where our line stopped at Piney Grove. I made my route of twenty-two miles with two teams in two hours and ten minutes, fourteen miles of the distance, to the top of Big Savage, being ascending grade. James Reynolds relieved me at Piney Grove, and my competitor was relieved at that point by Joshua Boyd." [Illustration: WILLIAM G. BECK.] Among old stage drivers there was one conspicuous above all others, on account of his immense size. It was Montgomery Demmings, known as "Old Mount." He was six feet and upward in height, and his average weight was four hundred and sixty-five. It was a common remark, in the days of staging on the National Road, that "Old Mount on the front boot of a coach balanced all the trunks that could be put in the rear boot." As he grew old his weight increased, and at his death, upon authority of his widow, who is still living, was six hundred and fifty pounds. He was born and reared in Allentown, New Jersey, and was sent out on the road in 1836 by James Reeside. His first service was on the "June Bug Line," a line of brief existence, but full of dash and spirit. "Old Mount" married the widow of Joseph Magee, on May 3, 1839. The clergyman who performed the marriage ceremony was the Rev. John W. Phillips, of Uniontown. Joseph Magee was a blacksmith. His residence and shop were on the roadside, at the west end of Uniontown, near the present toll house. He owned sixteen acres of land on the northeast side of the road, which now forms a part of the Gilmore tract, and his widow, who is also the widow of "Old Mount," is still living with a third husband, one Thomas, of Wales. Her present home is in Allegheny City, Pa., and she continues to draw a dower interest from the land owned by her first husband, above mentioned. "Old Mount" has a son, Amos Frisbie Demmings, living near his mother, named after Amos Frisbie, who lived in Uniontown many years ago, and carried on the business of stove making. After driving a stage for a number of years, "Old Mount" relinquished his connection with the passenger coaches, and became a driver on the express line. This line carried small packages of light goods, and oysters, known as fast freight, and the people along the road, by way of derision, called it "The Shake Gut Line." The vehicles of this line were long and strong box-shaped wagons, something like the wagons used for transporting a menagerie. They were drawn by four horses, with relays at established points, driven by check reins or lines, as stage teams were driven. The speed of the express wagons was almost equal to that of the coaches of the stage lines. They made a great noise in their rapid passage over the road, and coming down some of the long hills, could be heard for miles. By the side of the drivers frequently sat one or more way-goers whose necessities impelled them to seek cheap transportation. What proportion of their meagre fares went to the driver, and what to the owners of the