passenger on the Cape Ann stage, to be a, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

passenger on the Cape Ann stage, to be a v.

[ety. unknown; ? anecdotal]

(US campus) to be drunk.

1851		Kalida Venture (OH) 11 Apr. 2/4: Drunk [...] a passenger in the Cape Ann stage.
a.1856		Burlington Sentinel in Hall (1856) 461: We give a list of a few of the various words and phrases which have been in use, at one time or another, to signify some stage of inebriation: [...] a passenger in the Cape Ann stage.