The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-10-16

: S t ~ eue BVou StotleS mad been told
anu tne current events discussed unit
they We're threadbare, the passenger
sometimes amused themselves BY holdIno
letters at arrns.length out Of The Window
and beckoning to the villagers, who. ann.
. posing that the missive was for them,
would follow the coach for many WARY
league. One day the trick was practiSeii
upon Daniel Oster, who, to the erati6ca.
uon ot the passengers, pursued the coach
up long and preCipitous bill. The dis.
lance between him and them was so great
that It did not seem likely that he conii
reach them. Oster was not 20 be trifled
with, however. He knew that thew had
no letter for him, but he had a public.
spirited ambition to make an example Of
the inconsiderate wag. "Who hasa letter
tor me?' he fiercely demanded, when he
aad oVertaken the coach and ordered tha
driver to stop. None OF the passengers
answered, and OSter supplied himself witb
q variety, OF unpleasant looking missiles.
"fyou don't confess which one Il ia iii
pepper aud salt tho whole crowd. - he snii
Finding that the actual transpressor was
willing TO impose vicarious Sacrifice nm.
on Il,spsg !neIl the passengers unimplicated sur
renuered hlm TO Oster who dragged him
CUT ot the coach and gave him a merciess
Inrashing. Now" he said as he lighted
nls pipe and walked down hill, don't
lool me any more, and It II said that, In
ms nelghborhood at least. the amusement
soon became obsolete.
The traffic seems like trieze with an
endless procession Of figures. There were
sometimes sixteen gayly painted coaches
each way day; the cattle and sheen were
never out Of sight; the Canyas.Coyered
wagons were drawn by six or twelve
horses, with bows and bells over their
collars; the families Of statesmen and
merchants went In private vehicles: and
while most OF the travellers were unosten.
tadous, few had splendid equipages, and
employed outriders. Some Of the passes
through the AIleghenies were as precin.
ltous as any in the Sierra Nevada, and the
mountains were as wild. Within n ,n;ie
81 the road the country was a wilderness.
but on the highway the traffic was "a
dense and as continuous as in the main
street OF large town.
The national road proper was built from
Cumberland, Maryland, TO Wheeling. Vir.
ginia, by the United States goyernment
the Intention being 10 establish It ag far
as st. Louis. It was excelIentIy macada.
mi2ed, the rivers and creeks were spanned
by stone bridges; the distances we're in.
aexed oy iron mile:posts, and the toll
nouses supplied with strong iron gates.
Its protector and chief supporter was
aenry Olay, whose services Ia its behalf
are commemorated by monument near
Wheeling. Henry Beeson, a former Con-
gresham, was also an advocate of It, and
on one occasion he madea publlcspeech in
which he showed the audience-so flexi.
bic is arithmetic combined with imaDina-
toh-that from the number Of horseshoes
It would necessitate, and the number
Of nails, 1t was better adapted to promote
trade than any railway could be. From
Cumberland 10 Baltimore the road. or n
large part ot 1t, was built by certain banks
ol Maryland, which were rechartered in
1915 on condition that they should COM
plete the work. So far from being bur-
don to them, II proved to be a most lucra.
tive property for many years, Welding AZ
much as twenty per cent, and Il Ia only NJ
late years that 1t has yielded no more than
two or three per cent. The part built bv
the Federal Government was Transferred
to Maryland some time ago, and The tolls
became political perquisite but within
the past year it has been acquired by tho
counties OF Allegheny and Garrett, which
have made it free. =.
We have written OF what Is past. The
canal and the railway have Superseded
the old National pike" and Il Il not of.
ten now that q traveller disturbs the dnst
that lies upon 1t, The dust itself indeed
nas settled and given root to the grass and
snrupnefy, which In many places shows
now complete the decadence Is. The
Dlacksnakes, moccastns and copperheads,
that were always plentiful in the noun.
Jams, nave become SO unused To the in
truSlon OF man that they sun themselves
In the road, and vehicle can moi pass
without running over them. MANY ofthe
villages which were prosperous in The
coaching days have fallen asleep. and
the wagon OF peddlcfor farmer Is alone
seen where once tho travel was enormous,
Lhe men who were actively engaged on
the road as drivers, station agents, and
mail contractors are neatly all dead. The
lew that reuain are very old, aud while an
inquiry about tho past re.ahinates them
ior moment, they soon lapse into the or.
liyion OF their years. But The tayerns,
with their hospitable and picturesque
fronts, the old smithles, and the toll.gates,
have not been entirely swept away.
West OF Cumberland the national road
proper extends to Wheeling, partly fol-
lowing the route Of general Braddock,
who has left an interesting old mile stone
at Frostburg. The old iton gates have
been despoiled, but the uniform toll
houses, the splendid bridges, and the iron
distant posts show how ample the equip
ment was. The coaches ceased running
IN lS5S; the June Bug" the "Good In
tent, and the landlords" ;" as the Va.
rious lines were called, sold their stock,
and a brilliant era OF travel was ended.