Passenger traffic, notwithstanding the slow speed, amounted to a considerable volume. Packets were in use, that for workmanship, finish and convenience vied with the Pullman cars which later supplanted them. They were decorated in bright colors--green, yellow, brown, red, white, blue--with windows and panels done in contrasting and harmonizing shades and tints. On the interior in addition to compartments for the crew which were separated from those for the passengers, were usually a large general assembly room ordinarily occupied by the men for lounging, writing letters, playing games, and protection from stormy weather. There was a special cabin for the women, also lavatories and conveniences for men and women. In addition there were kitchen, lockers, and cupboards. Three times daily the assembly saloon was transformed into a dining room by re-arranging and setting the tables which constituted a regular part of the room’s furniture with others of a temporary nature, carried stored away on the boat, into one long table lengthwise of the room. The captain and his two assistants--the mule driver and steersman not on duty at the time--performed this service and waited upon tables. At night both the saloon and ladies’ cabin were converted into dormitories by attaching shelves about 6 feet long and 3¹⁄₂ feet wide to hooks in the wall, the outer edges being held up by wooden supports extending from the floor. In each berth was placed a “mattress,” that is a tick having some straw in it and a pillow of similar make. The passenger usually furnished his own sheets if they were wanted, although some of the later boats were supplied with sheets and coverlets. The berths were three high along the wall and had curtains suspended in front of them. The passengers selected their berths in the order in which they had secured passage, late comers being obliged to sleep on the tables or on the floor. Sometimes the whole floor was thus covered. Travelers complained bitterly of the mosquitoes. Crude as this may seem at the present time, these packets were no doubt the forerunners of the present Pullman palace car. The outside decks and the roof of the car were utilized for promenading, lounging and sight-seeing. They were often enlivened by music and dancing. Greeley[53] speaks of the “‘cent and a half a mile, mile and a half an hour,’ line boats.” The expression he puts in quotations as though it were common or a slogan. Charges on the Wabash and Erie Canal in Indiana were for the 221 miles from Cincinnati to Fort Wayne, $6.75; 138 miles from LaFayette to Fort Wayne, $3.75; 104 miles from Fort Wayne to Toledo, $3.25.[54] An average of about three cents per mile.