Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1894-05-24
GOTHAM'S BIG VANS.
HOW THEY APE USED FOR LONG
AND SHORT DISTANCE MOVING.

Breakage, Time and Trouble Saved by
These Large vehicIes-The Business Of
Moving Day Reduced to Science-Trav-
Ell by Train and Steamboat.
The estimator for storage and van
company will walk into a house or a
fiat and estimate within cubic foot Of
how much space the contents will take
up packed, and he doesn't make any
elaborate computations either. He Just
walks in leisurely way through a
house from Ioof to cellar or through a
fiat from end to end, and when he is
through he knows. Houses vary great
ly. One three story house might have
in it three van loads. The house Just
like it next door might have six, but the
estimator rarely makes mistake. He
might get half van load out of the
way in estimating a six load house, but
this would be quite unusual. He would
be much more likely to hit the mark.
The contract price for moving means
for moving from any floor to any floor.
If it is desired, the company will send
barrels, boxes and packing materials and
men to pack crockery, bronzes, books,
bric-a-brac, and so on, at rs cents
barrel or its equivalent in space. The
time for loading and for starting the
vans would depend somewhat on where
the goods were going. Ii they were GO
ing 40 miles into the country, the vans
would be loaded the afternoon before
and would start at 2 O'Clock in the
morning. They would arrive at their
destination at about 10 clock the same
morning, the horses would be put up
and the vans unloaded, the start ON the
return would be made Mt about O'Clock
the next morning, and the arrival in the
city would be at about 10.
Vans are specially constructed with
large bodies and low wheels for trans
portation by steamboat or railroad.
Whether horses are taken on such trips
depends altogether on the distance the
vans are going. If to a nearby point.
the horses go along; if to a distant
point, it is cheaper to hire horses there.
If vans We're going to Newport, for in
stance, they would be shipped on a
freight propeller, whose derrick would
pick them up like great boxes of goods
and land them ON deck. On such trip
horses would not be taken, but hired in
Newport for the hauling there. Horses
would meet the vans at the dock upon
their return here. Vans 60 west at least
as far as Louisville, south to Baltimore
and Washington. In transfers, say to
Long Branch and other nearby points,
the horses 60 with the vans.
Fifty miles would ordinarily be about
the limit of the distance that vans cover
on their own wheels, but they sometimes
go greater distances. Forty miles would
be not at all unusual, and trips Of 30
miles and less are common. The drivers
know the roads within so miles around
New York we'll They know where the
paved roads are and those that are most
nearly level, and where the poorer or
more difficult roads are, too, and so they
know what sort Of an outfit to take.
1 Where the roads are guvu aest1naUIUn
the vans would be drawn by four horses.
| On bad or hilly roads they would take
six horses. 1t is interesting to note, as
/ the result of the drivers observations,
that the roads around New York are
better than they used to be, and that
they are steadily improving. Not in
frequently the van companies move peo-
pie from one point to another outside of
the city. For example, gentleman
who lived in town near Bridgeport,
Conn, who was about to move to
place near Tarrytown, in this state, con
tracted with van company Of this city
to move him. Three vans went up from
the city on this expedition. The work
took about two weelzs. Here the dis
tance to be covered was so great that it
was impossible to make it in a single
day, and the vans halted at night and
went on in the morning. They went to
and fro in this way until the work was
completed. The bill for this job came
to nearly $1,000.
The van companies move goods be-
tween points in the city as well as to
and from 1t, and besides moving house
I hold goods they will estimate on and
contract to remove the contents Of a
!
building. A recent moving job in this
city came TO abont 81, 900. Goods NOV
\ ing in vans on their own wheels are not
insured. In transit by rail or boat they
are insured at the request of the owner.
The cost of moving by vans depends, of
course, largely on distance, and it varies
somewhat according to season and cir
cumstances. 1t is cheaper between sea-
sons, and the nature of the roads to be
covered might have something to do
with it. To Morristown, N. j., distance
4 about 80 miles, the price in the busy
season would be $50 van and expenses,
the expenses being ferriage and tolls.
To point, say, 10 miles from the city,
in the busy season, the rate would be $50
van and expenses.
The storage and van business has in
creased greatly in New York in recent
years. The population of the city and
its suburbs has increased rapidly, and
there are now more moving days than
formerly. Many leases now run from
April or October. besides those that run
from May, so that the business is more
distributed through the year. The num-
Der of those who 90 out Of town for the
summer has increased greatly. Many
persons regularly every year move
household ~ Z enough to furnish or
partly furnish .,nouse at the seashore or
in the country. There are many persons
who give up their rents in spring and
store their effects and go away until
fall. New York Sun.
Talking and writing.