Travelling In The Cars Out West Is Not Exactly What It Is
Between Philadelphia And New York, Or New York And Boston, In This
Respect:
That in the West more families are found, in the cars, and
consequently more babies and carpet bags.
It may not be proper to judge of the health of a community by the
appearance of people who are seen standing about a railroad station;
yet I have often noticed, when travelling through Illinois, that this
class had pale and sickly countenances, showing too clearly the traces
of fever and ague.
But I wish to speak about leaving the cars at Dunleith and taking the
steamboat for St. Paul. There is a tremendous rush for the boats in
order to secure state-rooms. Agents of different boats approach the
traveller, informing him all about their line of boats, and
depreciating the opposition boats. For instance, an agent, or, if you
please, a runner of a boat called Lucy not Long made the assertion
on the levee with great zeal and perfect impunity that no other boat
but the said Lucy would leave for St. Paul within twenty-four hours;
when it must have been known to him that another boat on the mail line
would start that same evening, as was actually the fact. But the
activity of the runners was needless; for each boat had more
passengers than it could well accommodate. I myself went aboard the "
Lady Franklin," one of the mail boats, and was accommodated with a
state-room.
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