It is probable that the manufacturer referred to in the above was George Black, as that gentleman made "tobies" in Washington at an early day, and continued in the business for many years, and until he became quite wealthy. In his later days his trade was very large and profitable. Old wagoners hauled his "tobies" over the road in large quantities, as they did subsequently the Wheeling "tobies," which were, and continued to be, a favorite brand. Many habitual smokers prefer a Washington or a Wheeling "toby" to an alleged fine, high priced cigar, and the writer of these lines is one of them. As has been noted, the "rubber," called brake at this day, was not in use when the National Road was first thrown open for trade and travel. Instead, as related by John Deets, sapplings, cut at the summit of the hills, were shaped and fashioned to answer the ends of the "rubber," and at the foot of the hills taken off and left on the roadside. E. B. Dawson, esq., the well known, well posted and accurate antiquarian of Uniontown, and, by the way, deeply interested in the history of the National Road, is authority for the statement that one Jones, of Bridgeport, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, claimed to be the inventor of the "rubber." He, however, never succeeded in obtaining letters patent, if, indeed, he ever applied. There were other claimants, among them the Slifers, of Maryland, mentioned elsewhere in these pages. The real and true inventor seems to be unknown, and yet it is an invention of vast importance, and with legal protection would have yielded the inventor an immense fortune.