istinct class in the metropolis, and
though they lead a hard and laborious life, their lot, as a general
thing, is much better than that of the car drivers. They suffer much
from exposure to the weather. In the summer they frequently fall victims
to sunstroke, and in the bitter winter weather they are sometimes
terribly frozen before reaching the end of their route, as they cannot
leave their boxes. In the summer they protect themselves from the rays
of the sun by means of huge umbrellas fastened to the roof of the coach,
and in the winter they encase themselves in a multitude of wraps and
comforters, and present a rather ludicrous appearance. They are obliged
to exercise considerable skill in driving along Broadway, for the dense
throng in the street renders the occurrence of an accident always
probable, and Jehu has a holy horror of falling into the hands of the
police. Riding with one of them one day, I asked if he could tell me why
it was that the policemen on duty on the street were never run over or
injured in trying to clear the thoroughfare of its frequent "blocks" of
vehicles?

"There'll never be one of them hurt by a driver accustomed to the street,
sir," said he, dryly; "I'd rather run over the richest man in New York.
Why, the police would fix you quick enough if you'd run a-foul of them.
It would be a month or two on the Island, and that's what none of us
fancy."

It requires more skill to carry a stage safely through Broadway than to
drive a horse car, and consequently good stage-drivers are always in
demand, and can command better wages and more privileges than the latter.
They are allowed the greater part of Saturday, or some other day in the
week, and as the stages are not run on Sunday, that day is a season of
rest with them.

Like the street car conductors, they are given to the practice of
"knocking down," and it is said appropriate very much more of their
employers' money than the former. They defend the practice with a
variety of arguments, and assert that it is really to their employers'
interests for them to keep back a part of the earnings of the day, since
in order to cover up their peculations, they must exert themselves to
pick up as many fares as possible. "It's a fact, sir," said one of them
to the writer, "that them as makes the most for themselves, makes the
biggest returns to the office."

Many of the drivers are very communicative on the subjects of their
profession, and not