510 JOURNAL. [PART in. 



955. July 28th. Went with a Mr. Graham, 

 a Quaker of this place, who treated us in the 

 most friendly and hospitable manner, to see the 

 new national road from Washington city to this 

 town. It is covered with a very thick layer of 

 nicely broken stones, or stone, rather, laid on 

 with great exactness both as to depth and 

 width, and then rolled down with an iron roller, 

 which reduces all to one solid mass. This is a 

 road made for ever ; not like the flint roads in 

 England, rough, nor soft or dirty, like the gra 

 vel roads; but, smooth and hard. When a 

 road is made in America it is well made. An 

 American always plots against labour, and, in 

 this instance, he takes the most effectual course 

 to circumvent it. Mr. Graham took us like 

 wise to see the fine coal mines near this place 

 and the beds of limestone and freestone, none 

 of which I had time to examine as we passed 

 Wheeling in our ark. All these treasures lie 

 very convenient to the river. The coals are 

 principally in one long ridge, about 10 feet 

 wide ; much the same as they are at Pittsburgh, 

 in point of quality and situation. They cost 

 3 cents per bushel to be got out from the mine. 

 This price, as nearly as I can calculate, enables 

 the American collier to earn, upon an average, 

 double the number of cents for the same labour 

 that the collier in England can earn; so that, 



