Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-05-17
SINGLE LINE OF RAILROAD.
Perishable Produce Rendered Worth
less and Farmers Penniless.
NO AVENUE TO CITY MARKETS.
The COnestoga Wagon and the Old System
of Barter Still in Use.
WHAT REASONABLE RATES WOULD DO
rrRoM OUR SPECIAL COMMISSIONED
THE PITTsBURG DISPATCH
COUNTRY ROAD EXPEDITION.
REnEORn Nav 16


THE PITTsBURG DISPATCH
COUNTRY ROAD EXPEDITION.
BEDFORD. May l6.
On our way here from Hollidaysburg we
passed wagon after wagon which resembled
the old-time Conestogas. They were not
quite as large, but were covered with huge
canvas roofs, looped in at the back just like
Western emigrant wagons. They are heavy,
with broad tires, and are fitted with good
springs. Twice we passed trains Of these
wagons. Again, our vehicle got sandViched
in among q lot OF them which we had over
taken.
During the day we counted about 80 of
these big, odd-looking affairs, either in car
sTAns or single
Marketing Farm Produce.
They were huckster wagons. They gather
garden truck, poultry and farm produce
among farmers pay them in merchandise,
and haul their loads to Altoona. The AL
toona market is entirely supplied in this
manner and Altoona merchants have gained
new market for their store goods in these
wagoners.
wagons rolling along the same mountain
turnpikes where Conestoga wagons once
rumbled and ratified looked picturesque and
gave us a realistic picture of what Conestoga
wagon scenes must have been.
The Farmers Difficulty.
At Bedford I met prominent gentleman
who, desiring that his name be withheld,
81 l.
wagons carry on. He also dwelt at length
upon the country road improvement ques-
tion, making some sensational statements
why farmers are not rich enough in Bedford
county to pay their road taxes instead OF
working them out. He said:
People in this country don't know any
thing about macadamizing roads. They
simply 'boulderize' them where they do at
tempt to put on stone. That is, they scatter
them over with Doulders. Why, sir, here
are the streets of Bedford town. Week be-
fore last they were half a foot deep with
mud. But even if farmers in Bedford
county did know how to macadamize, they
couldn't afford it,
why not?'' 1 asked.
They Work Rather Than Pay Cash.
"Well, the country roads are kept up by
the farmers. replied the gentleman. "They
pay their taxes by working on the roads at
so much per day. 1t would be better for
both roads and farmers if hard cash were
paid for the roads and labor exclusively
upon their farms. But SO difficult is it to
turn the products of the farm into cash, that
every cent the farmer gets he likes to hold
on to.
The Pittsburg and Chambersburg turn
pike passes through Bedford county. 1t is
sometimes just in middling good condition,
but is kept SO at a tremendous cost TO way-
iarerS. 1t is still run on the toll-gate system
in this county, which is unjust, outrageous
and should be abolished. Listen to one in
stance OF tax inequality resulting from this
toll gate system:
Scott Leissinger is a farmer who lives
two miles out of town, and just an eighth of
a mile fiom a toll gate on the pike. In the
course Of a year he hauls few wagon loads
OF sand to town for builders, and drives his