Early Means of Communication 227 



"Leave West Chester every day at a.m., and No. 18 



Bowery, New York, at half past p.m. 



"Fare to West Farms, 50 Cts. 1 ,„. A ^ ,, 



tit i. ™. c 1 • n^ \ Winter Arrangement. 



West Chester, 62^ Cts. \ b 



These prices certainly seem very moderate when we take 

 into consideration the distance. 



Before the days of the elevated railroads, a favorite route 

 of travel was by means of the fast boats running on the East 

 River to Peck Slip, Manhattan, from Harlem Bridge. When 

 the author has seen the Sylvan Lake, the Sylvan Dell, or the 

 Sylvan Stream, or the rival boats, Harlem and Morrisania, 

 upon the waters of the St. Lawrence, the St. John's River in 

 Florida, or Chesapeake Bay, he has recalled the pleasant sail 

 through the East River, with the beautiful estates lining its 

 banks, not then outlined against the sky with towering sky- 

 scrapers and tenements. Smaller boats used to ply upon the 

 Harlem River as far as Kingsbridge, and this, too, within the 

 last decade of the nineteenth century. After the railroad was 

 built through the Borough, the stages used to carry passengers 

 from outlying sections to the stations along the railroad, a 

 great convenience, as about 1840 to 1850 many wealthy New 

 York merchants began to buy estates in the Borough and to 

 erect fine residences ; and the railroad and the stages combined 

 made them easily accessible. 



