146 



NEW ENGLAND. 



eral are pulmonary complaints, arising from the severity and variableness of the climate, but 

 too often in females from exposure with insufficient dress. The longevity in iNew England is 

 about as great as that of any other country.* 



19. Traveling. Few countries have such facilities for cheap, agreeable, and expeditious 

 traveling. The waters of sufficient depth and the ocean itself, have numerous convenient 

 steamboats ; the roads, wnicn are generally fine, are thronged with stagecoaches, most of 

 which are good. But on many of the great routes, the stagecoaches dragged by horses have 

 given way to the easier and more expeditious railroad car, which is driven along by locomotive 

 steam-engines at the rate of 20 or 25 miles an hour. A railroad consists essentially of an arti- 

 ficial level made across the country by cutting through the hills and filling up or bridging over 

 the valleys ; and on which are laid iron rails, resting on wooden or stone supports or sleepers. 

 In this way t'le least possible friction is opposed to the motion of the wheels over the surface. 

 After the most favorable route has been determined by preliminary surveys, the engineer being 

 governed in his decision by the directness of the route, and the face of the country, the road 

 is graded, that is, the level roadway is constructed by cuttings and embankments, as before 

 mentioned, and is ready for receiving the rails ; these last are generally fixed on stone blocks 

 or wooden cross-pieces, laid at short distances from each other, in such a manner as not to be 

 heaved by the frost, but are sometimes attached to longitudinal timbers extending continuously 

 the whole length of the road. The cars are often made of great size, so as to accommodate 

 from 50 to 60 passengers, and to admit of being warmed in winter ; in some instances they 

 contain neat private rooms for ladies or families. To a train of these cars, sometimes con- 

 taining from 250 to 300 passengers, a locomotive steam-engine is then attached, and at the 

 given signal this little traveling village starts ofi;" at a rapid rate, realizing the old fairy stories 

 of the seven leagued boots. When there are hills in the route too lofty or rugged to be cut 

 down, a tunnel or subterranean gallery is sometimes made through them for hundreds of feet, 

 or they are passed by means of inclined planes, in which case stationary engines are commonly 

 employed to overcome the increased resistance, occasioned by the rise of ground. This con- 

 trivance of railroads is one of the most important inventions of modern times, and is especial 

 ly useful in this country, where the distances from city to city are so great, and the ordinary 

 roads and coaches often so poor. A traveler is seldom seen on horseback in the Eastern 

 States. The fare in the coaches varies from 3 to 5 dollars for 100 miles. In Boston, 

 there are hourly coaches, which run during the day, to all the principal adjacent villages, at a 

 very low rate. 



The most common vehicles of New England are coaches, covered and open wagons, 

 and one-horse chairs or chaises. The light wagon is used in almost every family in the 

 country. In winter, the sleighs or sledges are everywhere in motion, and the horses are 

 dressed, as the law directs, in strings of bells. The sound has an enlivening eflect, though the 

 design of the bells is to prevent accidents by collision ; for a sleigh and horse go so quietly 

 and noiselessly on the snow, that some warning to the ear is necessary, especially at night, or 

 Avhen it snows. Sometimes the roads are so blocked up by drifts of snow, that it is a week 

 before they are passable, and much longer on the less public routes. On these occasions the 

 people turn out in great numbers and "break out" the roads, as if the employment were a 

 holiday sport. Some twenty or thirty precede with snow-shovels, and cut a path for the cattle, 

 which sometimes follow in lines of thirty pair. The road to church, is the first cleared, which 

 is also generally the road to the village. When the snow is deep and light, with no crust or 

 ice upon it, that will bear the weight of a man, snow-shoes are worn. These are made Vvith 

 rims of nearly an oval shape, and covered with a net work of sinew. When lashed to the foot, 

 they sink in a light snow about four inches. 



The best inns in New England are many of them excellent in some respects, but are by no 

 means equal to those of England. They are abundantly provided with food, but this is not 

 always well cooked. They are also deficient in cleanliness, and in those attentions to the wants 

 of a traveler, which alone can make him feel at home, when he is in a strange place. Thesb 



* The only epidemics, that have been known to prevail 

 In New England, are the followinir : In U)47, a pestilen- 

 tial fever, as it was called, si)read throuu-h the whole con- 

 tinent as far as the West India islands. In 1655, a similar 

 disease prevailed in New England. In 1735 the scarlet 

 fever made its appearance in New Hampshire, and ex- 

 tended westward and southward throughout the British 



colonies; it lias appeared several times since that peilod 

 In the early part of the revolutionary war, the dysentery 

 swept off many persons. In 1811 a new disease, and pe- 

 culiar to this country, by the name of the spotted fever 

 appeared in the interior, but its operations were not vevy 

 extensive. 



