QUICK TRANSPORTATION.

"In the course of the present week, waggons have arrived at Pittsburgh, in thirteen days from Philadelphia, with loads of 3500 lbs. and upwards." Mercury, May 11, 1816.

"Two good safe and easy Stages Will leave Pittsburgh for Philadelphia on the 27th or 28th inst. and will offer a pleasant conveyance for four persons on very accommodating terms. Apply at the Branch Bank on Second street or at the office of the Pittsburgh Gazette." Gazette, 1816.

"Near Philadelphia, the single team of eight or nine horses is seen; in the lower parts of Maryland and Virginia, the light three-horse team is common; while in this country, the heavy Lancaster waggon, drawn by five or six horses, which vie in stature with the elephant, is continually before us. The extreme slowness of these overland sloops, often attracted our notice." Thomas's Travels through the western country in 1816.

"Before the time of railroads between the east and west of the Allegheny mountains, the freight business to the Monongahela was carried on by means of the Conestoga road wagons drawn by six horses. By this way the freight to Pittsburgh was carried exclusively, but after the completion of the Pennsylvania canal, transportation was divided between the canal-boat and the wagon. As early as 1817 12,000 wagons, in twelve months, passed over the Allegheny mountains from Philadelphia and Baltimore, each with from four to six horses, carrying from thirty-five to forty hundred weight. The cost was about $7 per 100 weight, in some cases $10. To transport one ton of freight between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, therefore, would cost about $140, and in so doing two weeks, at least, of time would be consumed." Van Voorhis's Old and new Monongahela.

"The standard wagon for heavy work was the 'Conestoga.' The bed was low in the center and high at each end. The lower part of the bed was painted blue. Above this was a red part about a foot wide which could be taken off when necessary, and these with the white canvas covering, made the patriotic tri-color of the American flag, though this was probably unintentional. Bells were often used in all seasons of the year though not strings of bells such as were afterwards used in sleighing. The wagoner's bells were fastened to an iron bow above the hames on the horses and were pear shaped and very sweet toned. Perhaps they relieved the monotony of the long journey over the lonely pike." Boucher's Century and a half of Pittsburg.

"With the Conestoga wagons originated our modern 'stogie' cigars which have become so common in Pittsburg and which have been in recent years, sent from Pittsburg to every section of the Union. They were made in that day of pure home grown tobacco and being used very largely at first by the Conestoga wagoners, took the name 'stogies' which clings to them yet." Boucher's Century and a half of Pittsburg.

"There was almost a continuous stream of four or six horse wagons laden with merchandise, going west and returning with the product of the Ohio Valley to supply the eastern cities. These wagons journeyed mostly between Pittsburg and Philadelphia and Baltimore. The wagoners generally stopped at a wayside inn which was less expensive than at the inns in the villages. Wagoners cared little for style but demanded an abundance while the stage-coach passengers demanded both. The wagoner invariably slept on a bunk which he carried with him and which he laid on the floor of the big bar-room and office of the country hotel. Stage drivers and their passengers stopped at the best hotels and paid higher prices. For the purpose of feeding his horses in the public square, the wagoner carried a long trough which at night he fastened with special irons to the tongue of the wagon…. An old gentleman told the writer that he had once seen 52 wagons in an unbroken line going towards Pittsburg on this pike. They were Conestoga wagons with great bowed beds covered with canvas, and none of them were drawn by less than four, while many of them had six horses. The old fashioned public square which kept them over night must have been a good sized one. The public squares on this turnpike were usually from three to four hundred feet long and from two to three hundred feet wide. Some of the older villages had two squares separated a short distance from each other, but this was generally brought about by a rivalry among two factions when the town was first laid out." Boucher's Century and a half of Pittsburg.

"When a village was laid out along the pike there was usually a public square in its center, and at least two corners of this public square were set apart for taverns. This square generally called a diamond, was not intended as a place of ornament as it usually is now, but was for special purposes. There the wagons laden with freight stood over night, and as a general rule in all kinds of weather, the horses were blanketed, fed and bedded in the public square. Upon these wagons were transported nearly all the goods between Philadelphia and Pittsburg." Boucher's Century and a half of Pittsburg.

"An account has been furnished us by Mr. Alexander Thompson, who resides on the Turnpike road four miles and a half from Pittsburgh, from which it appears, that from the 1st of January, 1815 to the 31st of December 1815, inclusive, 5,800 road waggons, laden with merchandize &c. passed his farm for Pittsburgh. The greater part of these waggons returned loaded with cordage, salt petre, &c. to the east of the mountains.

The waggons with iron from the Juniata and other iron works, are not included in the above." Gazette, Jan. 27, 1816.

"Recurring to my old plan of estimation, I passed on my road from Chambersburgh to Pittsburgh, being 153 miles, one hundred and three stage-waggons, drawn by four and six horses, proceeding from Philadelphia and Baltimore to Pittsburgh,—seventy-nine from Pittsburgh to Baltimore and Philadelphia,—sixty-three waggons, with families, from the several places following:—twenty from Massachusetts,—ten from the district of Maine,—fourteen from Jersey,—thirteen from Connecticut,—two from Maryland,—one from Pennsylvania,—one from England,—one from Holland,—and one from Ireland; about two hundred persons on horseback,—twenty on foot,—one beggar, one family, with their waggon, returning from Cincinnati, entirely disappointed—a circumstance which, though rare, is by no means, as some might suppose, miraculous." Fearon's Sketches of America, 1818.

"Pittsburg is a cheap market for horses … travellers from the east, often quit their horses here, and take the river for New Orleans, &c.; and on the contrary, those from the west proceed eastward from this place, in stages. Thus, there are constantly a number of useful hackneys on sale. The mode of selling is by auction. The auctioneer rides the animal through the streets, proclaiming with a loud voice, the biddings that are made as he passes along, and when they reach the desired point, or when nobody bids more, he closes the bargain.

A complete equipment is, in the first place, a pacing horse, a blanket under the saddle, another upon it, and a pair of saddle-bags, with great-coat and umbrella strapped behind.

Women of advanced age, often take long journeys in this manner, without inconvenience. Yesterday I heard a lady mentioned familiarly (with no mark of admiration) who is coming from Tennessee, twelve hundred miles, to Pittsburg with an infant; preferring horseback to boating up the river." Birkbeck's Notes on a journey in America, 1818.

"The horses, in this place, are a much larger breed than those commonly raised in New-York; and as the utmost regularity in feeding and currying prevails, their appearance is well calculated to excite the admiration of strangers, from the eastward." Thomas's Travels through the western country in 1816.

"A common mode of selling horses is for the owner to gallop through the street, announcing the amount of his last bidding. I have witnessed several crying out, 'twenty-five dallars,' 'twenty-five dallars,' twenty-five dallars;' and after half an hour's exercise, they have been transferred, saddle, bridle, and all, to a new bidder, for twenty-five dallars, fifty sants." Fearon's Sketches of America, 1818.