. A history of Pennsylvania. 1 .^ -Mi rlMi: % The Old State Capitol, i 819-1897 ^^^-^: ? advantage of each. So great was the interest in internalimprovements that in 1817 Pennsylvania appropriated$500,000 for roads, bridges, and canals. Nowhere in thecountry were there more miles of turnpikes, or longer orfiner bridges. One extensive scheme, however — that of uniting Pitts-burgh and Philadelphia — was in time fi83i-i8^:;2) accom-plished. A canal was built from Pittsburgli to Johnstown,one hundred and four miles, where the boats were carriedover the mountains by what was called a Portage Railro
. A history of Pennsylvania. 1 .^ -Mi rlMi: % The Old State Capitol, i 819-1897 ^^^-^: ? advantage of each. So great was the interest in internalimprovements that in 1817 Pennsylvania appropriated$500,000 for roads, bridges, and canals. Nowhere in thecountry were there more miles of turnpikes, or longer orfiner bridges. One extensive scheme, however — that of uniting Pitts-burgh and Philadelphia — was in time fi83i-i8^:;2) accom-plished. A canal was built from Pittsburgli to Johnstown,one hundred and four miles, where the boats were carriedover the mountains by what was called a Portage Railroad, 2l8 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA on which cars, or canal boats in sections loaded upon cars, weredrawn up and let down inclined planes by means of stationaryengines and endless wire ropes. There were five of theseincUned planes on each side of the Alleghany Mountams;. Carrying Canal Boats over the Alleghany Mountains the eastern terminus of the Portage Road was at Hollidays-burg and the western at Johnstown.^ Introduction of Anthracite Coal. — One of the largest andmost valuable industries of Pennsylvania — that of mininganthracite coal — dates from this period. Hard coal had beenused in small quantities as early as 1798, and bituminous, orsoft coal, had been in use at Pittsburgh, but as wood was cheaphttle effort was made to use hard coal. The story is told thatsome boatloads of hard coal were sent from Mauch Chunkto Philadelphia, but there was no sale and the coal was usedto pave sidewalks. ^ The establishment of the Pennsylvania Railroad did away with the Portagesystem. POLITICS AND INTERNAL LMrROVKMKNTS 219 In 1812 two men, Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, werepartners in making iron wire. They bought a cart-load ofhard coal and tried to use it in their furnace, but unsuccess-fully. Another load was tried, but the heat needed could notbe
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