Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1895-04-30
0THAM's ZIG VANS.
9ow THEY ABe USED FOR LONG
ND SHORT DISTANCE MOVING.


roahage. Time and Trouble Saved By
These Large vehicies-Thc business q
Moving Day Reduced 20 a scienoe-rrav.
81 ~ Train aud steamboat.
The estimator Tor n storage and van
company will walk into q house or a
Eat and estimate within a cubic foot Of
how much spaco the contents viii take
MP packed. aud be doesn't make any
elaborate computations either. Ho just
walks In q leisuroly way through o
house from soof to cellar or through a
fat from end to end, and when he is
through h5 knows. Houses vary great
iy. One three story h)pse might have
IN It three van loads. The house just
like It next door might have six, but the
estimator rarely makes a mistake. lie
might get half a van load out of the
way in estimating a elk load house, but
this would be quite unusual. He would
be much more likely 20 bit tho mark.
The contract price for moving means
Tor moving from any floor 10 any floor.
If IL Is desired, the company will send
barrels, boxes and packing materials aud
men 10 pack crockery, bfonzcs, books,
bric-a-brac. and so on, at IS cents a
barrel or it's equivalent in space. The
time for loading ana for starting the
vans would depend somowhat on where
tie 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 9 o'clock In the
morning. They would arrive at their
destination at aboat 0o'clock the same
morning, the horses would be put up
and the vans unloaded, tho start on the
return would be made Mt about 2 o'clock
The next morning, and the arrival in 1.-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 arc taken on such trips
depends altogether on the distance the
vans are going. If to a nearby point,
the horses go along; IL to a distant
point, It is cheaper to hire horses there.
If vans were 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 a trip
horses wonld not DO 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 10 Baltimore
aud Washington. In transfers, say to
Long Branch and other nearby points,
the horses go with the mi
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 80
miles and less are common. The drivers
know the roads within so miles around
New York well. 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.
Where the roads are good to destination
tLvvtr.o rvvssia - 1-~--- - fe.a- ha~aas
On bad or billy 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, a gentleman
who lived in a town neal Bridgeport,
Conn, who was about to move to q
place near T~arrytown, in this state, or
tracted with a van company Of this city
10 move him. Three vans went mp from
the city on this expedition. The work
took about two weeks. Hero the dis.
lance TO be covered was SO great that Il
was impossible to make it in n 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. Tho bill for this job came
10 nearly 81, 800.
The van companies move goods be-
tween points in the city as well as tC
aud from it, and besides moving house
hold goods they will estimate on and
contract to remove the contents Of q
store or q building to another store OF
building. A recent moving job in this
city camo to about S., 200. Goods NOV
ing in vans on their wheels are moi
insured. In transit by rail or boat they
are insured at the request Of the owner,
The cost of moving By ans depends, OF
course, largely OF distance, and IL varies
somewhat according 20 season and cir
cumstanccs. II Is cheaper between sea
sons, and the nature Of the roads TO BE-
covered might have something TO dc
with It. To Morristown, N. j., distanc,
about 80 miles, the price Ia tho busy
season would be S35 a van and expenses,
the expenses being ferriage and tolls,
To a point, say, ~ miles from the city,
in tho busy season, the rate would DO S2C
a van and expenses.
Tho 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 thar
formerly. Many leases now run from
April or October. besides those that rur
from May, so that tee business is more
distributed through the year. The mum.
Der Of those who so ont OF town for tbs
summer has increased greatly. Many
persons regularly every year NOV,
household goods enough to furnish OF
partly fnrnish a house at the seashOre o.
IN the country. There arc many persons
who give mp their rents in spring ant
store their effects and go away unit
fall-New York Sun.
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