Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-05-29
Old Conest0ga.

These were the land-ships for carry
and Pittsburgh, Pa, which was the
central point from which they were
distributed TO what was then the far
west; in common parlance-'the back
woods The time of transit occupied
nearly one month; if the WAGNER would
give guarantee to deliver the goods in
three weeks, he would receive an extra
compensation. | am sorry that | can
not gi ie the ruling price in freight per
cwt., for in those days there was 20
short hundreds nor tons; the Lawful
standard of weight was strictly COM
piled with and so understood by all
parties. The load was sometimes made
up of what was called piece loading
that is belonging to two or more parties;
the freight in such cases was at high
er rate. The team was made up of six
large sized active horses who were fed
principally on oats, sometimes corn for
a change, with but very little hay. The
wagon was made large and strong with
a cover of strong tow lined, supported
by wooden bows. a box with lid was
affixed to the left side of the body for
the purpose of carrying currycomb,
brush and sponge; sometimes bottle of
whisky was very carefully slowed away
with other extras. A feeding trough
large enough TO feed six horses was
hung at the end of the wagon body by
two chains; in this the wagoner's bed
and bedding were carried when On the
road. When stop was made to stay
over night or TO feed, the traces of the
saddle horse were detached, the horse
moved around and the trough put on the
tongue, made fast by iron fixtures for
the purpose, prop put under the end
of the tongue, and all the horses detach-
ed would take their places around the
trough and very impatiently await the
wagner with long bag of oats on his
shoulder. This done the wagner would
take his whip, hang it up in the bar
room and take drink. These teams sell
dom travelled alone, sometimes four or
five, at others ten or fifteen in one COM
pany. At bed time each one would
select place on the bar-room floor for
his bed and in the morning roll it up in
bundle and buckle a strap round it
ready for the next night. The gears
were disposed of by running the end of
rail between the spokes of the wheel
and under the wagon body, and hanging
the gears on the rail; these railU
were provided by the landlord for his
customers. In the morning the horses
were cleaned and fed before breakfast,
and then seldom fed again until even
ing, except in very warm days in sum-
mer; they seldom made more than ten
or fifteen miles day and had their fav-
orite places TO stop at. If landlord
affronted one, it was soon known to all
the others and they would drive past
him. Hauling TO Pittsburgh at that
time was considered good paying bus
iness and many farmers of Chester and
Lancaster counties would send their
teams trip or two in the winter and
sometimes trip after corn planting.
These were looked upon as militia by
the regular teamsters and treated with
some shyness. These teams loaded for
common roads very seldom patronized
turnpike companies. About two tons
were load for six horses. There was
scarcity of freight from west to east,
mostly flour at low rates, and many
teams had to return empty; hence the
saying-That the main profit is in the
back load.