The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-01-09
THE ANTE-RAILR0AD DAYS
Transportation of Freight By wag-
ons Sixty Years Ago.

44dASpOI Idt4oA u EIC1SAC ny W dS
ons Sixty Years Ago.
Correspondence Baltimore American:
You could almost throw a stone from
one taver. to another along the Pitts
( burg pike when l Wagoned over it, and
there We're Just 1851 of them between
/ Chambersburg and the now Smoky
City in the '30s and '40s when / drove
my six-horse team and big ConeStoga
wagon across the state from Philadel-
! phia and Baltimore to PittSburg and
back" said Uncle john Miller, of
/ Chambersburg, the Oldest wagner in
! this part of Pennsylvania, and prob
! ably the only survivor of those hardy
men who 'Wagoned between 1880 and
lo40, before railroads were built, and
when the Pennsylvania canal. the
Fittsburg pike and National pike were
/ the only connections between PennSyl-
vania, Ohio and the more distant por-
! tions of the then unknown great west.
! The old wagner, now four score years
4 old, is link between the ante-railroad
days and the present time when trans
] i'Crtation facilities have reached their
highest development. Mr.. Miller at so
/ is yet strong and hearty, of powerful
physique and full, round form, but a
cataract in both eyes has shut him off
( from the light OF day. and he sits in
/ his comfortable homestead here, I'M
! able to again visit the scenes of his
! lively experiences along the Pittsburg
/ pike, though he delights to tell the in
! teresting story of his career as a
wagner.
L was only Is years old when 1 began
] to wagon, in 1885," said Mr.. Miller.
My father was a, wagner before me,
and he literally died in the harness, for
death overlook him at Stoystown, Som
erset county, when he was on his way
TO Pittsburg with his team. He is buried
! there. We had to send after his wagon
and horses. and l took up his work
! where he left off, though | was hardly
IS, and had to stand in the water
! bucket TO put the harness on my
horses. NV first load was brought by
my brother from Philadelphia TO Cham
! bersburg, and l took it on to Pittsburg
i had six good horses and a big Cone
stoga wagon, with a roomy top, made
I by the tremendous big bows The old
Wagoners and tavern-5eepers were sur
prised to see such a youngster in charge
of so big team, but they knew that l
was trying to take up my fathers work
and all were very kind.
My load was mainly of dry goods
and such stuff. That was our principal
freight in those days, heavier goods go
ing by canal. We hauled from 900
TO 10000 pounds in each load The lat
lCs WIS a. Sl-1 jas " pun three
dred miles across the Alleghenies, and
O,600 was the heaviest load 1 ever took
The distance was about 800 miles, with
ChamberSburg q halfway point the
route being from Philadelphia to Har-
risburg, through Carlisle to Chambers
burg, then from here to Pittsburg 156
miles over the mountains along the
pike. We were paid $2.75 per hundred,
and were allowed 16 days to make the
Trim which gave rs no tina 70 liz. Inv
and made a days haul about 20 miles.
We worked the whole year round in all
kinds oe weather, seven days in the
week. All we knew about Sunday was
that once every seven days we would
see people going to church in car
riages or on horseback, and would
bid them the time of day The pike
was alive with freight wagons
and with teams of emigrants going
from the seaports to the west. The
big stage coaches, with six horses
drawing them, came flying by at reg
ular intervals, and we never lacked
company. 1 could look out back through
my top almost any time and see some
old chum pulling along behind me- The
WagonerS were on good terms with each
other, and with the stage coach drivers.
We often pulled our heavy teams aside
to make way for the United States
mail, and We're thanked for it.
You never saw so many taverns in
all your life as were strung out along
that pike from Chambersburg TO Pitts
burg. Nearly everybody kept hotel, and
all had plenty to do attending to the
wants of that human stream which
kept passing Up and down that great
artery of trade and travel There was
hotel every mile of the way, and
neither man nor. beast need go dry or
hungry. The hotels were nearly all
large and we'll kept, and nearly all are
standing today. They were long. roomy
structures. with big porches and big
stables and the grub was of the finest
kind We paid a levy Q219 cents) for
supper, and the same for breakfast.
but nothing for lodging A wagner
never went TO bed, and 1 wasn't in a
bed for q years. We all carried blan-
kets and small feather beds rolled up
in the back part of our wagons. After
our supper and dance were oVer-but
that's another stOry-we boys unrolled
our beds. planked right down on the
bar room floor. around the big fire and
snoozed until morning. We always
slept on the floor, and though all had
valuables and money, I never heard of
any robber- Those hardy fellows
wouldn't have stood any fooling.
Whisky was plenty in those days. A
big bottle stood on every bar, and each
wagner was supposed to help himself
without charge There was a tacit I'M
derstanding that a wagner was en-
titled to a big drink before supper a
night-cap and an eye-opener in the
morning Before breakfast without
charge; but if he wanted any more. he
should pay a ftp (6A cents) a drink.
The whisky was mostly rectified spir-
its, about 30 below proof, and didn't
drive man crazy, like whisky does
nowadays. You see a hundred drunken
men now TO one in those days, and that
shows that high license and few drink
ing places, are not so great aids to tenn
perance as they are cracked up to be.
We didn't know what it was to see a
drunken man, yet whisky was every
where. There were lots of pretty
girls at the taverns, either daughters
of the landlords or help employed about
the house, and we wagonerS had gay
times. Sometimes we would not make
the stopping place agreed upon until 8
or 10 o'clock, and it made the girls mad
that they had to get supper for us so
late, but we soon got them in good
humor. There was a fiddle in many a
wagon or else one about the hotel,
and, as soon as the table was cleared. a !
dance was started, and there was a hot
time along the old turnpike. Later we
had TO squeeze the girls little and do
some courtin', so it was always late
when we turned in. / often drove all
day and danced six nights in a week
but we didn't make an early start in (
the morningS-not until s, or 10