The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-12-11
THE REPUB

at nve p. m, and reached hiladelphla-eighty
seven miles-in little more than four hours
and half After participating in the scramble
at the depot for the car having high-backeC
seats, he found himself shortly after ten in tn,
course of being trundled through Philadelphia
and some distance into the country, by horse
power. About midnight he fell into doze
from which at three n. m. he was reused to get
into the ferry boat which plies across the Sus
quehannah Then he had another race and
scramble for seat, and at half past four reached
Baltimore, having made ninety eight miles in
about six and half hours. An omnibus ride
Of mile carried him 10 the Washington depot,
but, as nothing was doing there, he had to play
the loafer in a tavern for an hour and half,
at the expiration of which he commenced
his journey over the last link of the line,
and finally reached Washington in time for a
moderately late breakfast. The period of our
travellers return arrived, and as something like
fifteen hours had been required to bring him to
this city, he reasoned naturally enough that the
same number of hours would suffice to carry
him back. But he was mistaken. Starting at
five, at seven he was in Baltimore, and at about
two a. m. was rolling along by horsepower
into Philadelphia, where ne had four hours to
kill in one way or another. 1t was not worth
his while to pay high price for two hours in
bed, and he discovered that the large hotels
make no provision for an early breakfast. At
tavern ON the wharf he got a glass Of beer
for twelve and a half cents, and afterwards, at
Ave o'clock, an apology for breakfast. Getting
by daylight-he had chances Of observing the
singular crablike prOpensties of the cars, which
every now and then crawled backwards for
considerable distances. On this head he says /:
at is curious, to observe how this Is managed.
The ioIH get ahead OF the time sometimes and
they stop anywhere aud everywhere, and give
you breathing spell, or else the engineer amuses
himself and the passeng gers by running backwards.
In fact the Republic makes slight error in calling
the fare three and three ourths cents per mile. 1t
did not take into consideration the number of miles
run backwards. The fare used to be four instead
of three dollars oFer the Philadelphia route, but
the company took of enough to make the going
back gratis"
And he concludes thus:
"Such railroad travelling was never known, that
is, until you get to New Brunswick They whip
up there, because these ia a steamboat competition.
But between Philadelphia and Trenton the early
train is not like the early bird, it couldn't catch
the worm. You lag all along the road, and at the
'Bordentown shops your even getting away is
questionable. Bordentown is the place where the
monopoly canal enters the Delaware. The mo-
nopoly own nearly all the water 'front.' and fight
off steamboat opposition. Such monopoly was
never known. Well, you have travelled or been
the way another whole night, and you reach
New York little or a good deal past eleven, ac-
cording to luck. At half past three O'clock that
day you can get into and go to Boston, two
hundred and thirty eight miles, several lines
of railroads, in ess than nine hours! Leave New
York late in the afternoon and sleep in Boston''
A few months hence the Boston journey will
be accomplished in six hours instead of nine.
Meanwhile, cur nonopolsts promise to reduce
their time from fifteen or eighteen hours to
twelve; and that reduction, they seem to think,
is all that the case requires. How they will
rub their eyes when the cars of the Southern
"Air Line" perform the distance in half that
timel