Milford chronicle., 1925-04-03


o however,, was but comparative
e little travelling in those days, sa
S seventy or eighty years ago, SO ths
= folks were not frequently calle
D upon to undergo such discOmfol
= and fatigue, while the gentry VIII
S might be described as the high
= Hatters" of tOday-droVe Nin thei
t own carriages with their drivers
= cOlOred men, who perhaps were tt
best class of servants Of those days
Stages Everywhere From
Wilmington
Arriving here the stage would in
stantly be conditioned for the re
|. turn trip and would set off agail
with little delay for its down-stat'
terminus. From Wilmington one
could connect with stages to almost
any part of the then settled cOun.
try. but the most of the real going
away at that day took the people to
Baltimore and to Philadelphia.
Baltimore was more intimately
linked with Delaware seventy or
eighty years ago than Philadelphia,
while exactly the reverse is true to-
day.
Almost all the towns on the Pen
insula were connected by stage lines
at the uniform fare of six cents a
mile. Eventually, with the estab-
| lishment of the mail and it's car
riers, came better means of travel
until it was quite possible to go
from ones own door in any part of
the state to any other town or viii
lage.
Travellers in those times were
compelled to go lightly-equipped in
the way of clothing, for the stages
had little space for baggage and
the limit to each passenger was ri
dlculOusly small measured by pres
ent day requirements of travellers.
Steam Became Strong Rival
AS steam became into general use
on the Devaware river the need of
stages was greatly curtailed and
much of the long trip travelling by
land was cut off. There were |
running from almost |
all towns or streams of any size in
The state. Smyrna was perhaps the
chief of these points. The steamers
and Zephyr as early
Is 1849 were doing a large business
With Smyrna and Dover. The
steamers proceeded up Smyrna
creek to the landing and then were
net by stages which conveyed the
passengers to Smyrna, or discharg-
ID their passengers at Dona Land
ng from which point the were
tagged into Dover and from there
ook lines to almost all towns in the
tate and peninsula
AT one time a feeling that steam
raft would crowd ont the stage led
0 complaints recorded in newspa-
ers of those times, declaring that
wing to the gradual but steady de-
line of stage traffic it was not con-
ldered worth while to eXDend much
lme or money on the highways as
hey doubtless would soon be over
rOwn and but little used.
The cost of one mile of the du-
ont highway or of the road that
couples the course of the old Ken =
ett pike doubtless represents a
reater outlay than was spent On
ur state roads for two or more
ears. To say they were not good
uts the matter mildly.
myrna and Dover Important Ports
Both Smyrna and Dover were
olnts Of large shipping interests,
II there were steamers running
ON the two towns to Philadelphia
ally fora number of years.
Steamboats, also carried passen-
9rs from Port Penn, Delaware City
nd New Castle to Philadelphia and
eturn and one Of the best patron
ed Water-stage routes was from
to New Castle by
Gamer thence by stage along the
purse OF the subsequent French
wn Railroad to Elk River, where
lother steamer conveyed the trav-
ers 10 Baltimore or points on the
ater further south. New Castle
as the busiest centre of passenger
afiic of that day, her docks being
DIVIDED with steamers and other
aft, not only carrying travellers
1t freight.
There was then, as now, a line to
ems Grove, a ferry from New
Istle to Salem, N. j., which per-
ps outlasted almost all the other
tier transportation companies.
lee Gosport lin 1S49) was the
lal steamer that ran to Penns
owe, while the Whillidin and Pho =
er ran between Wilmington and
stopping at Marcus =
'ok and Chester. The former cir
IN promised to Outclass the latter of
her maritime importance. pu
rhe fares to Philadelphia were Hl'
y cents in 1S49 against thirty
Its today Many of the steamers O..
we'd excellent dinners and SUD- G.
s aboard, but none had accom- CHI
dations for overnight passengers. sw;
IS connecting links in the trans tina
taClon problem the steamers ede
n became so important that the sn4i snti
Ses found themselves being req
ced into retirement, and while a in
survived the Civil War period. toy
rcely any made money after the lish
roads got into action mar
is interesting in this cOnnec- IL n
TO refer to an early advertise E
1t in 1849-of the PHILADELPHIA. war
and Baltimore Railroad .riIt M
four or five trains a b
over the new line. One of them G. q
freight and the other for an Z,
ress and mail service. It charg- Yves
oO cents for first class passages G'
whites and advertised that it war ar
10 transport "ColOred persons" sout
3779 cents between PHILADELPHIA Nj
Wilmington ana yoooI1a Al. war
= f,.a..tI-1 .Hu 11SCalIS Tie al 3.
i IOrSOLten circumstances that | and
lWare had the equivalent of a m0r'
4 crow service almost before 0Ihe
.nern states had resorted to dis ing
lination against the negroes. secu
is informing to recall from the 0eaT O[ 81
records that so far back as in ca
nty-tiVe years ago two large appe