inside, there were oil
paintings on panels, small candles in glass boxes for illumination,
and straw on the floor to keep your feet warm. These luxuries
justified the high rate which was charged. The fare was ten cents!
In very heavy snowstorms the stages were apt to get stalled, so that a
few stage sleighs were run in midwinter, but only in the city proper.
Their farthest uptown terminal was at Fourteenth Street, so they were
not much help to suburbanites!
No single article, or chapter, can even attempt to encompass the
complete story of Washington Square. Covering the entire period of the
city's history, passing through startling changes and transformations,
the scene of great happenings, the background of illustrious or
curious lives,--it is probably more typical of the vertiginous
development of New York than any single section.
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