Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/333

 C H A P T E R I II IN T E R N A L

IM P R O V E M E N T S

In these d a y s o f automobiles, railroad flyers, steam launches, fast freights, airships and ocean liners, it is alm ost impossible to conceive o f a community without means o f intercourse with the outside world and with­ out opportunity o f reaching even nearby points, sa v e on foot or astride a faith fu l beast of burden. In the e a rly days of the settlen>ent o f wliat is now M on tou r county there were no State highways, no roads o f any kind, except as each se ttle r made his own highw ay through the w oods, o r followed the Indian path which too o ften led to dan ger and to acath. But these se ttle rs were A m ericans, the founders o f a m ightv race, and already (he spirit o f in­ domitable energy and push and determination, which in the years that follow ed laughed at dirhcuUies and spum ed im possibilities, w as planted and w as grow ing. T hese w ere of the ancestors among whose worthy sons were H en ry and M orse, who harnessed the lightning flash to the tele­ graphic w ir e; C y ru s V. Field, who cabled that w ire and planted it beneath the almost fathom less depths o f o cean; Thom as A . E d i­ son, w h o annihilated distance and carried the hnman vo ice o ver hundreds o f m ites; aye, o f that fa m ily, whose numliers are legion, who bound the A tlantic to the Pacific by bands o f steel; w h o transform ed the great Am erican desert into communities throbbing with life and e n e rg y; who tunneled m ountains; who opened up the hills, m aking them ^ v c up their >-ast dc]x>sits o f minerals and precious m etals: who penetrated the a ir with vast ships o f traffic; and w ho, a s a crow ning g lory of the opening y e ars of the twentieth century, united the A tlantic and Pacific oceans in a triumph o f engineering skill and power. F o r a while the Susquehanna river w as the only highw ay open to these hardy settlers. In summer m erchandise w as brought up the river in "D u rh am ” boats. T hese were somewhat like the canal-boat, but only about two feet in

depth, and w ere pushed up-stream by long socket iK)les, when it w as not possible to use sails. In winter the rough roads, which were impassable in sumtncr, w ere rendered smooth by (he snow, the rivers and sm aller streams w ere bridged by icc, so that fo r three or fo u r months the sled could be draw n almost an y­ where. D urin g (his season ncighliors joined together and with loads o f wheat or pork or w hisky, and each with his wallet o f provisions, a blanket fo r covering, a bag o f oats and bundle o f hay fo r provender fo r his horse, traversed the defiles and mountains to Reading fo r a market. H ere they bartered their loads fo r salt, iron, nails, groceries and Jam aica s[>irits. F e w houses o f entertainment were found on the w ay and these hard^f Ira ve k re*'^ sought shelter at w hatever cabin might chance to be near at hand when night came on. "T h e privilege o f stretching him self on the floor with feet to the open fire w as paid fo r in the morning with a sixpence. F ew of these pioneers through the snows o f nearly a century ago could afford to pay fo r a warm meal, and many a trip w as made from the Susquehanna lo R eading on two o r three shillings." T h e organization 10 build the Centre tum )ike extending from R ead in g to the Susquelanna river opposite Northumberland w as pcrccted in i8c>8. O ne of the active promoters and m anagers o f this daring and important enterprise w as Gen. W illiam Montgomery. T h e w ork w as pushed with sleepless e n c i ^. It w as a w ork in its own time a s great as w as the building of the Union Pacific rail­ road in a fte r days. In 18 14 the turnpike road from Danville to B e a r G ap, where it con­ nected with the Centre turnpike, w as built. These w ere important and b ^ e fic e n i public w orks, gained only by the most heroic strug­ gles. T h e promoters were the foreniost men in the country— the great benefactors of their age Com panies w ere organized and chartered

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