Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1885-07-15
Travelling an 1900.

The stage coach was little better than
huge covered box mounted on springs
1t had neither glass windows, nor door,
nor steps, nor closed sides. The roof
was upheld by eight posts which rose
from the body of the vehicle. and the
body WAS commonly breast-high. From
the top were hung curtains of leather,
to be drawn up when the day was fine,
and let down and buttoned when rainy
and cold. Within were four seats.
Without was the baggage. Fourteen
pounds of luggage were allowed to be
carried free by each passenger. But if
his portmaDteau or his brass nail stud
ded hair trunk weighed more, he paid
for it at the same rate per mile as he
paid for himself. Under no circum-
stances, however, could he permitted to
take with him on the journey more than
one hundred and fifty pounds. When
the baggage had been all weighed and
strapped on the coach, when the horses
had been attached and the way bill
made out, the eleven passengers were
summoned, and clamborIng TO their
seats through the front of the stage, sat
DOWN with their faces toward the dri-
.ition existed progress was slow. aud the
The travellers were subjected to ali man
ner of extortion and abuse. Brutality,
Negligence, and Itching" says one,
are as naturally expected by people
accustomed to travelling i'll America as
4 mouth, "a nose and two eyes are look
al for ia "a mans face" Another set
)ut one day in March, 1896, to go from
FrenchtOwn 10 New Castle, on the
Delaware Seventeen miles separated
lie two towns, distance which he
declares, good healthy man could have
passed over in fonr hours and a-half
The stage coach took SIX. When it
inaIly reached New Castle it was hign
aOOn, he tide was making, the wind
was fair, and the boat for Philadelphia
was ready at the wharf. Yet he was
detained an hour and a-half, that the
innkeeper might scrub the passengers
out of the price of dinner" Dinner
over, the boat set sail and run up the
river to within two miles of Gloucester
Point, There wind, and tide failing,
the vessel dropped anchor for the night.
Some passengers, anxious 10 go ON by
land, where forced to pay alf dollar
each to be Towed to the shore. At one
in the morning, the tide again turned.
But the master was drunk, and when
ne could be made to understand what
was said, the tide was again ebbing,
and the boat aground. Evening came
before the craft reached Philadelphia.
The passengers wers fOrty-eight hours
On board Another came from New
York by stage and by water. He was
almost shipwrecked in the bay, lost
scme Of his baggage at AmbOy, was
nearly left by the coach, and passed
twenty hours going sixteen miles on the
Delaware. The captain was drunk
The boot three times collided with YES
sells coming up the river. \ gentleman
set out in February to make the trip
from Philadelphia to Baltimore. Just
beyo;id HayTe de Grace the axle brGEe-
a cart was hired and the passengers
dtiven to the next stage-inn. There a
new coach was obtained, which, IN the
evening oyerset in wood. Toward
daylight the whole party, III the midst
Of a shower Of rain aud snow, found
shelter and breaktas at a miserable
house three miles from Baltimore. But
the host would not suffer one of them
TO dry his clothes by the kitchen stove.
When an editor in the town was asked
to publish an account of their trip he
refused. The owners of the coach-line
might, he said, hinder the circulation of
his newspaper. To adj to the yexatI0n
of such delays The Apostolic Assem-
bly of the State of Delaware" had
forbidden stage coaches to cross their
hands breadth of territory on the
Sabbath. The worst bit Of road in the
country seems 10 have been between
Elkton, in Maryland, and the SuSque-
hanna Ferry. There the ruts were so
deep that, as the wheels were about to
enter one, the driver would call upon
the passengers to lean out of the OppO-
site side of the coach, to prevent the
vehicle ebeingOyerturned. Nov, gentle
men," he would say. so the right. -
'NOW gentlemen, to the left"
Yet another traveller had quilted
Philadelphia for New York. All went
smoothly till the coach drew near to the
town of Brunswick. There one of a
rival line was Overtaken, and a race
began. At EliZabethtown a young
woman, well mounted, rode up behind
the coach and attempted to pass. In
an instant half the men on the stage
began to revile her most shamefully,
raised a great shout, frightened her
horse, and all but unseated her. She,
indeed ventured to eXpOstulete. But
be was quickly silenced by the question,
"Whatl suffer anybody to take the road
of us2" At New York three of the pas
sengers found lodgings in a single room
at all inn. The custom was a general
one; and of all customs was the most
offensive to foreigners. No such thing,
it was said, was ever seen in the British
Isles. There evry decent person not
only had a bed, but even a room TO him
self, and, If he were 50 minded, might
lock his door. In America, however,
the traveller sat down at the table of his
landlord, slept III the first bed he found
empty, OF, if all were taken, lay down
OH one beside its occupant without so
much as asking leave, or caring who the
sleeper might be. If he demanded clean
sheets, he was looked upon as an aristO-
crat and charged well for the trouble he
gave; for the bedclothes were changed
at stated times, and not to suit the
whims of travellers.
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