Mr. Jabez W. Peterson, 75 years old in 1954, was the driver of this barge from 1908 to 1918 when it carried passengers to the Brant Rock Beach section from the Marshfield, Massachusetts depot. The barge was built in Concord, New Hampshire by the Abbot-Downing Company and was one of 6 or 8 that regularly plied the beach circuit. Baggage was carried free, and the income from this barge, according to Mr. Peterson amounted to $1,000 in one month at 35¢ fares. Three or four trips were made every day, including Sunday. Sam and John, Genevera and Pete, four sorrel horses with white manes and tails, pulled the LADY OXFORD. “I drove that barge in all the parades,” said Mr. Peterson, “and carried the bands, Grand Army men, etc. All these older men have passed on, and I believe I am the only one left that would remember about that barge.” [Illustration] SCHROON LAKE CONCORD COACH _Body painted yellow with orange trim. Interior is russet leather._ The Concord coaches have become a more familiar sight, perhaps, to the youngsters of today than to their parents, for television with its Wild West movies has made the Concord the trademark of the west. The opening of the gold fields in California--the Comstock Lode, the Nevada silver camps--the famous Wells Fargo saga--all these were made possible because of the Concord coach. The men who drove the coaches and their exploits have become the folklore of America. Until the completion of the transcontinental railroad, the two choices open to a traveller to the west were the long and arduous voyage by sea around the Cape of Good Hope or the equally dangerous trip by stagecoach over the towering mountains and down precipitous grades. Rigid time schedules were maintained; the six horses used on many of the stages were pushed to their capacity, and the drivers who trekked over the Sierra Nevada made the Placerville grade the busiest thoroughfare west of the Rockies. Dozens of Concord coaches rolled on daily schedules and scaled the heights of 7200 feet as a matter of course. The Concord was of the same body form as the oldtime English coaches of the 18th century. The two lengthwise “thorough-braces” fashioned of several strips of leather stitched together, absorbed some of the shock. The body hung on these braces with the driver’s seat high in front and an integral part of the coach. Inside there was room for 9 passengers (though often more were crowded in) and the capacity of the coaches was 4,000 lbs. The bodies were rounded and smoothly curved with drop windows and painted decorations of eagles, scrolls and pastoral scenes. Curtains and upholstery were most often of russet leather.