Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 June 1881 — Traveling in Old Times. [ARTICLE]

Traveling in Old Times.

A careful inspection of the vehicle of former times leads us to the conclusion that our forefathers were lined with zinc and copper-fastened, for nothing short of it could have withstood the joltings and jarrings, the bouncings and bumpings entailed upon those who used any other method of locomotion except that which nature provides. The chariot in which Gen. and Mrs. Washington went to Philadelphia upon his election to the Presidency was no doubt an instrument of torture. To the discomforts of this rambling old carriage may be added, for the General, the incessant wagging of Mrs. Washington’s tongue, for it is a well-known fact that Martha was of a shrewish nature, and made no bones of giving the General her views in a very forcible manner. The method of traveling which they pursued gave publicity to the fact that the General had a curtain lecture every night for a night-cap. In the course of their journey, they arranged to spend the nights at the houses of the gentry scattered along between Mount Vernon and Philadelphia, and Martha was often heard to nag her lord aud master until a loud snore announced that the General was safe in the land of dreams from all worldly annoyances. The chariot was the acknowledged mark of aristocracy. A journey in these days entailed a retinue, somewhat after the following order : 1. Marster and Missis in a carriage. 2. Marster’s “boy” on horseback, with a led horse for Marster to ride when he wished to stretch his legs. 3. A wagon containing two hair trunks and Missis’ maid. The rate of progression was about four miles an hour. The habit of carrying servants even on neighborly visits obtained in Virginia and Maryland until the abolition of slavery. A form of entertaining called “ spending the day” was the fashion. This consisted in going to a friend’s house early in the morning, and staying until late in the evening, consuming the interval in a succession of meals. Beside the visitors, the coachman and horses, there was usually a “maid,” who sat on the rack behind the carriage, swinging her legs in ecstatic delight at the prospect of “ going abroad. ” Chaises were the only two-seated vehicles in use, and were something like a modern top buggy, except that they had but two wheels. Consequently, going up hill, the occupants were being spilled out behind, and going down hill they were spilled out before. — Louisville Post.