The people of New York City like to say that Philadelphia is slow, and would almost make one think that all the men there wear Quaker hats and act like William Penn. The citizens of Philadelphia, however, are not much troubled by this, for they have a great and busy city, and they like to remind the men of New York that Philadelphia is a “city of homes,” and that the people do not live in great tenement houses nor do all their business in “sky scrapers.” The Liberty Bell hangs there, the Continental Congress sat there, and the home of the federal government was there before it was in Washington. For a long time the Quaker City was the metropolis of America, but as New York and Baltimore grew they took away some of the trade that otherwise would have gone to the city on the Delaware. It also ceased to be the capital of the nation and thus had to depend more on its shipping and inland business. Now to do much inland business it was necessary not only to reach the rich lowlands at hand but also to send out across the mountains. This could not be done without roads. When men went from New York City across the mountains they found the Great Lakes and the rich plains on their shores. So Philadelphia, looking over her mountain wall, saw the noble valley of the Ohio river and the young Pittsburg at its gateway. As New York found a route to the West, so Philadelphia sought out its highways to the country beyond the Appalachian mountains. In this chapter and the next we shall see where these highways ran. The first roads were little like those of to-day, and the stage drivers had to be steady, cool-headed men. There were many stumps and logs in what was called a road, and the teams were guided less by reins than by shouts in a kind of language which the horses understood. A traveler between Philadelphia and Washington said that often the driver would call to the passengers to lean out of the carriage on one side or the other, so that their weight might keep the balance even. He would say, “Now, gentlemen, to the right!” and the men would lean out as far as they could; or, “Now, gentlemen, to the left!” and over they would swing to the other side. [Illustration: PENNSYLVANIA PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD  ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD  -+-+-+-+-+- NATIONAL ROAD  - - - - - - TURNPIKE FROM PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURG  -·-·-·-·-·- ]