Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-01-14
Lie on the National Pike.

In the first half OF the century tray
cling was on very different basis
from what It Is today. BY water,
where uhs waterways allowed or ca
nails had been built, was popular
method of transportation, and, where
water was not, by road, in coach or
private conveyance. BY locking, the
canal crossed the Alleghenys, and you
will find a vivid description CT Ii and
what travelling by It was like in Dick
ens's American Notes.
As long as the weather held good
travelling by road was agreeable, and
as rapid as the length of your purse
would permit But when 1t rained,
winter set in, or spring came, the coun-
try roads of those days became as bogs
and traffic all but suspended The rap
i'd growth of the Weai early called for
some action to provide for better roads
and to that end the great National
Pike was projected and built 1t isn't,
perhaps, as good piece OF engineering
as it might be-indeed, it is a legend
that the engineer who built it sighted
from hilltop to hilltop, and the road
was built accordingly, without refer
ence to grades or other natural OBJ
stacles. Be that as 1t may, the road
bed itself was a wonderful piece of
constructive work, and lasts in good
condition to this day. drove over a
section of it from Brownsville to
Washington last summer, and it was in
really wonderful condition. 1t is only
wide eroung now for two teams to
pass each other, but in its palmy days
it was of sufficient width for two
teams abreast going in opposite direc-
tfons to pass. Through dlsuse, how
ever the sides have become over
grown. OF course, am too young tc
remember it but my fathar, who pass
ed his boyhood in one OF the villages
through which the National Pike pass
ed was never tired of talking about 1t
and of the fast going mail coaches
whose arrival and departure were the
events of the day; of the regular
freight wagons, whose sturdy horses
carried sweet jangling bells, and
which followed one another so closely
as to cause continuous music through.
out day and night; of the private car
riages that passed through the little
town, the sight of which to his young
eyes gave him an impression Of luxury
and magnificence that nothing he saw
or experienced in after life could
compare with or even approach. II
was in his town that Henry Clay
coach was overturned, and in response
to an inquiry as to whether or not he
had been injured he replied that he
was not, for the mud CT Pennsylvania
could never mix with the Clay of Ken
lucky. Once in a campaign Clay spoke
there, and among the auditors was a
bare legged, tanned and freckled coun-
try lad, who drank in his words eager
ly, and even though he could not un-
derstand their full purport, was i'm
pressed for all time-possibly by the
wonderful voice of the orator What
ever it was, speech or looks, he carried
his admiration for Clay with him
through life, and when he came to
mans estate made study of the writ
ings and life of the great author of the
Missouri Compromise.
Some one should write the story of
the old pike and the life that passed
along it. 1t was product of the times
lived its day of usefulness, and then
passed away before the march of pro-
gress and the railroads.-New York
Tribune.
- s------