considered worthy of dismissal. The waybills handed to the drivers with the reins often bore the words: "Make this time or we'll find some one who will." Competition in the matter of speed was as intense as it is now in the days of steam. A thousand legends of these rivalries still linger in story and tradition. Defeated competitors were held accountable by their companies and the loads or condition of their horses were seldom accepted as excuses. Couplets were often conjured up containing some brief story of defeat with a cutting sting for the vanquished driver:
"If you take a seat in Stockton's line
You are sure to be passed by Pete Burdine."
or,
"Said Billy Willis to Peter Burdine
You had better wait for the oyster line."
According to a contemporary account, in September, 1837, Van Buren's presidential message was carried from Baltimore (Canton Depot) to Philadelphia, a distance of one hundred and forty miles, in four hours and forty-three minutes. Seventy miles of the journey was done by rail, three by boat, and eighty-seven by horse.
