The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-01-19
TRAVEL FIFTY YEARS AGO.
DiscOmfOrts or u Trip South Back in
1916.
NcU York San.

People who travel nowadays and
get single ticket straight through to
their destination and have their bag
gage all checked and off their mind at
the starting point have no idea Of
what trip by rail meant back lin 1916
and l848, when every State used diff
ferent money" said the veteran Colo
mel. "I lived in Brooklyn then, and
enee q year, or once every two years,
at the furthest, / took my wife and
family to visit my old home in South
Carolina. l have vivid -ecollections
Of che struggles which those trips
were, and of che sense Of relief felt
when. after several days Of travel,
landed she party, bandboxes and all,
safe and sound under the paternal
roof. Occasionally it happened that
5ome piece OF luggage went astray or
we narrowly escaped losing one OF tho
children on the way, but generally we
got through all right. There were
few porters on the cars then, except
those employed to look after the rail
roads interests. It was o case Of
every man FOR himself, whether there
were transfers to be made or eating
houses to be hunted up, and the diff
ference in the currency Of the various
States added considerably to the trav-
cllcr's troubles.
'This was how it would be. Get
ting of the ferry boat from Brooklyn,
We would pack ourselves into an
omnibus and be trundelcd over to tho
Cortlandt street ferry to take the train
South. There l bought tickets for
Philadelphia, paying for them in New
York money. Arriving ut Philadel-
phia, we were packed into another
bus and were carted across tho city
20 the railroad station on che other
side. That part Of the Journey stands
out as most tedious and disagreeable.
There was always delay and much
crovding and waiting to see how many
passengcrs we're to be provided for,
aud then the bus took its time about
moving. AT che station bought new
tickets that would take us as far as
Baltimore. If happened to have
any gold along, after paying for lunch
cons, dinners and suppcrs at the cat
ing houses, I paid for my ticket in
gold. If not, used my New York
money Or the money that mud gut in
Philadelphia, and paid something for
the exchange. Certain of the road
houses at that time made regulations
either for serving very good fare or
very bad. The refreshment rooms at
WILMINGTON, Del, were on the good
-list.
"When We got to Baltimore we we're
patinto cars drawn by four magnificent
horses aud taken over 10 the railway
station on the other side of town in
eae style. Really this was great
Improvement on che omnibus system,
aHd everybody appiauded it. TIE
ifst street care had net been put OF
in New York very long then. and
Baltimore was considered up to date.
There were two things that that city
was noted for then, its pretty women
and its fine horses. Some OF the best
OF the latter were hitchcd to those
new street cars. At the Baltimore
station tickets we're bought for Wash
ington, and there was fresh changing
of money. Arriving snfe in the Capi-
tai in the early morning, we we're
treated to true Southern breakfast
o meal that was so good as almost to
make up for the trouble one under
went to get there. Wea had delicious
fried chicken, hominy that was cooked
az hominy should be, corn watfles and
eakes, mullins, light and aaky, and all
served by black walters in the defsest
manner. There were cn!y 6 se- negro
walters in service in Northern cities
then, and they we're always novelty
that interested people greatly, partic-
niariy the children At Washington
We got tickets for boat travel on the
Potomac to Acquia Greek. The day
Of Acquia Greek, as n point of inter
est and Importance. passed away long
ago, but in 1886 that trip on the Poto-
mac was looked upon RS treat. There
was much to see and enjoy after you
had once counted the children and
got the bandboxes aud trunks end
carpet bags off your mind. Every
body used carpet bags in those days,
and sometimes hair-covered trunks,
although the leather trunks, protected
by stout canvas covers, we're consider
cd the swell thing. BY the way, the