OF LANCASTER COUNTY. 375 



conferred tlie disnitied title of city. Of these it is third in uiaj^nitude— its populiition 

 in 1830 being 7,700. It has a :Mayor, lieeorder, Alderman and Connmm Couneil, with 

 a charter modeled after that of Philadelphia. The streets are laid out with rea.sonablo 

 regularity, are of convenient width, and the principal ones are well pave<l. A stylo of 

 building prevails there, not the most picturesque, and as wc should imagine neither econ- 

 omical or convenient. About two-thirds of the liouses have but a single very l«w 

 story— with heavy eaves, and highly sloped roofs, affording the least possible accom- 

 modation in proportion to tlie ground occupied, and to the expenditure for rnofnig— 

 always an important item. We Avish those Avho build hereafter would reft.nn this 

 fashion altogether. As an additional motive for so doing we would mentiou tiie opini<jn 

 of many eminent physicians, that Cholera is most apt to seize those who sleep on ground 

 floors. If this theory be true, Lancaster may lay her accuiuit f(n- a severe visitation, 

 should the pestilence enter her borders. 



Lancaster contains, nevertheless, many excellent houses, much good society, and a 

 large share of wealth, and of productive industry. It ow^es its prosperity and impor- 

 tance, mainly, to the fertile and admirably cultivated country which surrounds it — a 

 district surpassed by none on the Continent, for capacity to furnish what man reqnii-es 

 for comfort and convenience. Several branches of manufactures and mechanic art.s, are 

 extensively followed here — especially the making of stage coaches, and of the itecidiar 

 vehicles (hence called, Conestoga wagons,) and harness used on the great turnpikes, 

 which lead to the west and north. It is not long since a post-coach built in Lancaster, 

 took a premium over many competitors in New York and New Jersey. 



Lancaster was the seat of Government of the State from 1799 to 1812, wlieu llarris- 

 burg succeeded to that dignity. The Legislature sat in the present Couit House, situ- 

 ated in the middle of the main street, according to a practice fonnerly in vogue, and 

 which is only defendable on the ground that it enables the Judges to refresh themselves 

 by occasional peeps through the window, at the passing world, when the lawyei-s grow 

 tedious, or the evidence is unentertaining. It has certainly great inconveniences, es- 

 pecially if the street be paved with pebbles, and travelled with Conestoga wagons. In 

 such a Court House many a poor fellow may have been tried, and condemned by a 

 tribunal who heard but little of what the witnesses testilied. 



For the information of those who are curious in wine, we would remark, that they 

 may always procure the article of excellent quality at the principal hotels in Lancaster. 

 Let them only inquire for "Reigarfs particular,'' and they will surely be satisfied, how- 

 ever fastidious their taste; or if it Avould amuse them to know all the particulars of St. 

 Clair's defeat, let them seek out Captain Slough, who once kept the tavern at the cor- 

 ner of the Court House Square, and who played a conspicuous part on that disastrous 

 occasion. 



At Lancaster is the head of the Conestoga navigation, an improvement of that stream 

 by locks and dams, down to its junction with the Sus<iuehaima, a distance of about 

 fourteen miles. Its cost was aboiit eighty thousand dollars, principally sub.scribed in 

 Lancaster county, but it has not realized the expectation of the proprietors. The locks 

 (constructed entirely of timber) have proved too feeble to resist the pressure of water 

 upon them, and there is not trade to justify the expense of rebuilding, or repairing. 

 The project, in truth, was not founded in a wise calculation of the course of trade, and 

 perhaps would not have been attempted, but for a certain feeling of preference for 

 Baltimore over Philadelphia, which once prevailed in Lancaster, and which we liope to 

 see removed by a more free connnunication with Philadelphia, and a frank intercliango 

 of kind offices. 



Lancaster suffers, (in the estimation of sti-angers, at least,) for want of go<Kl water. 

 That in common use, derived from wells, is so strongly impregnated witli lime, ius to 

 be disaoreeable to the taste, and unfit for many domestic purposes. We woidd recom- 

 mend this subject to the serious attention of the friends of Temperance in that city. 



