COBB AND CO.

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 December 1925, Page 3

COBB AND CO.

NOW, BUT A MEMORY.

Alas for the days of Cobb and Co. I Gone are the dasning, swinging, red- ■ bodied coaches that used to bring the , mails and a vivid rush of'life at intervals into .the township settlements of j the country. Steam and motor spirit ' have won out in the long race of half L a century against the gallant efforts of willing horse-flesh. Tne daily appear- ’ ance of wheeled machines running over specially prepared ways, with calcul- ( ated and controlled speed, in smooth comfort, to an assured time-table is' ’ progress without a doubt. But these ! machines do not fire the blood nor 1 grip the imagination as did the twiceweekly dashes of the old mail coaches, ’ swinging spectacularly over primitive 1 roads that bristled with natural hazards, the equipage rumbling and bumping along to tne drag of mettlesome horses cutspread in half-leashed, driven fury, says the Auckland ' “Star.” “Royal mail! Royal mail!” How tlie glorious old bluff used to grab the right of way with superb arrogance, crowding-off, dusting and splashing mere plebeians on the . King's highway ! On it dashed, the splendid old road nog. It was the moving picture of the eighties; flying hoofs and tossing manes, jingling harness, the swaying, creaking coach with redpainted body and flaunting yellowlettered insignia, the bobbing passengers atop, dominated by the hardbitten, capable uncrowned king enthroned at the starboard corner and •working wonders of dexterity with lash, ribbons and voice. Individuality oczed from team, driver and coach, and bubbled up incessantly from the passengers pent in cramped discomfort through all kinds of hazards. Every trip was a tale rich in human ’interest, and varied by thrills and sometimes spills. The identity of the original Cobb and Co. appears to be shrouded in mystery. “Ail American firm that perpetrated its atrocities chiefly in Australia and New Zealand,” was the answ’er given by one man who had had a deal of travelling experience in both countries, and apparently had painful recollections. It appears to be generally accepted that the firm was one of some standing in America in the old days of the “roaring forties,” and that men - who had been drivers for Cobb in the States started coach services in Australia for themselves, but used the old name “Cobb and Co.” on account of its familiarity to the gold miners, who formed the bulk of the then population. There may also be something in the fact that the style and coach adopted was that first used by Cobb and Co. —a small front boot, limited inside seats, and chief passenger room on top, with heavy springs reinforcing a strapslung body. Maybe the slinging of the body in straps was the ’sign of royalty, to denote the carriage of the mails,' for the original State coaches ot Britain were strap-slung, without springs. Be that as it may, it seemed to be the tradition and policy of the firm that Cobb and Co. “followed the gold.” The firm apparently came into being in California, on the trails of the old gold-rushes. Whether- the original, firm ever operated in Australia or not cannot be determined, but the recollections of those who have been questioned encourage the belief that the Cobb and Co. lines in Australia were private ventures by ex-Ameri-cans and saw profit in passenger transport to the various gold diggings, with the result that, the old name became a household word throughout the Australian States- Certain it is that the original firm was never in New Zealand, but various Cobb drivers from Australia started up passenger transport lines to the South Island gold diggings, retaining the old name, and others followed suit in the North Island. So far as can be ascertained, the first Cobb line in Auckland province was established between Auckland and Onehunga by Ned Carter, a driver from Australia, and this was extended later to the Thames. The names of Cook and Hardington became later associated with the Cobb and Co. service in Auckland, and the stables of the line were on the site now occupied by John Court, Ltd., in Queen Street. Cobb and Co. coaches have entirely faded from view in this province, and probably the last important line of 1 Cobb coaches in New Zealand was running through the Otira Gorge from Canterbury to the West Coast. It ’ lost its natural usefulness with the completion of the railway from Christchurch to Greymouth only a year or two ago. That Cobb line was started in 1865 by a Mr. le Cole, but wa«s acquired in 1873 by Cassidy and Co-, who still have the coaches running occasionally through the Gorge. In Otago the Cobb coaches were run from Gabriel’s Gully (now Lawrence) to Arrowtown, and thence along the famous Skippers Road to> Queenstown. It was on the latter road, with cliffs on one side and precipice on the other that the Cobb coach, dashing downhill round a corner was faced by a traction engine drawing a wagon of wool bales. There was not a chance of pulling up the team, nor space for the two' vehicles to more than inch their way past ' each other, and the dare-devil driver took his only chance. Lashing the ’ team to a smooth gallop he swerved past the traction engine with two • wheels on the road and two over the ’ precipice, to swing the coach back to safety before it lost its balance past recovery. There is a tale about a similar piece of road at the Devil’s r Bend in the Otira Gorge, to the effect r that the driver over-balanced and fell t from the coach going round the Bend. J and the unguided horses proceeded on I their way, taking coach, and paralysed b passengers safely to the next station - ten miles away. Picturesque tales- of 1 dare-devilry and wonderful dexterity , bj- the Cobb drivers, and extraordin--1 ary sagacity of the teams, are still y told in all parts of Australia and New Zealand, but Cobb and Co. are now e but a memory of premacadam days.