COBB AND CO. UNDER MR HUGH CRAIG.

Otago Witness, Issue 2288, 6 January 1898, Page 11

COBB AND CO. UNDER MR HUGH CRAIG.

A CHAT VPIIH THE PROPRIETOR.— THE LONGEST COACH ROUTE IN NEW ZEALAND.— COACHING IN THE OLD DAYS AND NOW.

(By Itineeant, iv the Mount Benger Mail.)

To the pttipatelic philosopher travel in eny shape is the attraction of his tzister.ee, as is the public platfoim to tbe politician or, mayhap, "the burning question of bLe hour" to the editor. Thus it wa3, Mr Editor, that meeting Mr Hugh Crbig, the genial proprietor of Cobb and Co., it cccurrcd to me that to beguile him into an interview would fee not only a phasure, but also a metitcrious action in the interests of ycur reader?. When I had disclosed my gome■whab harmless conspiracy to that gentleman he evinced that dislike to publicity which, to a pressman, is so unaccountable, tLough il is shared by many men ot' othtrwiee estimable character ; but after persuasion he consented to give me some reminiscences of old coaching dsye, and that point gained, hia cordiality aisscrted itsplf, and he placed himself at my disposal for the srul-haiaesing purposes of an interview.

A PERSONAL SKETCH

Born at Riccarton, Ayrshire, Scotland, Mr Craig came to the colony with hU parent? as a lad of 13 or 14 years of age, and From bis youth upwards his love of horses led his icch'nation in the direction of his present line of life. When only 15 5 ears oM he went into theemploy of Cobb and Co., in Otago, then under the proprietary of Messrs Lee, Cole, and Hoyt (afterw&rdri H Hojt acd Co.). Sutsequently Mr John Ch.^plin became one of the proprietors, and with him was as sociAbed Mr Job Wain, well known since in connection with Wain's Hotel, Dunedin. Mr Craig worked on through all changes in the management till '68, wben he took over the business himself and btcama the principal in the present firm. He went through every grade in the employ — from the lowest rupg of tfce ladder to the highest— a facb that no doubt scaouatr, for his invariably successful mr_n?.g,emeni and for ihe perfect coach system he Las devi=Pil, than which there is none more so in the colony, CJRAIO ASD CO '5 LINK OF KOYAL jrilt, COACHFS.

The coach rcute through the goldfielda is far the mesfc est;-n«ve under aisy single propnttary in N«w Zealand, covering, as is <tees, a toi-al mileage of neatly 300 miles. At present the run io frotn Liwveuce to Qu^enetown (137 miles), brar.--hij3ff off at Cromwell to Pembroke via Hswea (40a3i1-=a), Quetnstown to Pembroke via, Crown P»a.njje and Cajdrona (40 mile.--), and K'ikonga to N*3eby, Blacks! one Hill, St. BilbanH, C.'tnbriap, Ophir, Alexandra, and Clyde (80 rxiilc-). Of ccu>-te the railway ia Rivdui-lly et'croaching on the ooaoh line, and lasfcyeiribtt Use wag lessecol fo-oai Hyde !o Kckongs. This year Me Csraig expects to lose another 15 'Biles on the sam» rt-ute.

A BIG BU^INJJSS.

Nevertheless the firm have, *nd will etilt have for ininy ypars to wra: v , an exbensive business to look after. When it is stated that besides this long Hue of caches to manage the company also do the m*> ju- portion of the livery stable business throughout the goldfuWs some idea will be grasped of the f xtenb of their operations. To maintain U)a business (fficientlya permanent stud of 150 horso is ket-t, the coaches alouo rpquiiiag 70 horses every day, there being no Je s than nine stages, with, of course, an fqual number of drivers and coaches. The quality cf the stud scarcely needs mention, as they aye a pource of admiration to sll who have travtlled on any of Craig and Ca.'s routes, and, indeed, finer horaes caanob bo got, or Me Craig would have them, a facb that is also proved by the splendid punctu&lity kepb up on all stages ovtr rcacJs that, in many cases, are heavy both winter and summer, and in no case are by any means easy or free from d'fficulties. To keep the stud up to this standard Mr Craig has an annual sale, when horses unfit for his work are disposed of ; while a good horse — or, for that matter, a siring of them — is never allowed to go past him.

OLD COACH EOUrR— THEN AND NOW.

During the time of the Hoyt-Chaplin regime the coach route to the goidflelds was quite different from the present, and Mr Craig has many expeiiences at tho=,e daya to le'ate. The line ran from Dunedin to Clyde via Palaiefsion and Pigrcoi-, and Dunediu to Lawrence, and the Et^te of the roadr-, I am informed, might be better imagined than described. Practically a driver bad to find his own road, and the greater part of the route was innocent of road metal — the name of Macadam being unknown in the land There were no bridges over either the Molyneux or K'Awarau, and culverts over creeks were unheard of. Mr Craig tells me that at that time he has had to cross the creek in the short distance between Evans Flab and the Big Hill (under three miles) no less than six times ; and the waggoners reckoned it a good day's travelling from the Beaumont to Rat's Junction. At that time the road from Roxburgh up-country was nob considered fib for waggon traffic. My informant has many anecdotes to tell of his vicissitudes a3 a whip — as, for instance, when he had an adventure which nearly cost him his life, being almoat frozen to death. He had started away from Clyde at 4o'clock in the morning with a bitterly severe froat on, and when a mile and a-half from K'.mp's Cape Broom Hotel, at Bald Hill Flat, he became unconscious, being literally frozen. Fortunately, the horses came on at a steady pace, and brought him safely into Bald Hill Flab. Here ib was soon seen that something was wrong, and ib was with the greatest difficulty that the reins wete taken from Mr Craw's bands. He

was taken inside and restorative measures applied, toid it was charaeterit-tic of the man that on his recovery he started away and took his conch to Lawrence; and an emergency occurring there he returned up-country soon after his arrival, being on the box in all 24 hours on thot occasion before he got a rest. "And," added Mr Craig-when telling me the story, "had I had another quarter of a mile to ge bsfore reaching Bald Hill Flat on lhat froef.y mo»ning I would have 'handed in my checks' for a certainty."

HANDLING TBE RIBBONS.

Mr Craig spealtß wiih jusMfiah'o pride of his driverfc, ail of whom are first-class wLipf, thorcijghly well up to their work. No more relinllo lot of men cc/uld be t'ouad, the secret piobably being that every ruau has goae through. al]a 1 ] departments frono the stables to the drivers box. Ia his experience he met with driver's of all sorts, v-.s for iu!*tftnce, Sfevsral who came from Australia at diff< rt-nt limes wife rauufc*tiorm that " Buffalo Bi!l" uiij,;at have envied ; but who, though disdainii'g any advieo from a mere New Ztra'audtr, succeeded in landing their coach in difnoaSfcieß daring tuo very first trip. Eonaa of them had sense enough to learn subsequently, but fcfce locally-trained men has yet to be beaten, and my informant says he is somewhat shy ot men with " uig reputations." Mr Craig 13 certainly an s.ufchority on driving, being himself one of the most experienced whips in the colony, and in all his j-'urneyinga he t; a never had a berious accident (and considering his many years' driving bat surprisingly few alight cues), nor have daiiwgea ever cost him a penny. S ; mil».ily with the drivers under his management, accident liavo been the exception, and when the peculiar aatu'e of the roads in partn of the route and the severity of the winter climate during some years ara considered th:s id a vtry high testimonial icdesd.

"WHIPS'' OV 'I'HC OCDKI7 'J'IMRS.

The golrli-ilds route Ins xrotn fcfa« earliest been prolific fn producing good drivers, fche names of naauy o£ whom aie since "Jatsic" ia the annals of the read. Many of sh'-in were supplitd to other Hots all over New Z&»luid f and not a few vere the sfcaTser.s of ctaer lines elsewhere in i/.-e fiolonr. To uieulica fclie nhines of a few rtealls a hoii of associations conaecLed with those bygoae fcirae?. Amongst the ficsfc vrete Nh»l Devino, who drove fs-oai Fttlaierston to Pigroofe ; Harry Noltlef urd (now in Duaediu) ; Rutherford, Sayei'fl, &nd Emmtrsrn (who went fr jsh Pigroofc to the Dunstau) J James M'lntoth, ihe pioneer of the line; Green and Cairaichael, oa the Duuediu-Milton poad ; Cook and Sutherland, on fcho PalrntrabonNj;cbj roari ; Torn Power, now ia Du-aed>ii ; Y'/UUg, Ktiox, and Crowlcy (notf stationed at Milburn). These are somo of the weil-krowu aaoces in i±ie old days, »nd others cqua'ly popi!a.o in their day were T».m Pope and Harry Yeend, on the Lawrence-Miiton route, Birmhighara (who is now in large s l able3 in Melbourne), Belcher, &nd "B'ily" Lloyd a'so are recalled to aiiod, being' well known on the road between Milton and Baiclutha; and kiiaiHily famous as good drivers between Duziedin and Oam^ru Rutherford, Young 1 , "Jimmy" Dancan, Say era, and Go.'ldart (i he latter now being mice host of a hotel at Kurou). From Lawrence to Clyde (besides sonse ot' the other routes at various tinier) th<j besfc-reoiembered names, probably, are Hugh Craig, Tom Young, James M'lnsosb, Duff, Crawl^y, »nd Pope. Amongst the oldest hands fn the present employ a>e Beauforc arvrl "Bcb" Craig (Lawrence -Roxburgh line), Sutherland (Kokoiiga-St. B*than,.), and A. M'Donald (Roxburgh-Clyde) — all of vhrm, as well as bring fltst-rate whip?, aro universally popular aa genial and obliging drivers. Notable names amongst the old hands who 6t.irti.-d in other places were the Qa ; cks — Fiunk and G^org? — who started soina of the Auckland coach routes ; also C irber, who wetib with them, and v>as the first to run the Auckland-Drury road. Andrew Young, who afterwards started a large coach bu-iusrs iv the Wellington province, was another. Htnry also afterwards started a coach line in Wanganui. Ned Devine, I learn, was laiit heard of ia cotmectioa with a horse-training show in Australia. T. Pops now resides at Wethecstonea, ard Jack Cook is farming in Southland, while Harry Yeend was, when heard of last, training for the late Sir W. J. Clarke in Victoria. NOTABLE PASSENGERS. Observing to Mr Craig Un.t I noticed a report in the papers with regard to a projected driving fcour by the Governor through the gold fields, conducted by him, I inquired if he had before driven previous Governors. ( ' Yes,"' he saj s, " Sir James Ferguson, Sir George Bowen, and the Earl of O jslow are soma of them, besides many notabilities who were jusb touring the co'.ony." MR CRAIG AS A SPORTSMAN. Mr Craig's racing stud is one of tbe last subjects mentioned. Of course everyone knows the history of Euroclydon and his performances, and on asking why Mr Craig parted with him, he tells me his extensive business prevented him giving due attention to the horse. -Mr Craig has always taken a keen interest in sporb, his lova of which made him wish to keep a likely horse when he came across one. His reputation on the turf as one of the rao-t genuine sportsmen in the colony is public property Jong ago. He has not cleared out his racers altogether, I learn, as he sbill possesses the thoroughly honest performer Jans Byre, fcjho has recently been fctudded to Occident, and her owner hopes to get a likely colfe. Ls, Rose, a mare that took some good races ako, was formerly owned by Mr Craig. IN CONCLUSION. I will conclude with a remark or two abcub the machinery that works Mr Craig's large business. The whole bu*sineß3 ia managed from his office in Lawrence, Mr H. H. Leary, Mr Craig's accountant, keeping the company's extensive operations in working order. Mr Leary bap beea a number of years with Messrs Crate

and Co., and his uniform courtesy in unravel-* ling tbe maze of different routes aud rendering all aseiutance lo passengers has popularised tha service as well as making Mr Laary universally liked.