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Title: The traveller's oracle; or, maxims for locomotion, part 2 (of 2) : Containing precepts for promoting the pleasures and hints for preserving the health of travellers, 2nd. ed.
Author: Jervis, John, Kitchiner, William
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The traveller's oracle; or, maxims for locomotion, part 2 (of 2) : Containing precepts for promoting the pleasures and hints for preserving the health of travellers, 2nd. ed." ***
MAXIMS FOR LOCOMOTION, PART 2 (OF 2) ***
Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other
spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
Italics are represented thus _italic_.
THE
TRAVELLER’S ORACLE;
OR,
MAXIMS FOR LOCOMOTION:
CONTAINING
PRECEPTS FOR PROMOTING THE PLEASURES,
AND
HINTS FOR PRESERVING THE HEALTH
OF
TRAVELLERS.
* * * * *
PART II.
COMPRISING THE
HORSE AND CARRIAGE KEEPER’S ORACLE;
RULES FOR PURCHASING AND KEEPING OR JOBBING
HORSES AND CARRIAGES;
ESTIMATES OF EXPENSES OCCASIONED THEREBY;
AND AN EASY PLAN FOR
ASCERTAINING EVERY HACKNEY-COACH FARE.
By JOHN JERVIS,
AN OLD COACHMAN.
THE WHOLE REVISED
By WILLIAM KITCHINER, M.D., &c.
_SECOND EDITION._
LONDON:
HENRY COLBURN, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
1827.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY J. MOYES, TOOK’S COURT, CHANCERY LANE.
THE
HORSE AND CARRIAGE KEEPER’S
ORACLE;
OR,
RULES FOR PURCHASING AND KEEPING
OR
JOBBING HORSES AND CARRIAGES;
ACCURATE ESTIMATES
OF
EVERY EXPENSE OCCASIONED THEREBY;
AND
AN EASY PLAN
FOR
ASCERTAINING EVERY HACKNEY-COACH FARE.
CONTENTS OF PART II.
INTRODUCTION 3
Estimate of Keeping a Groom and one Horse
in your own Stable 11
Estimate of the Expense of Keeping one Horse
at a Livery Stable 15
Estimates of various Carriages 16
Expense of Keeping a Coachman, a Carriage, and two Horses
in your own Coach-House and Stable 19
Liberal Plan of Keeping a Carriage 33
Estimate of Hiring a Carriage for any short Period 39
Estimate of Jobbing Horses 44
Estimate and Description of a Handsome Town Chariot 50
Carriages and Coachmaking 59
Of the Construction of a Chariot 65
Of Axle-Trees 93
Of the Wheels 99
The Ornaments of Carriages 104
Cautions against Purchasing of Cheap Second-hand Carriages 112
Of the Harness 119
Of Second-hand Harness 121
Travelling Carriages 123
Description of Buonaparte’s Travelling Chariot 127
Duties on Male Servants, Carriages, and Horses 131
The Art of Managing Coachmen 133
Of Evening Parties 136
Of Coachmen and Orders 142-150
Of Punctuality 151
Of Lending your Carriage 160
The Fifteen Things which a good Coachman Won’t Do 165
Coachman’s Tools 170
Of the New Road and Regent’s Park 173
Of Driving 184
Of Care of the Carriage 201
Of Repairing Carriages 212
On Horses 218
Hints to Purchasers of Horses 223
To Preserve the Health of Horses 238
To Make a Horse have a Fine Coat 246
On the Food of Horses 249
On sending Horses to Grass 257
Colds of Horses 261
Of Stables 266
Management of Horses in case of Fire 272
Hints to Horsemen 273
On the Rough Shodding of Horses in Frosty Weather 281
Of the Comparative Expense of a Private Carriage and of
Hiring of Hackney Coaches 286
An Easy Plan of Ascertaining every Fare of a Hackney Coach 292
When and How to Call a Coach 312
Hackney Coach and Chariot Fares 318
Specimen of Cary’s New Guide for Ascertaining
Hackney Coach Fares 324
MUSIC TO PART II.
TRIO to face page 90
THE TRAVELLER’S ORACLE, PART II.
THE
HORSE AND CARRIAGE KEEPER’S
ORACLE.
INTRODUCTION.
The following Estimates of the Expense of keeping Horses and Carriages,
are Accurate Statements, they cannot be well kept for less, and they
need not cost more:--the Reader will have no difficulty in finding a
Hackneyman, and a Coachmaker, who will furnish him with them on the
terms herein set down; for we have adopted a mean between thoughtless
Extravagance on the one hand, and rigid Parsimony on the other.
It is a very frequent, and a very just complaint, that _the Expense of
a Carriage_ is not so much its _First Cost_, as the charge of _Keeping
it in Repair_. Many are deterred from indulging themselves therewith,
from a consciousness that they are so utterly unacquainted with the
management thereof, they are apprehensive the uncertainty of the
Expense, and the Trouble attending it, will produce Anxiety, which will
more than counterbalance the Comfort to be derived from it.
Few Machines vary more in quality than Carriages, the charge[1]
for them varies as much;--the best advice that can be offered to
the Reader, is, to “Deal with a Tradesman of Fair Character, and
established circumstances.--Such a person has every inducement to
charge reasonably, and has too much at stake, to forfeit, by any silly
Imposition, the Credit that he has been years in establishing by
careful Integrity.”----_Dr. Kitchiner’s_ HOUSEKEEPER’S LEDGER, 8vo.
1826, p. 20.
Those Carriages which cost least, are not always _the Cheapest_, but
often turn out, in the end, to be the _Dearest_.
Of Chariots, that appear to be equally handsome to a common Eye, which
has not been taught to look minutely into the several parts of their
machinery; One may be _cheap_ at 250_l._, and Another may be _dear_ at
200_l._: notwithstanding, the Vender of the latter may get more Profit
than the Builder of the former.
_The faculty of Counting_, too frequently, masters all the other
Faculties, and is the grand source of deception which Speculating
Shopkeepers are ever ready to take advantage of;--for catching
the majority of Customers, _Cheapness_ is the surest bait in the
World,--how many more people can count the difference between 20 and
25, than can judge of _the Quality_ of the article they are about to
buy?
_Quantity_ strikes the eye at once.--It is recorded, that a certain
King having commanded his Treasurer to give an Artist a Thousand
Pounds for some work which his faithful Minister knew would be most
liberally paid for with half that sum; the sagacious Treasurer ordered,
Five Hundred Pounds in Silver to be laid upon a Table in a Room which
he knew that his Majesty would pass through with him. On seeing the
heap of Silver, the King exclaimed, “What’s all that Money for?” The
Treasurer replied, “Sire, it is half of the Sum which your Majesty
commanded me to give to the Artist.”--On which, the King said, “Hey,
hey! a deal of Money--a deal of Money--Half of that will do!!!”
_Quantity_ may be estimated by an uneducated Eye--to discern _the
Quality_ of things, requires Experience and Judgment--capital Guides;
but with which the purchasers of Horses and Carriages are Years before
they acquire sufficient acquaintance to derive any benefit from them,
and their chief security is, to deal with Persons who have justly
acquired, and long maintained, an unblemished Reputation.
I must here protest against a Custom which it is high time was
abolished, that of asking _Guineas_ instead of _Pounds_,--as Guineas
are coined no more, there is no pretence for continuing this trick of
charging 5_l. per Cent extra_! Those who do it, know that nobody would
give them 105 _Pounds_; but, under the jingle of 100 _Guineas_, they
contrive to poke an additional Five Pounds out of your pocket!
As we have earnestly advised, that _the Coachman_ may be made
independent of _the Coachmaker_, so let the latter be entirely
independent of the former.
Be not so perfunctory, as to permit your Coachman to order what he
pleases. If you send a Carriage to be repaired, with the usual Message,
“To do any little Jobs that are wanted,” you will most likely not have
a little to pay.
When any Repair is required, desire your Coachman to tell you; examine
it with your own Eyes, and with your own hand write the order to the
Coachmaker, &c. for every thing that is wanted; and warn him you will
not pay for any Jobs, &c. not so ordered, and desire him to keep such
Orders and return them to you when he brings his Bill, that you may see
it tallies therewith, and you may keep a little Book yourself, into
which you may copy such Orders.
_Counsellor Cautious_ went one step further; and before any work was
begun, required a Note, stating for how much, and in how long, the
person would undertake to completely perform it.
However well built originally, the Durability of the Beauty and the
Strength of Carriages, depends much upon how they are managed;--they
are as much impaired by those to whose care they are entrusted, not
understanding, or not performing, the various operations which preserve
them, as they are by the Wear occasioned by Work.
_In hiring a Coachman_, his having a due knowledge of how to take care
of a Carriage, is of as much importance as his experience in Horses, or
his skill in Driving.
Persons who order Carriages, are frequently disappointed in the
convenience and appearance of them, from not giving their Directions
in terms sufficiently explicit;--when those who buy Carriages make
any such a mistake, it is said, that those who sell are not always
remarkably anxious to rectify it, unless at the expense of the
proprietor.
An Acquaintance of the Editor’s, ordered that the interior of a New
Chariot should be arranged exactly like his former Carriage:--when
it was finished, he found that there were several very disorderly
deviations from the old plan, which were extremely disagreeable to
him:--the Builder said, civilly enough, that he was exceedingly sorry,
and would soon set it all right--which he did; but presented a Bill of
Ten pounds for mending these mistakes, which having arisen entirely
from his own Inattention to the fitting up of the Old Carriage, his
Customer successfully resisted the payment of, having been prudent
enough to have the Agreement for building the Carriage, worded, “That
it should be finished _in all respects to his entire satisfaction, by a
certain Time, for a certain Sum_.”
To the end of this work is added a Copious _Glossary_, and an _Index_,
which will readily conduct the Reader to the various subjects, and be
found extremely useful in explaining the Technical terms, &c. commonly
used by Coachmakers.
The Editor has endeavoured to explain the various points in so plain a
manner, that persons who are previously entirely unacquainted with the
subject, may calculate exactly what will be the Expense, and ascertain
pretty accurately the best manner of managing, and of estimating the
pretensions of those they are about to employ, either to build or to
take care of a Carriage, &c., in almost as little time as they can read
this little Book; in which it is hoped that they will find Amusement
blended with useful Instruction, and soon gain such a general knowledge
of the subject, as will effectually protect them from Imposition:--at
all events, the Editor is quite sure, that it will soon save the
Purchaser more than double what he has been so good as to give his
friend the old Coachman for the following advice.--Now _Cent per Cent_,
even in these times, when it is said that Cash is scarce, is quite as
large a profit as can be made by most Purchases! Therefore, the Editor
sends _Mr. Jervis’s_ Book to Press, with a contented conscience, and a
hearty wish, that all who buy it may be able to invest all their Money
to equal advantage.
ESTIMATE No. 1.
EXPENSE OF KEEPING A GROOM AND ONE HORSE IN YOUR OWN STABLE.
A Saddle-Horse being but of little service during November, December,
January, and February, during these four Months Economical Equestrians
send their Nags to a Straw-Yard.
Sportsmen say, that nothing does a Horse more good than a Winter’s Run
once in Two or Three years--it far exceeds turning to Grass in Summer,
when the Flies are troublesome.
_The Price at Straw-Yards_ varies from 3_s._ 6_d._ to 5_s._ a week,
depending upon the Straw, which is contingent on the Corn Crops: some
Horses sleep in at Night, and have Hay given them, or at least ordered
for them, in which case, 7_s._ per Week is charged.
£ _s._ _d._
The Straw-Yard for one Horse, for 17 Weeks,
say at 4_s._ 6_d._ per Week, will be 3 16 6
This Holiday is very beneficial to the Horse, especially to his Legs
and Feet, which, when worn down by hard work, or cut up by flinty Roads
or bad Shoeing, are thereby greatly refreshed and strengthened.
“_Rest makes a New Horse._”
For the remaining 35 Weeks, the allowance of Provisions per week
_cannot be less_ than
£ _s._ _d._
1 Truss of Straw[2], at 36_s._ per Load 0 1 0
1 Truss and a half of hay, at £5 per Load 0 4 2
¾ peck of Oats per Day, is per Week 5¼ pecks,
and at 25_s._ per Quarter 0 4 2
------------
Food per Week 0 9 4
35
------------
Food for 35 Weeks 16 6 8
Expense of Horse in Straw-Yard, brought forward 3 16 6
Taking to and from the Straw-Yard 0 10 0
------------
Annual Keep 20 13 2
A Saddle-Horse, on an average, is shod about
Once in four weeks, and the set of Shoes costs
5_s._; Nine Sets of Shoes 2 5 0
The Annual Duty 1 8 9
------------
Annual Expense £24 6 11
------------
OBS.--This Allowance for Provision is hardly sufficient for _Horses
that do hard work_, which require a Peck of Oats per Day, a Truss and a
half of Straw, the same of Hay, with some good Chaff, and occasionally
a little Bran; also a handful of Beans in Wet Weather, especially to
Horses that work at Night.
A Hackneyman’s allowance for Two Horses is a Sack of Oats per week,
which give, if good measure, Four good feeds a day; Country measure,
will run nearly five feeds.
The above is the Annual Expense--exclusive of
Stable Rent--Interest of Money paid for the
purchase of the Horses--Saddles--Bridles--Horse
Cloths, &c.--Farrier’s Bills for Physic--Turnpikes--Travelling
Expenses--Groom’s Wages and Livery, &c., which, excepting
the difference of charge between
a Coachman’s Box Coat, and a Groom’s
Great Coat, and the difference of Rent
and Taxes on a Single Stall Stable,
(which it is often excessively difficult to obtain
contiguous to your House), and on Two
Stalls and a Coach-house, is, according to the
£ _s._ _d._
Expense of keeping a Groom or Coachman
given in Estimate No. 4, about 95 0 0
Annual Keep 24 6 11
---------------
Total £119 6 11
---------------
N.B.--The Hackneyman’s Charge for _Jobbing a Saddle Horse_, and finding
Stabling, &c. is, _per Annum_, about £70.
ESTIMATE No. II.
EXPENSE OF KEEPING ONE HORSE AT A LIVERY STABLE.
At some _Livery Stables_, your Horses will be taken as much care of as
they can be in your own: at others, they fare very sadly;--therefore,
cautiously inquire into the Character of the person keeping
them;--moreover, if his Rent is in arrear, your Carriage and Horses may
be seized and sold by his Landlord.
£ _s._ _d._
Four Feeds per Day, at £1. 1_s._ per Week 54 12 0
Hostler, 1_s._ or 1_s._ 6_d._ per Week--a Gratuity of a
shilling now and then to the Under Hostler,
who looks after the Chaise, or attends to the
Horse, together, perhaps, equal to about 4 0 0
Shoeing, and Duty per Annum 4 13 9
-------------
£63 5 9
-------------
ESTIMATE No. III.
A CABRIOLET AND HARNESS,
£ _s._ _d._
When quite new, if Jobbed, will be, for one
Year, from £30 to 40 0 0
Tax thereon 3 5 0
For Standing, and care at a Livery Stable, per
Week, 1_s._ 6_d._ 3 18 0
--------------
£47 3 0
--------------
The Price of a new Two-Wheel One Horse
Chaise--Dennett--Tilbury--Stanhope, &c. is from £40 to £90.
Of a Cabriolet, from £100 to £130.
Of a Four-Wheel One Horse Chaise, with head to it, from £100 to £150.
Of a Pair of the best Strong Gig Wheels, with Ash felleys and patent
hoop tires, about £7.
Wheels, at first, want only new Shoeing, or turning the Tire, as they
wear upon one edge principally: this is done for about 20_s._ or
25_s._, and they will last almost as long as at first.
New-tireing a Pair of Gig Wheels with Patent hoop-tire, costs about
£2. 10_s._
MEM.--_When going to Drive_, not only inquire, but give a look yourself
at the Wheels, &c. before you set off--trust this to no one--make sure
that the Bridle and the Bit fit easy to the Mouth, and see that the
Collar and every part of the Harness fit comfortably:--if your Horse
tosses his head up and down continually, he is not easy.
“Safe bind, Safe find,”
is at no time a better maxim than when preparing for a Journey.
“_A Carriage with but two Wheels_ should be built so that the principal
part of the weight is on the Axle-Tree, (instead of the Horse’s back),
and the Carriage part of the Vehicle ought to be on Springs, as well
as the Body: this prevents the Bolts and Nuts working loose, and the
Joints opening, &c. _The Lamps_ should be at the sides; but the Dashing
Iron ought to have in front a socket on each side to place the Lamps
in at Night, which will throw the light before the Horse’s head, and
prevent any shadow from the Wheels--when they are used at the Sides,
you see your danger just too late. _The Shafts_ should be plated
underneath with Iron, or if your Horse falls, they are apt to break,
which may occasion a dangerous fall to the Persons in the Vehicle.”--A.
E.
CARRIAGES WITH TWO[3] WHEELS
Are the cheapest, and have the advantage over all others for Lightness
and Expedition; but MEM. If the Horse be ever so sure-footed, and the
Driver be ever so skilful and steady, they are still but Dangerous
Vehicles--which will only be used by those who are compelled to
sacrifice Safety to Celerity, and Comfort to Cheapness:--if risks,
however, are incurred by this mode of conveyance, Expense is certainly
diminished, for the rate of charges in Travelling is considerably less
in proportion for one Horse and Two Wheels, than for two Horses and
Four Wheels.
ESTIMATE No. IV.
EXPENSE OF KEEPING A COACHMAN, AND A CARRIAGE AND TWO HORSES, IN YOUR
OWN COACH-HOUSE AND STABLE.
£. _s._ _d._
A Peck of _Oats_ per Day for each Horse, when
Corn is 25_s._ per Quarter; say 24 Quarters
per Annum 30 0 0
A Quarter of a Truss of Hay for each Horse
per Day, at £5 per Load; say 5½ Loads per
Annum 27 10 0
One Truss of Straw each Horse per week; say
three Loads per Annum, at 36_s._ 5 8 0
_Beans_, which are only wanted when Horses are
worked very hard; and _Physic_, which (excepting
the _Persuader_ prescribed--see Index)
is as little wanted by a Horse, as it is
by a Man. See OBS. _to Estimate No. I._ 4 0 0
Twenty-eight sets of _Shoes_, at 5_s._ per set 7 0 0
_Farriers’ Bills_,--the Risk of your Horses
turning out unsound and inefficient,--the
Expense of hiring other Horses while your
own are Ill, &c., and the Interest of the Money
paid for the purchase of the Horses, &c.,
cannot be estimated at less than £20. per
Annum for each Horse 40 0 0
-----------
113 18 0
Those Persons who are most dependent upon their Carriage, frequently
require it to carry them only a Mile or Two, and may save the expense
of hiring another Horse while one of their own is Ill, or is in want of
a Day’s rest, by having a pair of Shafts made to fit on, and so use it
with only one Horse--which will do all the work required by many infirm
persons, almost as easily as Two:--we wonder that more Chariots are not
so constructed.
The preceding Calculation shews that the Expense of keeping Two Horses,
and the Risk of loss by Horses, &c. cannot well be set down at less
than £113. 18_s._ per Annum.
A Hackneyman will furnish a pair of Horses, take all the Hazards, and
bear all the expenses enumerated above; at from £135. to £160. _per
Annum_, according to the quantity of Work, and the Age, Colour, and
Quality of the Horses required.
If a Pair of Horses are hired for a Year, and they are given up at any
time within that period, it is customary to give a couple of months’
notice, or a couple of months’ money. Have a written agreement about
this.
The following is my Agreement for hiring Horses:--
“MEMORANDUM. Mr. Thurston agrees to furnish Dr. Kitchiner with a Pair
of Horses at £140. per Annum, to be paid Quarterly; and if Dr. K.
wishes to give them up, he must give two months’ notice, or two months’
money: _i. e._ £24.
“From January 5th, 1827.
WM. KITCHINER.
JAS. THURSTON.”
I would not recommend a Carriage Horse to be less than Seven years old,
especially if to be driven in _Crowded Streets_:--Horses that have not
been taught how to behave in such situations, are extremely awkward and
unmanageable, and often occasion Accidents.
As I have said, the Price charged for Job Horses varies as the goodness
of the Horses, and as the Work required, does. Some persons do not
Exercise their Horses enough;--others require Two Horses to do as much
Labour as should be done by Three. Again, the price of Horses varies
from less than £80. a Pair, to twice £80. a piece.
_If you keep Horses for useful purposes_, you must not be too nice
about either their Colour, or the condition of their Coats.
_The ordinary Town Carriage Work_ can be done just as well by a Pair of
Horses, which may be had for £70. or £80. as with those that cost three
times that Sum; indeed it will most likely be done better. If you have
Horses worth an hundred pounds a piece, you will be afraid of using
them when you most want them; _i. e._ in Cold and Wet Weather, for fear
of their catching Cold and breaking their Coats, &c. Moreover, _the
Elegance of an Equipage_, in the Eyes of most people, depends more
upon the Carriage, Harness, and Liveries, than upon the Horses:--all
can judge of the former, but few of the latter; and, provided they are
the same Size and of the same Colour, the Million will be satisfied.
_Horses in Pairs_ are sometimes worth double what they are, singly--and
Horsedealers do not like to buy any but of the most common Colours; _i.
e._ Bays and Browns; because of the ease in matching them. Horses of
extraordinary Colours may be purchased at a proportionably cheap rate,
unless they are in Pairs, and happen to be an extraordinary good match,
when they will sometimes bring an extravagant price.
_An Ancient Equestrian_ gives the following advice; and also gave us
all those Paragraphs to which are affixed the initials A. E.:--
“_If you have occasion to match your Horse_, do not let the Dealer know
you are seeking for a _Match_ Horse, or he will demand a higher price;
nor do not send your servant to select for you.”--See the “_Hints to
Purchasers of Horses_,” in CHAP. IV.
If you will be contented with the useful Qualities of your Horses, _i.
e._ their Strength and Speed, and are not too nice about their matching
in Colour, you may be provided with capital Horses, at half the cost
of those who are particular about their Colour; and moreover, you may
easily choose such as will do double the service.
The Judgment and Liberality of the Proprietors are not so questionable
on account of the _Horses_ (which all the Wit and all the Wealth in
the World cannot always procure exactly what may be wished) as they
are about those works of Art, a _Carriage_ and a _Livery_; these, good
Taste and Liberality can always command. The difference in the charge
for the hire of an elegant New Carriage and a shabby Old one, does not
exceed £25. _per Annum_; and £10. _per Annum_ more will defray all the
extra expense incurred by giving a handsome Livery; so there is not 10
per Cent saved in the Shabbiest turn out.
As most people Job their Carriage Horses, we shall continue our
Estimate, and set down--
£. _s._ _d._
For a Pair of Jobbed Horses (the lowest price
at present) 135 0 0
The Duty on Two Horses 4 14 6
On a Four-Wheeled Carriage 6 0 0
On the Coachman 1 14 0
Wages[4] of the Coachman, not less than 10_s._ per
week 26 0 0
Board, ditto, ditto, at 14_s._ per week 36 8 0
N.B. If there are no Lodging Rooms over the
Coach-house, it is customary to allow a Coachman
about 4_s._ per Week, _i. e._ about £10. per Year,
to pay his Lodging.
Allowance for Oil and Grease, Towels and
Leathers, to clean the Carriage, _at least_ 1_s._
per Week 2 12 0
Rent of Coach-house and Stable 25 0 0
Tax on ditto 3 0 0
--------------
240 8 6
--------------
The advice of our great Dramatic Bard cannot be quoted more aptly than
in the following Maxim for choosing a Livery:--
“Costly thy Habit as thy Purse
Can buy, but not expressed in fancy,
Rich not gaudy: for the Apparel oft proclaims
The Man.”
_Shakespeare._
We recommend a Blue, Brown, Drab, or Green Livery, the whole of the
same Colour. To have a Coat of one Colour, and lined with another, a
Waistcoat of another, and the other Clothes of another Colour, claims
the Poet’s censure--it is “Gaudy”--unless for a full Dress Livery on
a Gala Day:--we equally disapprove of the Capes of a Box Coat being
alternately Blue and Yellow, or Brown and Red, &c.
_Coachman’s Livery._
Those who affect an elegant Equipage, usually give their Coachman
annually, say Two handsome Suits of what is termed the best Second
Cloth (what is called Livery Cloth is a little cheaper, but much
coarser, and not half so serviceable).
£. _s._ _d._
Brought forward 240 8 6
Light Blue Cloth Double-breasted Coat, edged
with Crimson, and lined with Shalloon same
colour as the Coat, with Gold-laced Collar
and Button Holes--
_Waistcoat_, Blue Kerseymere, with Shalloon
Sleeves;
_Plush Breeches_, lined, and gilt Knee Buckles 14 14 0
30 Large and 18 Small Buttons with Crest[5] and
Motto, &c. thereon 0 13 6
_Working Dress_, (once a Year), Drab Cord
Breeches, Coat, Waistcoat, and Overalls
(Drab Fustian, lined,) &c. 3 13 0
--------------
259 9 0
For those who make but little use of their Carriage, ONE LIVERY a
Year, or Two in Three Years, is enough, especially if you give a
Working-dress, as the Livery is then worn merely when he mounts the Box
to drive.
Those who give only ONE LIVERY IN A YEAR, should do that in April, so
that they may have the credit of it during the Summer months, while it
is seen: during the Winter it is almost always covered by the Box Coat;
when the Coat the man does his work in, will do as well as any. If a
Livery Coat has a Laced Collar, wearing the Box Coat over it, will soon
cut it to pieces.
_Counsellor Cautious_ never gave a Coachman a Livery till he had served
him for Three Months. Some Persons, instead of a Livery, allow 3_s._ or
4_s._ per Week extra, and the Coachman finds his own Clothes, a plain
Blue Coat; they giving him only a Hat and Great Coat.
£. _s._ _d._
Brought forward 259 9 0
A good full-made _Box Coat_, with six real Capes,
and lined with Shalloon, about £7. (according
to the number of Capes and the quality of the
Cloth, the price varies from £5. to £8.), once
in Three Years, at the end of which it is given
to the Coachman, per Annum 2 7 0
_Plain Liveries_, without Lace, &c. one-third
less, _i. e._ about £5. per Suit.
Two Plain _Hats_ 2 10 0
-----------
£264 6 0
With Gold Lace Binding, and a neat narrow Gold Band, they cost about
double the above sum.
Some give, Annually, one plain Hat for common use, and one edged with
Gold Lace and a Gold Band as a Dress Hat.
Those who like to see their Coachman neat and nice, give him a _Clothes
Box_ as well as a Clothes Brush, or, which is infinitely better, a
Cupboard six feet high, about three feet deep, and three feet wide,
with pegs to hang his Box Coat, Hat, and other Clothes on, which,
without such a case, are soon spoiled by the Dust of the Hay Loft.
£. _s._ _d._
Brought forward 264 6 0
The Yearly hire of a handsome new Chariot or
Coach and Harness, from £70. to £84.: if it
is hired for only three or four Years, and fitted
up with _Under-springs_, _Collinge’s Axles_, &c.,
and finished in the best style, as described in
Estimate No 9, it will be about 84 0 0
-------------
Total 348 6 0
To the above Estimate is to be added the charges of Turnpikes--Short
Baits[6]--Travelling Expenses, &c., extra Visiting, and numerous other
Expenses, which would not be incurred without a Carriage to carry you
to them: these will make the total amount of outgoings from keeping a
Carriage come up to not less than £400 _per Annum_.
The Editor is aware that the foregoing Computations are rather higher
than those random-guess Estimates, which some inexperienced persons
have published: however, his Calculations are neither more nor less
than the actual amount which he has himself paid; and he does not
believe that the business can be done properly for less than the Sums
set down;--therefore,
Prudent Peruser of the present Page,
To keep a Coach will add but Care to Age,
Unless your Annual Income is quite clear
Full Fifteen Hundred Pounds a Year.
ESTIMATE No. V.
The former is _The Usual and Liberal Plan of Keeping a Carriage_--it
cannot be kept so comfortably on any other; but we must also tell our
Readers _The Cheapest Plan_, which is about £100 per Annum less.
£. _s._ _d._
1st. Instead of giving £84 per Annum for a New
Carriage and Harness, made in the best style,
as per Estimate No. 9, you may hire an inferior,
or a vamped-up second-hand one for
about 60 0 0
A Hackneyman will supply a Pair of Horses, and
keep them, &c. in his Livery Stables, for 135 0 0
Standing of Carriage, and charge for cleaning
and greasing, &c. as in Estimate No. 6, per
annum, not less than 11 16 0
Duty on Horses and Carriage 10 14 6
A Grand managing Economist informed me
that he pays the Hostler at a Livery Stable 8_s._
per week additional, _i. e._ £20 per annum, to
do all the work usually done by the Coachman,
except driving the Carriage--he comes
for orders as a Coachman does, and brings
the Carriage to the Door, when his Man
Servant, who acts as Coachman[7], mounts the
Box and drives it; on its return, the Footman
drives it to the Stables, and the Hostler
does all the rest of the business usually done
by a Coachman 20 0 0
Extra Wages to a Footman for Driving, and
Box Coat, &c. not less than, per annum 8 0 0
------------
245 10 6
------------
OBS.--Few People but those who have either a very Strong Purse, or a
very Weak Person, really require a Carriage every day.
Twice, or Thrice in a week would be quite enough for many;--such will
do wisely, to find a Friend who will pay half of the Expense, and use
the Equipage on alternate days--and on Sundays let it rest.
ESTIMATE No. VI.
For those who wish for a Carriage merely as a matter of occasional
Parade, rather than of continual Convenience, and hardly require
it perhaps Two days in a Week, the cheapest plan is to purchase a
Carriage, and keep it at a Stable Yard, where, as often as they wish,
they can hire a pair of Horses: but a good Carriage must not stand in
a Public Yard, unless it is put into a private Coach-house, where it
can be carefully locked up:--if you pay a little extra for this, it is
money well spent.
£. _s._ _d._
The Expense then will be, the Interest of the
Money paid for the purchase of the Carriage
and Harness, (which we will suppose may
be bought second hand for about £200), and
keeping it in Repair, which, as it is but
seldom used, may be set down together at
(not less than,) per annum 30 0 0
Standing of it, at 3_s._ per week, per annum 7 16 0
For Oil and Grease, and to the Hostler for
cleaning the Carriage, from 1_s._ to 1_s._ 6_d._ per
week, per annum 4 0 0
Tax 6 0 0
-----------
47 16 0
And £1. 1_s._ per Day for Hire of Horses, and 5_s._ the Coachman. See
ESTIMATE NO. 7.
Thus, it appears, _To keep a Carriage, and to use it once in a Year,
costs £48. 2 s._!!!
The Hackneyman’s Charge for a Pair of Horses for three or four hours in
the middle of the Day, say from One till Five o’clock, is about 15_s._
From Four till Twelve at Night, that is, to take you to the Theatre or
out to Dinner, and to bring you Home after, is 12_s._
The Coachman’s fee for these Short Jobs, is about 2_s._ 6_d._
Many people do not require a Carriage more than twice in a Week; nor
then, more than for Three or Four hours: to such, the Saving will be
very great.
£. _s._ _d._
Standing charges of the Carriage, &c. as per
Estimate above 47 16 0
Horses and Coachman, for Four Hours, Twice
a Week, at 17_s._ 6_d._ each time 91 0 0
------------
Per Annum 138 16 0
------------
ESTIMATE No. VII.
HIRING FOR A SHORTER PERIOD THAN A YEAR.
If a Carriage be hired for a Day, a Week, or a Month, or for any time
less than a Year, the person who let it out pays the Duty.
The customary charge for those common Carriages, whether of Two or Four
Wheels, which are let out, is about 5_s._ per Day, or £5. per Month (28
Days).
_Open Carriages_ are charged higher, as the whole Year’s Duty is paid
upon them, though they are only used for a few Months.
When Coaches or Chariots are let by the Day or Week, the _Harness_ is
not included in the charge for them. Harness for a Pair of Horses is
charged 1_s._ per Day, or 5_s._ per Week.
Hired Carriages are expected to be turned out clean, greased, and fit
for immediate use:--examine them well before you take them; for if
any part breaks while in your use, you will be expected to pay for the
Repair thereof, unless you make a previous Agreement that it shall be
done by the person letting it.
Tell the person you hire of, how long you want the Carriage, and how
far you are going to travel:--he has then no excuse for not giving you
a sufficient Carriage.
The price of a Job during the dear Months, when the Town is full,
_i. e._ in April, May, and June, for a Chariot or Coach, a Pair of
Horses and Coachman, his Wages and Board Wages, the standing at the
Hackneyman’s, &c., and all charges included, is, (a little more or
less, according to the quality of the Horses and the Carriage), per
Month, (reckoning 28 Days), about £26.
The usual sum for _the Hire of a Coach or Chariot and Harness_, is,
according to the condition thereof, from £5. to £7. per Month:--if you
hire them of a Coachmaker, you will have more choice, and may get a
better Carriage.
_A Glass Coach_, or Chariot and Horses, not to travel beyond eight
miles from Town, may be hired, per Day, for from £1. 1_s._ to £1. 5_s._
The Coachman’s Fee is 5_s._
If he is employed all Day, especially if you go into the Country, it is
usual to give the Driver his Dinner.
For a distance exceeding eight miles from the place of letting, the
charge is 1_s._ 6_d._ per Mile out, and half that sum in returning.
For Three or Four Hours in the middle of the Day, 18_s._
The Coachman will expect about Half-a-Crown.
From Four till Twelve in the Evening, to take you out to Dinner, and to
bring you Home, 15_s._--Coachman, 2_s._ 6_d._
In either of the above cases, _if you find the Carriage_, the charge
will be from 3_s._ to 5_s._ less.
We subjoin a List of the charges for these things in Ireland.
MEETING OF THE COACH PROPRIETORS AND POST-MASTERS OF DUBLIN.
The Job Coach Proprietors and Post-Masters respectfully beg leave to
inform the Nobility, Gentry, their Friends, and the Public, that at a
Meeting of their Trade, held on Tuesday, the 25th of July, 1826, it was
Resolved--That in order to meet the exigency of the Times, the change
of Currency, and the advanced price of every article necessary for
their Trade, particularly forage, that from and after the 1st of August
next, the prices of Posting and Job Carriages will be as follow, in
British Currency.
POSTING.
_s._ _d._ British.
Chaise and Pair, with one or two passengers 1 1 per Mile.
Chaise and Pair, with three passengers 1 4 ditto.
Chaise and Four 2 2 ditto.
Coach and Four 2 6 ditto.
Pair of Horses to Gentlemen’s Chaise, one
or two passengers 1 4 ditto.
Ditto, with three passengers 1 6 ditto.
Ditto Gentleman’s Coach 1 6 ditto.
Four Horses to ditto 2 6 ditto.
Four Horses to Chaise 2 2 ditto.
JOB CARRIAGES.
Carriage and Pair for Town, from ten until
five, evening 12 0
Ditto, ditto, until twelve at night 17 0
Ditto, from six in the evening until twelve
at night 12 0
Pair of Horses to Gentlemen’s Carriages, same rates.
Resolved--That the sum of Ten Pence, demanded by Messengers sent to us
for Carriages, be discontinued.
Resolved--That we will not hire or employ any Coachman who has not a
written recommendation from his last employer to produce.
Resolved--That the foregoing List of Prices, together with the
Resolutions, be published in _The Dublin Evening Mail_, &c.
ESTIMATE No. VIII.
JOBBING HORSES.
We think that it is quite as Cheap, and are sure it is by far the most
Comfortable plan, to _Job Horses_:--if one of them falls sick or lame,
the Hackneyman immediately furnishes you with another--and you avoid a
vast deal of Inconvenience and Anxiety. This begins to be so generally
understood now, that not only Coach, but Cart and Waggon Horses are
_Jobbed_ by the Year,--and Carts and Waggons also.
_To Job Horses_, is particularly recommended to persons who are
ambitious of having an elegant Equipage;--a pair of fine Horses that
match exactly are always expensive to purchase; and if one of them
dies, it is sometimes, to a private Gentleman, extremely difficult to
find a fellow to it.
Horses cannot work equally, nor at ease to themselves, if they are not
nearly of the same Size, of the same Temper, and of the same Strength,
and have the same Pace, and Step well together.
A Hackneyman or Horsedealer, who is in an extensive way of business,
has so many opportunities of seeing Horses, that he can match a Horse
with much less Expense, and more exactly, than any Gentleman or any
Groom may hope to do: therefore, those who are particular about the
match of their Horses, will find it not merely more expensive, but much
more troublesome, to Buy than it is to Job.
Job Masters, in general, Sell, as well as Let Horses;--therefore,
stipulate in your Agreement, that you shall, be supplied with various
Horses till you are suited to your satisfaction; and then, that neither
of them shall be changed without your consent:--for this, a Hackneyman
may demand, and deserves, a little larger price; but it is Money paid
for the purchase of Comfort,--is the only way to be well served, and
prevents all disputes. If you do not make such an Agreement, and your
Hackneyman happens to be offered a good price for one of your Horses,
he may take it; and Your’s, like many other Carriages in London, will
be little better than a Break:--nothing is more disagreeable, nay,
dangerous, than to be continually drawn by strange Horses.
_While the Job is travelling in the Country_, the Hackneyman is allowed
what is called Night, or Hay Money, _i. e._ an addition of 1_s._ 6_d._
per Night for each Horse, every Night the Horses are out.
This is considered as a compensation for the increased price charged
for Corn at Inns, which is much more than it costs the Hackneyman at
Home.
MEM.--_Make some previous agreement in Writing about all these things._
Some people who wish their Horses to be in high condition, yet desire
to avoid all Risk and Trouble, &c. hire Horses, and find them in Corn,
&c. themselves. A good Pair of Horses, without keep, are charged about
£70. _per Annum_.
The Old Proverb tells us, that “_The Eye[8] of the Master makes the
Horse Fat._”
“The next care a man should take, after he has found a Horse to his
mind, and purchased him, should be to provide a Stable so situated,
with respect to his house, that he may see him very frequently, and
to have his Stall so contrived, that it may be as difficult a task
to steal his Horse’s provender out of the _Manger_, as to take his
own victuals out of the _Larder_.”--From _Zenophon’s Treatise on
Horsemanship_, translated in Berenger’s Entertaining and Instructive
Book upon Horsemanship, 4to. 1771. p. 231.
If you have valuable Nags, do not think it time lost, occasionally to
visit the Stable, and see that they are comfortably taken care of,
have their proper allowance of Corn, and are well bedded, &c., and see
that the Corn be not brewed.--A smart Son of the Whip says, that “some
Hostlers are so clever, that they can turn Oats into Ale.”
The Word _Hostler_, I find in the most learned Lexicon in our Language,
which explains some thousands of words more than Johnson, is written
Oat-stealer--which this learned lexicographer says it must be allowed
appears to be the true word.
The Dictionary above alluded to is a very deep work:--instead of its
containing more words by thousands than are in Johnson,--Johnson does
not give us ten words that are in it--nor does it contain much above
ten words that are in Johnson: this admirable and elegant Dictionary
is entitled “A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, by F. Grose,
Esq., F.R.S. &c.”
Some people fancy that they have made a capital Bargain, by stipulating
that the Hackneyman shall let their Carriage and Horses stand in his
Livery Yard, and so save part of the charge of a private Coach-house
and Stable:--if Hackneymen have plenty of Room, they have sometimes no
objection to this; however, you must take into the reckoning, that your
Carriage, while standing in an open Coach-house, and even while being
cleaned in a Public Yard, is unavoidably exposed to continual danger
from being carelessly run against by other Carriages passing to and
fro: moreover, it is often injured by the dirty Mops and Cloths, and by
the careless manner in which it is cleaned. If you wish your Carriage
to be turned out in nice condition, you must have your own Coach-house
and Stable; it is much more advisable, not only for your own Advantage,
but for the Comfort of your Coachman, which you will consider also, if
you expect him to consider your Interest.
It is extremely desirable to have Stables, &c. adjoining your House;
because a Coachman, when your Carriage is not wanted, has many spare
hours in which he may be very useful in carrying Messages, &c.
ESTIMATE No. IX.
DESCRIPTION OF AND ESTIMATE FOR A HANDSOME TOWN CHARIOT.
A Chariot built with the very best Materials and of the best
Workmanship,--the Body made with convex sides, lined with fine cloth
and silk lace, and lace Footman’s holders, Morocco head Cushions and
Squabs, colour of Lace Cloth and Morocco, &c. to choice: handsome
Venetian Blinds, best lute-string Spring Curtains, double folding steps
trimmed with black Spanish Leather, lined with Cloth, and concealed in
Doors; best Brussels Carpet to the bottom of Body, and Steps and Oak
seat box.
The Body hung on a Carriage with compass perch, best Town-made Springs
and Iron work; the Wood work of Carriage beaded and carved; Axle-trees
turned and case hardened with solid pipe boxes; Wheels with the best
seasoned Ash felleys, and Patent hoop-tire rivetted: Barouche Dickey
Coach Box set on a Boot and attached to the Carriage by handsome Iron
Work, and made to take off in case of travelling; trimmed with the best
patent Leather borders, and lined with Cloth; large splashing Iron in
front of Body, covered with double patent leather; Mail Lamps; brass
moulding to Body; Swage Door handles; the Body, Carriage, and Wheels
painted to fancy; Arms painted in ornamented shields on Doors; and the
best plate Glasses to Windows; the whole made of the best materials,
and finished in the most complete manner,
£. _s._ _d._
240 0 0
If the following Extras are required:--
Handsome C springs with carved blocks, stays,
&c. &c. 10 0 0
Handsome carved hind Standards 10 0 0
Under-Springs 25 0 0
Collinge’s Patent Axle-trees 20 0 0
New Pair of very Handsome Harness, with
Patent Leather Water decks complete 36 15 0
-----------
341 15 0
-----------
The Coachmaker will keep the above Carriage and Harness in Repair, and
find Wheels, &c. for four Years, for £10. per Annum: this, at the end
of that time, would make its expense £381. 15_s._, and it might then be
worth about £100.; so that if you purchase, it will cost at least £70.
per Annum, besides the Interest of the Money advanced: moreover, you
will have more than common luck, if you get £100. for it at the end of
Four Years.
If such a Chariot, with its appendages and Harness, as explained in the
above Estimate, be taken on a Job, (the longer the period you hire it
for, the less will be the annual charge,) for Four Years, the charge is
about £84. per Annum. It is not advisable to agree to take a Carriage
for a longer period than it will look well without being repainted, &c.
After three or four Years, Carriages that are in continual use require
to go into Dock for a thorough repair.
_A Landaulett_ or a Landau is charged £10. per Annum more.
_A Landau_ is a Carriage in the form of a Coach, the upper part of
which may be opened for the advantage of air and prospect in Summer
time, and is principally intended for Country use, and is the most
convenient Carriage of any, as so many persons may be accommodated with
the pleasure of an Open and a Close Carriage in one, without the care
of Driving, as in other Open Carriages, or the expense and incumbrance
of keeping Two.
_A Landau or Landaulett_ is not only more expensive to build, but more
troublesome to keep nicely clean; and its Leather Roof much sooner
wears shabby, than the Japanned Roof of a Coach or Chariot.
NOTA BENE. It is customary for the Builder to warrant his Work for
the first Twelvemonths, and to undertake to make good all failures
happening within that time, which arise from the Timber or Iron
work’s breaking, but not those decays which necessarily follow from
reasonable use and wear, or damages by Accident. However, to prevent
all Misunderstanding, insert the following lines in your Contract for
Building:--also, that “after the Carriage has been out about two or
three months, and the Varnish has got thoroughly dry, the Builder
shall Polish it free of further expense.” This process can be performed
much better after a few months have elapsed, than it can when the
carriage first comes out, as the Varnish is not then sufficiently
hardened.--See _Cautions on Building Carriages_, at p. 65 et seq. of
this Work.
TO JOB OR HIRE A CARRIAGE
Is the most convenient and cheapest way of proceeding.
Carriages are usually hired for such a time as they may be expected to
last in Fashion, that is for about four or five years.
_A One Horse Chaise_ with Two Wheels may be jobbed for £20. to £40. per
Annum.
_A Four Wheel Chaise_ from £30. to £50.
The present charge for the hire of a Coach or Chariot, (see Estimate
No. IX.), Landau or Landaulett, and Harness, per Annum, is from £60. to
£100. One year of which is paid in advance.
Coachmakers will build a New Carriage for this purpose, and finish it
to your own fancy; exactly the same as if you were to purchase it, and
will paint it at the end of two or three years, if you hire it for a
longer period.
Persons who constantly require the use of a Carriage will do wisely
to _Hire_, and not for a longer period than Three or Four Years. The
frequent Repairs which are constantly wanting to Older Carriages,
occasion many Inconveniences, although the expenses of them are avoided
by Hiring.
Carriages are never better built than those which are made expressly
to be let on a Job. A Coachmaker takes care to choose materials and
workmen of the best kind for his own sake, to avoid those subsequent
charges, which, as has been observed before, constitute the evil of
inferior Carriages.
MEM. _In the Agreement for Hiring_, stipulate for the option of
purchasing the Carriage at the end of the First Year, at a certain
Sum, _i. e._ if the original price was £300., and you paid £80. per
Annum, for £220. _After a Year’s wear, you will be able to see pretty
clearly what kind of a Carriage you have got, and whether it is worth
purchasing._
_Harness_ is usually engaged with the Carriage, which is kept in
Wheels and all Repairs, excepting those which are required from
Accidents.
When Carriages are let by the Year, the following engagement is usually
entered into by the contracting Parties:--
COPY OF AGREEMENT.
Articles of Agreement made and entered into this 13th Day of April,
1826, between A. B., Gent., of ------- in the county of ------- on the
one part, and C. D., Coachmaker, of ------- in the county of ------- on
the other; and this certifies that the said C. D. doth agree to build,
and preserve in good and substantial repair, a Carriage with Harness
for the use of the said A. B. until the full expiration of Four Years,
from the date hereof, after the following manner:--(here is to be
inserted the manner in which the Carriage is to be built, see Estimate
No. IX., with all the particulars of keeping the same in repair, the
time of New Painting, New Green silk Blinds, Hammerclothing, &c.):--to
furnish New Wheels when the said A. B. desires them, and to supply him
with a good Chariot while this is repairing--and that A. B. shall have
the option of purchasing the said Carriage and Harness at the end of
the first Year for the sum of -------.
In consideration whereof the said A. B. doth agree to pay, or cause
to be paid, to the said C. D. the sum of ------- annually; the First
Year’s payment on the receipt of the said Carriage and Harness, the
Second on the commencement of the Second Year, and each Year’s hire to
be paid in advance; and at the expiration of the Four Years, the said
Carriage with Harness to be returned to the said C. D. with Glasses
whole, and every part of the said Carriage and Harness complete and
whole, excepting such deficiencies as may be expected from reasonable
use and wear, provided always, and on condition, that if the said
A. B. shall, during the said term of four Years, pay the said C. D.
the sum of thirty Guineas, and give up the said Chariot and Harness
complete, then this Agreement shall be void, any thing to the contrary
notwithstanding.
In witness hereof, each party hath set their hands and Seals this day
of
A. B.
C. D.
Witness, F. G.
This agreement must be on a Stamp, or Stamped within fourteen days; or
if a question arise, and it should come into Court, the Stamping then
would cost £20.
CARRIAGES.
The Art of _Coachmaking_ within these last Thirty Years, has been
improved greatly in Beauty, Strength, and Convenience; and a Carriage
is now considered as a distinguishing mark of the taste of its
Proprietor.
There are few works of Art which require the aid of so many
different Artists as the constructing of a Carriage; there are
Wheel-wrights,--Spring,--Axle-tree,--Step,--and Tire,--Black
and White Smiths,--Brass Founders,--Engravers,--Painters,
--Carvers,--Carpenters,--Joiners,--Trimmers,--Lace Makers,--Lamp
Makers, --Curriers,--Collar Makers,--Harness Makers, &c. &c.; and upon
the quality of the Materials, and the capacity of these Workmen to
execute their respective parts in a perfect manner, and upon the taste
and skill of the Coachmaker in combining them, depends the Beauty and
the Durability of the Carriage.
ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARRIAGES.
_The best time to bring out a New Carriage_, is about April or May,
before the extreme heat comes on; moreover, the Taxes are reckoned from
one 5th of April to another: and if you enter a Carriage on the 5th of
March, you will have to pay for a whole Year, for only one Month’s use
of it.
If you have any thing peculiar about a Carriage, it will require much
more time in building, than if you are contented with merely ordering
“a fashionable Vehicle.” In the former case, do not hope to get it
under Three, nor be surprised if you wait Four Months for it.
However, if you have no particular desire to be disappointed, summon to
your assistance the aid of those powerful refreshers of a perfunctory
Memory, the _Goose_, the _Calf_, and the _Bee_;[9] _i. e._ take _Mr.
Jervis’s_ advice, and bind the Builder in a written contract, made by
your Attorney, and duly Stamped, Signed, Sealed, and Witnessed, &c.,
to deliver the Carriage, Harness, &c. completely finished on a certain
day--or that he shall forfeit, and that day shall pay to You, One
Hundred Pounds, and keep his Carriage himself.
Be careful that your Contract contains a full and very particular
description of every part; for
MEM.--If you order the least Alteration or Addition afterwards, it will
be charged _Extra_, unless you discreetly insert a sweeping clause,
that the Whole shall be completed to your entire satisfaction, for the
Money, and at the Time agreed upon.
_An Honest Man_ will have no more objection to sign a written Agreement
than to make a Verbal Promise, and _a Prudent Man_ will never take
the latter when he can get the former:--the Expense of a written
Agreement is Money expended in preventing Anxiety, which is like
sacrificing a Pebble to preserve a Diamond:--those who wish to avoid
disappointments and litigation, will not stir one step without _a
Written Agreement_--’tis a pretty bit of Paper, that makes men Honest,
and keeps them so.
After you have settled what is to be the price of the New
Carriage--then, before you sign the Agreement respecting it, make your
Bargain as to what Sum the Builder shall allow you for your Old One,
provided you do not previously otherwise dispose of it.
_The Money allowed for an Old Carriage_, is less than a Novice will
expect. I sold one Chariot, which I had in use only Five years, for
only £15., nor could I get more for it, although I kept it for several
Weeks.
I sold another Chariot, which had been in wear about the same time, for
£30.,--and it is not often that a Builder will allow much more for a
Carriage that has been in use for five or six Years:--by that time, the
shape of the Body is out of Fashion, the Lining is shabby, and before
it can be sold again to a particular person, it must be thoroughly
repaired, which will cost a considerable Sum.
The following is an Estimate which was given to the Gentleman who
bought my last Chariot.
AN ESTIMATE OF REPAIRING A CHARIOT
£. _s._ _d._
And putting in all New wood work, neatly
carved--fresh fitting, filing, and fixing the
old Iron Work with new bolts--taking the
Springs to pieces--fresh fitting the plates,
and re-fixing Springs with new rivets and
bolts--altering the Iron work of the Barouche
seat--putting a New Foot-board and fresh
hanging it and the Body 26 0 0
Handsome new Patent Lamps 2 8 0
Repairing braces, pole-pieces, &c., new covering
roller, bolts, and pole with New Leather 1 14 0
Altering and re-fixing the frame of Dash Iron,
and covering it with New Leather 4 12 0
Covering the whole of the inside with new
cotton false lining 5 10 0
New Carpets to the Bottom and the Steps 1 8 0
New Plating the Commode Handles and rivetting
the Door Handles 1 6 0
New pair of Web Holders 0 14 0
New Painting the Body of a Chariot 14 0 0
New Wheels 15 0 0
New Lining 35 0 0
Fresh Stringing and Painting Blinds 1 15 0
New covering Glass Frames 1 15 0
New Silk to Green Curtains 1 5 0
Under-Springs 25 0 0
-------------
137 7 0
-------------
Now, if the Body had not been a beautiful piece of Work, it would not
have been worth while to have bestowed this large sum in renewing the
Carriage part: but the whole of the exterior of the Old Body, although
it had been built some Years, was more sound and unwarped, than most
new Bodies are on the first day they are turned out; it was elegantly
formed, and the Interior so admirably constructed for Comfort, that
from it I learned the dimensions, &c. which I have given in the
following description of what I think a Chariot ought to be.
Coachmakers sometimes shew _Drawings of Carriages_ for their Customers
to choose from,--it _is more satisfactory, not only to see, but to take
a ride in a pattern Carriage_; this your Coachmaker can take you to
see, or, if you see a Carriage which pleases your Eye, your Coachman
can easily learn where it is put up; go with your Coachmaker and see
it, and have _a written Particular_ of all its peculiarities, _an exact
Measurement_ of its dimensions, and _an Estimate_ in Writing of the
cost thereof, similar to the one given in CHAP. I. Estimate No. 9.
OF THE
CONSTRUCTION OF A CHARIOT.
The Novice in these things may think that the following description
is unnecessarily minute, and that he need only go to a Coachmaker and
order “_a Chariot_,” and that Word will procure him all he wishes.
The form of Carriages is as absurdly at the mercy of Fashion, as the
Cut of a Coat is;--however, if the Reader is willing to let the Builder
please himself with the form of the Exterior, he will perhaps not be
quite so polite as to submit the construction of the Interior entirely
to the caprice of his Coachmaker.--If “as easy as an old Coat” be a
true Aphorism, “as easy as an Old Carriage” is equally so:--by riding
three or four Years in one, you become so used to it, that any change
is extremely unpleasant--and if the Elbows or the Seat are too high, or
too low, or too narrow, or too wide, &c. when the Body is built, it is
always difficult, and often impossible, to alter it; therefore, if you
like your Old Body, measure it, and order your New one accordingly.
_If you build a Body_, pay a visit to your Coachmaker while it is
in progress, especially just before it is put into the hands of the
Painter.
All Coachmakers, do not, always, go to the expense of covering the
Roof, Back, and Sides with one piece of Leather, as they ought to
do;--the common practice is to cover the Roof only with Leather, and
leave the Upper sides and back of pannel board, with a groove run in
the Roof where the Leather is nailed in covering the nails and filling
up the groove with Putty, which the Summer’s Sun and Winter’s Rain will
soon crack, and the Water entering will soil the Lining, and the Inside
of the Body will become damp:--the whole of the upper part of a Body
should be enveloped in one large hide of strong Leather, and neatly
worked in, so that it is one solid surface of Leather to paint on,
which neither Heat nor Wet can affect for many Years.
_The Breadth of a Body_, to contain three persons comfortably, should
not be less than 4 feet 3 inches.
_From Back to Front_, 4 feet are enough.
_The Height of the Seat_ from the bottom, about 1 foot.
_From the Seat to the Roof_, not less than 3 feet 6 inches; the
Cushions, which are commonly about three inches in thickness, not
included.
A few Inches in Width and Breadth add but a few Pounds to the Weight,
but contribute greatly to the Convenience of a Carriage, especially to
well-grown and full-fed persons.
The little thoroughly-ugly humpty-dumpty Chariot, which looked
something like a Champion Potatoe set on wheels, but which was the
grand rage with Children of the Largest Growth about 30 Years ago,
would not admit a small person to sit with his hat on, nor a tall one
with his Hat off:--these foolish little wee Vehicles weighed only a few
pounds less than the large commodious Chariots, in which the Lords and
Ladies of the Creation transport themselves in at the present day.
_The Elbows_ should not be more than 6 inches above the Cushion, and
should be so entirely in recess, that you may lean comfortably against
the side of the Carriage:--in some ill-contrived modern bodies, they
are placed too high, and project out, and as often as you loll towards
them, remind you that you should not, and force you back into your
perpendicular, by giving you a Punch in your Side.
In a Chariot Body of the size just described, there should be a
_Front Seat_ about 10 inches in width, which will occasionally carry
Two persons:--this addition is especially desirable in a Travelling
Chariot, as by sitting in one corner of the Carriage, you may put your
Legs upon it, and take a Nap very comfortably. This Front Seat is
doubly better than the old fashioned _Bodkin Seat_ which drew out from
the centre; and when you have Two fellow Travellers, in order to induce
one of them to sit upon this accommodation seat, you may tell them that
they will sit three times as comfortably there as on the front seat;
for if they sit on that, they will be crowded themselves, and crowd two
other persons also; but if one sits on the other seat, all may ride
comfortably enough:--it should be fixed on with Slip-Hinges, so that
it may be taken off at pleasure.
_The Door Lights or Windows_ are sometimes contracted on the Seat side
about 4 inches; however, some people like them as large as possible,
and besides, have the back of the Carriage stuffed eight or ten inches
deep, which is exceedingly convenient for those who are anxious to
exhibit themselves like Articles for sale in a Shew Glass.
Take care that _the Glasses_ are of the best Quality, well Polished,
White, and as free as possible from Specs and Veins.
These Glasses are commonly bound with Cloth of the same Colour that
the Carriage is lined with, or with Black Velvet, which wears better,
and works in the grooves more pleasantly than any binding:--the most
elegant binding is Lace like that of the Glass-holders, or in which the
Crest or Arms are woven.
_The present fashion of Stuffing_ is preposterous; it reduces a Large
Body to the size of a small One: however, if you like to ride about
for the benefit of public inspection, as your friends, my _Lady
Look-about_,--the _Widow Will-be-seen_,--and _Sir Simon Stare_, do,
pray study Geoffrey Gambado on the Art of sitting politely in Carriages
with the most becoming attitudes, &c. and choose wide Door Lights and
full Squabbing;--if you wish to go about peaceably and quietly, like
_Sir Solomon Snug_, and are contented with seeing without being seen,
adopt the contracted Lights and common Stuffing, which, among others,
have this great advantage, that when you sit back, you may have the
side Windows down, and a thorough Air passing through the Carriage,
without its blowing in directly upon you: this, to Invalids who easily
catch Cold, is very important.
_The Back Light_ must not be more than 27 inches from the surface of
the Cushions, or it will be too high for a person to look through it
without rising up--it is convenient to have this made to Open, as
it affords an easy opportunity of giving directions to the person
behind the Carriage, and is a desirable aperture for admitting Air in
very hot weather:--tell the Builder to give you a fine clear plate
for this purpose, and not to glaze it with a semidiaphanous “_Old
Accident_,”--a technical term for those “Odds and Ends” of broken Coach
Glasses which are sometimes used for this purpose, and which having
been continually cleaned every day for thirty or forty years, have
become so scratched, that you can hardly see through them.
I recommend _the Lining to be Green_, with Lace to correspond, and
the Green _silk Sun shades_ of the same Colour--Green is pleasant to
the Eye, and Superfine _Cloth_ or Tabinet, is, during nine months out
of the twelve, much more comfortable in this Cold climate, than the
chilling _Leather_ which has lately been the fashion: in Summer this
may be covered with what is commonly called a _False Lining_, which is
generally made of Gingham, and is equally useful to preserve a New or
hide an Old Trimming:--it should only be applied to the back and those
parts of the sides that are leaned against; the Front, Roof, and Doors,
should be left uncovered.
The Elegance of the Interior of a Carriage depends much upon the
pattern and breadth of _the Lace_ with which the Lining is bordered,
of which there are a great variety.--Lace-making is a distinct branch
of Manufactory; and as “every Eye makes its own Beauty,” the person who
builds a Carriage should desire his Coachmaker to furnish him with some
patterns to choose from:--there are several Coach Lace-makers in Long
Acre.
Some Carriages are fitted up with Squabs, _i. e._ Cushions stuffed with
Wool and covered on one side with Cloth, and on the other with Silk,
Linen, or Leather; the former side for Winter, the latter for Summer
use.
_The Seat Cushions_ should be covered on one side with Leather, and on
the other with Cloth.
Let _the Stuffing at the Back_ be no thicker than necessary to make it
easy, _i. e._ about 2½ inches in thickness.
Have _the Lid of the Sword Case_ to fall down with the back attached,
instead of lifting up, being much easier to put in a parcel without
troubling the passengers to rise.
_The Seats_, which are usually boarded, I would recommend to be, on
one side, Caned or Girt-webbed, for ease in Sitting--the other half
may be fitted up with a Case for containing Grog and Prog, &c. for a
Rusticating Party:--they _should be about 22 inches deep_--not more,
or Short people cannot sit upon them comfortably:--they will be much
easier if made on a bevil, and about an inch lower behind than they are
before: if not originally so constructed, the stuffing of the Cushions
may be easily adjusted so as to produce that effect.
_The Green Silk Spring Sun Shades_ should be fixed upon the Doors; this
saves the trouble of putting them up every time you open the Door,
which must be done when they are fixed to the Body;--if the Blinds
are fixed on the Door, take care to shut it when you get out of the
Carriage in Wet Weather, or they will be spoiled:--_when the Silk
becomes faded_, if it is turned upside down, the part most in sight
will look almost as well as new.
If the Ground Colour of the Body is good, _New Varnishing_ will
sometimes do almost as well as New Painting.
I am told that the best Colour for Wear is _Midgley’s Chrome Yellow_.
In consequence of the vivid brilliancy of this pigment, in all the
variety of its shades, from the pale Lemon colour to the full Orange,
it has of late come into general use. When properly prepared, it
possesses all the desiderata of perfect Colours, Smoothness, Body,
Extensibility, and ready Mixture with Oil or Water, and dries well and
blends well.
_Venetian Blinds_ are delightful shades in warm Weather, as they admit
the Air while they exclude the Sun; and when closed, serve as a shutter
to prevent dust from soiling the Carriage while it is standing by. They
should be painted on the Inside, of a Verdigrise Green, and on the
Outside of the same Colour as the Carriage.
If these are not made of _extremely well-seasoned Wood_, they rattle
very much in Dry, and swell in Damp weather.
These Blinds should have _Bolts_ affixed to them, which, when fastened
within, if you have _Locks_ on the Carriage Doors, enable you to fasten
up the interior of your Carriage completely.
There is a great deal of Rain falls during the warmest months in this
Country, and our Chariots very much want _an Exterior Blind_ (a Hood
as it were) in the front, which would exclude Rain, while it would
admit Air:--many of our Wet days are so warm, that our Carriages are a
shower Bath if the Windows are open, and a Vapour Bath if they are Shut!
_The Handle of the Door Latch_ should be double--that is, it should
have an additional Handle within side, the position of which will
afford you the satisfaction of seeing that the Door is properly
fastened, and also the power of easily opening it in case of an
Accident, &c.
It is a very great convenience to have _the power of opening the Door
from the inside_. This Handle should be made to turn towards the Door,
so as to be within the Door when the Door is opened, it will then be
out of the way of being struck against the Body in shutting; which, if
it turns to the Right, will sometimes happen when the Door is shut by
perfunctorious persons.
The spindles of these Handles during the first Year, till time has worn
them a little, will occasionally move too stiffly: the remedy for this
is a drop of Oil.
Never permit officious Strangers to shut your Carriage Door; in order
to save their own time and trouble, and to accomplish this at once,
some idle and ignorant people will bang it so furiously, one almost
fancies that they are trying to upset the Carriage, the pannels of
which are frequently injured by such rude violence; therefore, desire
your Coachman to be on the watch, and the moment he sees any one
prepare to touch your Door, to say loudly and imperatively “_Don’t
meddle with the Door!_”
Have _Locks_ to the Doors--they are very necessary when travelling, or
when your Carriage is waiting for you at Night: _a Latch_ inside that
will fasten the Door so that it cannot be opened on the outside, is
also desirable, especially in Travelling Chariots.
In Landaulets the door opening without the window frame, particular
directions to the Footman are necessary that he observe the Glass is
entirely down before he attempts to open the Door, or the pane will
be infallibly broken. When the glass is quite up there is no danger,
for in rising it releases a Spring which fastens the Door; the blind
does the same; so that if the Servant keep the blinds up while the
Carriage is waiting, a lock may be dispensed with. I would recommend
the addition of this contrivance to Coaches and Chariots.
_A Town Carriage_ should not be more than three feet from the Ground,
so as to require only _One Step_; to which should be fixed _a Strap_,
by which any person within the Carriage may very easily pull it up, and
with the help of the _Inside Handle_, may, with equal facility, finish
the Footman’s Work, and fasten the Door.
The above is an invaluable contrivance, and well deserves to be
called “_a Dumb Footman_;” it entirely prevents the necessity of the
Coachman’s leaving his Box; from which rash act, many lives have been
lost, and many Carriages destroyed by the Horses running away[10]:--All
will adopt it, excepting those persons who are so unfortunate, as
to be more Proud than Prudent. _Mr. Jervis_ was extremely earnest in
recommending these excellent appendages; and to impress the importance
of them upon the imagination of the Editor as strongly as possible,
he closed his arguments by averring, that for a Coachman to leave his
Reins would be as desperate an act of rashness as for a Cook to leave
her Kitchen while her Spit was going round, and equally likely to
produce the most tremendous and irreparable Evils!
If such a plan be adopted, the Body must not be hung further than
twenty-two inches from the Dickey, _i. e._ near enough to the Coach Box
to allow the Coachman to put his hand on the top of the Door when it is
opened, and hold it so while the Passengers get in and out. Till the
Hinges are worn a little, they will occasionally get rusty and move too
stiffly, and require a little Oil.
The present fashionable _Door Handle_ is too big by half, and is also
extremely inconvenient on account of the Hinge in it, which requires
an additional action, which in the course of a little wear becomes
ricketty and rattles, and you can hardly tell to a certainty whether it
fastens the Door completely or not.
The simple Handle without a Hinge, which was in vogue some years ago,
is infinitely more convenient and safe, because its single action is
more certain.
_The Crest or Arms_ in the Centre, is an elegant ornament for the Head
of the Handle.
_A Boot or Budget_ fixed on the fore Carriage between the front Springs
is useful to carry Horse Cloths, Luggage, &c.
_Hind Standards_ are very useful for town work, to keep the Horses and
Pole of other Carriages from injuring your Hind Pannels; but as they
are a heavy weight, they should be made to take off for the country.
A _Dickey Coach Box_ is the most convenient; it is less impediment to
the view of those who are inside the Carriage, and more comfortable to
the Coachman. They should be fixed on the Boot, and entirely detached
from the Body. Let it be large enough to contain Two persons. It is not
quite so easy as the Body; but for those who love Air and Exercise, and
a view of the Country, it is in Summer the pleasantest place.
_The Seat_ thereof to hold Two persons, should be thirty Inches wide
and twenty Inches deep, inside measurement. _The Cushion_ should be
of equal thickness, and not higher on the Driving side, as it is in a
Gig, because when only the Coachman is on the Box, he should sit in the
middle of it. There should be a Pocket on each side in the lining, for
putting Tickets in.
This kind of Coach Box may be so made as to take off, and fix on
behind the Carriage. Under the Seat, for the Coachman, should drop in
a Box to serve as a Tool Budget, and contain a few spare Bolts, Nuts,
Linch-Pins, Nails, a Wrench, a Winch that will fit your axle, Hammer,
Chisel, a Pair of Pincers, &c.; by help of which, a trifling accident
on the Road may be remedied without delay.
_Take care that your Coach Box is strongly and properly fixed on_,
and frequently examine the state of the Bolts and Nuts, &c. For want
of sufficient strength, or of the efficient state of the supports to
it, many dreadful accidents have happened; one of which we relate as a
warning:--
“On Tuesday morning last, while the Coachman and the Footman, in the
service of F. P. Ripley, Esq., 12, Woburn Place, Russell Square, were
driving their Master’s carriage along Tavistock Place, Tavistock
Square, the box on which they were sitting broke down, and precipitated
them to the ground. The carriage wheels passed over the right leg of
the Coachman and the left breast of the Footman. They were conveyed to
their master’s with the greatest alacrity, where they received such
treatment as their situations required. The coachman’s leg is bruised
and lacerated extremely. The footman, on being raised from the ground,
was excessively convulsed. We are sorry to add there are no hopes of
his recovery.”--_Times_, June 2, 1826.
_Spikes to fix on the Hind Standards._
These spikes may be so contrived as to be put on and off very easily,
with Three Nuts, in as few minutes;--the Footman’s Step should be fixed
on in the same manner.
_Do not permit Strangers to place themselves behind your Carriage_
at any time, or under any pretence whatever. There are innumerable
instances of Carriages having been disabled from proceeding, and
Travellers robbed and finished, by allowing such accommodation. The
Collectors of Check Braces, and Footmen’s Holders, assume all kind of
Characters, and are so expert, that they will take these articles off
in half the time that your Coachman can put them on; and will rob you
of what you cannot replace for a Pound, though they cannot sell them
for a Shilling.
Therefore, Spikes are indispensable when you have not a Footman;
otherwise, you will be perpetually loaded with idle people, _i. e._
unless you think that two or three outside passengers are ornamental
or convenient, or you like to have your Carriage continually surrounded
by Crowds of Children, incessantly screaming, “Cut! Cut behind!” Why do
not _the Street Keepers_ prevent this Nuisance? These officers should
be stationed in Sentry Boxes, as they are in the Parish of Bloomsbury,
_i. e._ the same as the Watchmen are at Night; where, when not going
their Rounds, they should remain.
The multitude of _Strayed Dogs_ which are perpetually prowling and
howling, and barking and biting at Horses’ heels, and making them
start, and those which _are carried about in Carts_, also frequently
frighten Horses and occasion Accidents, and are barbarous and dangerous
_Public Nuisances_, which “_the Street Keepers_” should suppress.
Let it be enacted--that all Dogs, Fowls, and any other Beasts and
Birds, found in the Streets, _not having a Collar_ on, on which is
engraven the Name and place of abode of the Owner thereof, shall
henceforth be seizeable by any Constable, or Street Keeper, or
Watchman, or any person who finds them; which they shall have power
to dispose of as their own property; and those _with a Collar_ also,
unless their owners immediately pay a fine of five shillings; one
moiety of which shall be to the person finding them, the other to the
Poor of the Parish. For want of such salutary Regulations, some of the
Streets of London are like a Dog Kennel or a Poultry Yard.
These Beasts and Birds are seldom kept except by petty Housekeepers,
who are perpetually applying to be excused paying Taxes. Surely such
persons should not be permitted to annoy their neighbours, who by duly
paying Parish rates, in fact, contribute to their maintenance.
_Dogs out of Doors_ are horribly noisy, especially on Moon-light
Nights, when they will turn up their Noses, and
“Bay the Moon with hideous howl,”
for an hour together. They seldom give Tongue when inside of a House,
except when shut in by themselves in an Empty house. There are certain
Manufacturers who having more cunning than conscience, to evade paying
the Taxes upon their Warehouse, instead of letting somebody sleep in
it, which would subject them to the Taxes, turn in a Dog as a Watchman,
who barks and howls incessantly all night long. Surely such shirking
Gentry are not entitled to the privilege of annoying a score or two of
quiet Neighbours, who honestly pay the Taxes imposed by their Country!
They and their Cur-Watchman should be indicted and amerced _sans
cérémonie_.
Fowls, Parrots, Dogs, or any other of those Beasts or Birds, which
(because they make most Noise) are vulgarly called _Dumb Animals_,
bleating, barking, bellowing, in the Front Area or back Garden of a
House, &c. are an offence against the Public Peace--are an Indictable
Nuisance; and on the complaint of a Neighbouring Housekeeper, are as
cognizable by Constables, Street Keepers, Watchmen, &c. surely as
justly as the Owners of such Animals would be, were they to hoot and
bellow there,--for which they would, in the first instance, be taken to
a Watchhouse, and in the second Indicted and fined or sent to the Tread
Mill.
QY. What difference does it make whether the Peace is broken, and
Sleep destroyed, by an “_Animal plumis, vel implumis et bipes_,” _i.
e._ whether it wears ready-made Clothes, or employs a Tailor? Surely
it will not be allowed in this Age of Refinement, that the former is
entitled to more consideration than the latter.
They manage these things better in France. All Dogs, Fowls, &c. found
in the Streets of _Paris_, are finished forthwith by the _Gens d’Armes_.
It cannot be too generally known, that by _The Metropolis Street Act_
of the _57_th Geo. III. cap. 24. in § 67. “The Commissioners of the
Parochial Paving Boards are empowered to order the removal of _any
matter or thing which they consider a Nuisance, on the complaint of any
Inhabitant_.”
Such controlling power is but too needful--there is no lack of people
who love their _dear_ “_Dumb Animals_,” as they call their Dogs and
Parrots, &c. not a little better than they do their Neighbours,--aye,
who love them as well as _Simon Suck-eggs_ does his Fowls! who would
not willingly sacrifice the penny profit he makes by the oviparous
faculty of his Poultry, however much, or however many people may be
annoyed by it.
If Persons who are offended by any of the above nuisances, apply to
the Clerk of the Commissioners of the Paving, and beg him to lay their
complaint before the Board, they will issue a mandate ordering their
immediate abatement as _a Public Nuisance_: and thus, the evil is
removed, without any of that unpleasant feeling which might arise from
one Neighbour complaining of another.
The Author is now framing “_a Sleep Act_,” which will shew the
importance of Sleep to Health, the causes which so often and so cruelly
disturb “_the Business of the Night_,” on the due performance of which,
depends our power of performing “_the Business of the Day_,” and the
remedies which the Legislature may easily apply for its preservation.
One of their most beneficial acts would be to abolish a
_Vulgar and Barbarous Custom_ which prevails among common Workmen, when
they first come to work in the Morning, to make as much Noise as they
possibly can; thus, if you live near any Manufactory, &c., or if a
house is building or repairing near you--from Six in the Morning till
half-past, they will raise such a horrible din of Hammering, &c. that
all within Ear shot of them are presently awoke; and indeed they seem
to do it for that sole purpose, for the following hours they are often
quiet enough.
Those who are so outrageously active so early in the day are
technically termed _Powters_, _i. e._ such extraordinary industry being
very often a mere manœuvre to deceive their Neighbours, which they
artfully affect to gain Credit, and which, like setting up a shewy Shop
Front, _is one of the usual tokens of approaching Bankruptcy_.
Let it be enacted, that all Manufacturers do perform the Noisy part of
their processes during the middle of the Day:--this might be easily
managed in most trades without any interruption of their business! What
can be easier, than for the work which makes such a Noise during _the
first half hour_ in the Morning to be done in _the last half hour_ in
the Evening?
Let the DOG TAX be levied without exception, (but as far as regards
only those which lead Blind Men,) and let due Rewards be given to those
who inform against persons who evade it, of whom there are not a few,
the only way of preventing which is to LET ALL DOGS WEAR A COLLAR, on
which is engraved the Name and the place of Abode of the Owner;--He who
by Fraud avoids a Tax, which by the Laws of his Country he is commanded
to pay, is a Traitor, who commits a greater Crime, and deserves as
great a Punishment, as he who, by Force, breaks into the Treasury, and
takes so much Money out!!!
It is notorious, that the majority of these useless and offensive
Animals are maintained by paupers who have hardly the means of
maintaining Themselves!--these are the Dogs which, from spare and bad
food, are most frequently mischievous--most apt to run Mad--and are
most annoying and disturbing to the Public. “_As many Beggars, as many
Dogs_,” is one of our true Old Sayings, and of an Old Song, to which
in the next page we have had engraved as it was performed by “_Betsy,
Billy, and Bow Wow_.”
When the Author first learned the Song between this and the next page,
which is now nearly half a Century ago, he was a good deal surprised
at the last line of it, and thought that it savoured more of Rhyme
than of Reason, notwithstanding his Grandma’ told him that “Time the
Teacher” would soon shew him, that Opulence and Independence, and Wit
and Wisdom, are not always inseparable;--that he would frequently find
Integrity dwelling with Poverty, “_in Tags and Rags_;”--as often meet
with Nobleness of Mind among the Humble in Fortune, as with those who
are by courtesy called Noble, and who are Poor enough in principle, who
wear a VELVET GOWN.
The fact is, that the Poor are, very naturally, as fond of flattery as
the Rich:--now nothing in nature Flatters more fascinatingly than the
Eye of a Dog! If his master speak to him in any tone lower than that of
Anger, his Eye is ever ready to ogle obsequious Approbation:--and if he
scold him, the rudest expression it ever offers is seeming to say, with
the most subtle submission, “As you are _Great_! be Merciful!”
[Music] [Illustration: A TRIO
as performed by
BETSY, BILLY, and BOW WOW,
Engraved on Copper, by Sid^y. Hall, Bury Str^t. Bloomsb^y.
Hark, BOUGH, WOUGH,
Hark, how the Dogs bark! how the Dogs bark! WOUGH WOUGH WOUGH
How the Dogs bark!
Then the Beggars are coming, the Beggars are coming, the Beggars are
coming to Town,
There’s some in Tags, some in Rags, some in Rags, some in Tags, And
there’s some in a VELVET Gown aye! aye! aye, aye, aye, aye! some in
VELVET! in VELVET? in VELVET aye, aye, some in VELVET, some in VELVET,
some in a VELVET Gown.]
In future, instead of the trite Old Adage, “As Faithful,” it
might more properly be said, “As Flattering as a Dog:”--like other
Flatterers, “_they are Faithless as they are Flattering_.”
Every one knows that when Men go Mad, they always hate most those that
they loved best when they were in their Senses: and it is a frightful
Truth, that
“_A Mad Dog is always apt to bite his Master first._”
There have been many arguments _pro and con_, concerning the dreadful
Disease their bite produces;--it is enough to know, that Multitudes
of Men, Women, and Children, have died in consequence of being bitten
by Dogs.--What does it matter whether they were the Victims of Bodily
Disease or Mental Irritation? The Life of the most humble Human Being
is of more value than all the Dogs in the World--dare the most brutal
Cynic say otherwise?
Semi-drowning in the Sea, and all the pretended Specifics, are mere
delusions, and there is no real remedy but cutting the part out
immediately. If the bite be near a large Blood vessel, that cannot
always be done, nor when done, nor however soon done, or however well
done, will it always prevent the miserable Victim from dying the most
dreadful of Deaths!!!
Well might ST. PAUL desire us to
“_Beware of Dogs._”
First Epistle to Phillipians, chap. iii. verse 2.
THE AXLE-TREES
Are formed of wrought Iron, and are the chief support of
_The Carriage[11]._
Four Wheeled Carriages are divided into two parts, the _Upper_ and
_Under Carriage_.
_The Upper_ is the main one, on which the Body is hung.
_The Under Carriage_ is the conductor, and is turned by means of the
Pole which acts on a centre-pin, called the _Perch Bolt_, which goes
through the fore Axle-tree bed and fore transom, and secures the fore
or under Carriage to the Upper one.
The Hind Wheels are placed on the _Upper_, the Fore Wheels on the
_Under Carriage_.
The utmost care should be taken to have every part made of good _Town
made Iron Work well wrought, and sound Wood well seasoned_, and of
sufficient strength, rather going to the extreme in thickness, than
risking the lives of the Passengers by the oversetting of the Carriage,
which often happens when an Axle-tree or a Perch, &c. breaks.
_The Common Axle-tree_ is that which is in general use, it being much
the cheapest, a pair of the best case hardened costing only £9. 9_s._
_Collinge’s Axles_ have many advantages, which more than compensate
the higher first charge for them, which is £28. 7_s._, but they wear
so much longer, and the silent and steady motion they preserve to the
Wheels, and the convenience of retaining Oil enough to travel a Journey
of 30 Miles a day for 9 Months, that is, above 7,500 Miles, (_i. e._ if
the Carriage does travel every day) without replenishing with Oil: the
Common Axle will hardly travel 100 Miles without requiring the Wheels
to be taken off and greased.
In the ordinary Town Work--say, on an average, about 10 Miles a day,
Oiling twice a Year is enough: MR. COLLINGE sends a person to do this,
and charges 2_s._ for each Wheel; if a new Leather Washer is wanted,
1_s._ 6_d._ is charged for each: these are rarely required oftener than
once in nine months.
Moreover, the Wheels are much better secured, and the draught of the
Carriage is very much lessened.
Keep the _Winch_ which fastens on the axle-cap in your own possession,
or some curious or clumsy person may unscrew it, and let out the Oil.
“COLLINGE’S AXLES are much more safe and secure, for they have Two
Collars and Two Nuts, which screw different ways, and a linch-Pin, and
a Cap which screws on over all.”--A. E.
A person who was formerly employed in Mr. Collinge’s Manufactory,
told me, that with all the evident advantages of these Axle-trees,
they were not such general favourites with some Coachmen as might
be expected, which, for a long time, he could not any how account
for--till the unaccountable cause was accidentally discovered in the
two following instances.
A Coachman to a Gentleman who had Collinge’s Axles, was continually
abusing them, and at length got himself discharged:--the workman met
him some time after, and said, “Well, my Friend, I cannot imagine why
you were such a determined enemy to our Axles, which save you a vast
deal of Trouble, for they don’t need Oiling more than twice a Year; and
I cannot conceive why you preferred your Common Axles, which required
taking to pieces and greasing, &c. once or twice in a Week! Now, as you
have left your place, and it cannot injure You, and may very greatly
serve Me, pray be so good as to tell me, why you so furiously opposed
our Axles?” “Why, sir,” replied Mr. Coachman, “the fact is, that what
you have stated as so great an advantage in your Axles, was a great
Dis-advantage to me: you know that my late Master, _Mr. Rusticate_,
used every week to go to his Country House, which is 30 miles from
Town: this gave me an opportunity of charging him 1_s._ 6_d._ for extra
Grease, which did not cost me 2_d._; therefore, your Axles were a dead
loss of £4. a year to me!!!”
He informed me that another unconquerable opponent was the servant of a
Gentleman who had a new Carriage every five years, and who gave the Old
one to his Coachman:--now, as Collinge’s Axles will wear out three or
four Carriages, they were taken away from the Old Carriage and put to
the New one,--which made it a less valuable perquisite to the Coachman
in the direct ratio of the worth of a set of Common Axles.
“_When you Build a Carriage, have Collinge’s Axles_;”--but remember, it
is not sufficient that you order the Builder to put in _Patent Axles_,
for some of the imitations of Collinge’s Axles are called Patent Axles;
and as they are got up cheap, some Coachmakers, unless you positively
desire them to go to _Collinge’s Manufactory_, (near the Marsh-gate
Turnpike, in the Westminster Bridge Road), will, to put a pound in
their own pocket, recommend the _Sham Patents_.
_Mr. Jervis_ says, that he has actually seen them put down in the Bill
under the Appellation of, and charged at the Price of, “_Collinge’s
Patent Axles_.”
THE WHEELS.
The Work of a Carriage is proved by the wear of the Wheels;--if it
runs upon an average 10 miles per day in Town, and 15 in the Country,
Well-made Hoop-rimmed Wheels, the Tire of which should not be less than
five-eighths of an inch in thickness, and for a Travelling Carriage
three-fourths of an inch, will not be worn out in less than 12 Months,
_i. e._ they will run at least 3,650 Miles in Town, and it is reckoned
that they will last twice or thrice as long on a smooth Road, as they
will on rough Pavement.
It is said that _the Macadamising_ of the Streets, if kept in _perfect_
Repair, would make the Wheels last a deal longer than they did on the
Pavement:--this operation is performed at present in a very clumsy
manner; instead of stopping up half the Street with a Wooden Hoard,
and breaking the Stones on the Spot, _the materials should be brought
there ready broken; One Twentieth part of the Time now taken would then
be more than enough entirely to finish a Road._
_The Flag Foot Pavement_ should also be brought ready chipped and
fitted;--by working the Stones in the Streets, the Eyes of the
Passengers are in no small danger.
By the Metropolis Street Act of the _57_th Geo. III. cap. xxix.
sec. lxiii. Every Occupier of any House, Warehouse, &c. during the
continuance of Frost, or after or during the Fall of Snow, shall
once in every day, before 10 of the clock in the forenoon, cause the
Footway, all along the Front, Side, or Back walls of such House, &c. to
be swept and cleansed;--for each neglect of doing so, to forfeit 10_s._
This order for keeping the Footway swept should be extended to all
Times and Seasons;--there is sometimes an accumulation of greasy dirt
on the pavement, which is as slippery as if it was soaped, and is as
dangerous as Ice itself:--might not this cleansing be done by poor from
the Workhouse?
In Walking the Streets of a Slippery Morning, you may guess where the
good-natured people live, by Sand or Ashes being thrown on the Ice
before their Doors.
How far the change of the permanent and easily kept clean Granite
Pavement, for the Mud and Dust of the present Roads, may be considered
an improvement by _the Eyes_, _the Legs_, _and the Lungs_ of our good
Londoners, the Editor has not studied the subject sufficiently to
venture a conjecture: the Quiet with which Carriages pass along is
certainly extremely desirable to the Ears of the Inhabitants of the
Houses which border the Streets so altered.
Our Granite Pavement has shared the fate of every thing in this World,
where nothing remains long at rest: as soon as it had arrived at as
high a degree of perfection as it appeared capable of, it was pulled
up, and hammered into pieces:--so much for the Constancy and permanency
of Human Ways!
Some persons use their Carriage so little, and go so gently, that a set
of Strong Wheels will last them three or four Years: Others will be
whirled along at such a furious rate, that they wear them out in ten or
twelve Months.
When New Wheels are put on to Old Carriages, and _the Old Wheels_ are
taken in exchange, the usual allowance for them is about two Guineas
per Set: but they are the perquisite of the Coachman if he has been in
your Service as long as the Wheels have.
From the beginning to the end, it will take not less than five Weeks
to finish a set of Wheels properly;--they should be made a fortnight
before they are painted, and they should not be put on for use till
a fortnight after they have been painted; therefore, order a set of
Wheels a couple of Months before they will be wanted.
The _Price of Four New Chariot Wheels_ with prime Ash felleys, and
patent hoop tires, all of the very best workmanship, including every
charge of Painting and Boxing, &c. is about £15.
A set of Wheels may be purchased for £12. 12_s._: in the early part of
my Apprenticeship to Carriage-Keeping, I paid as high as £16. 16_s._
_Watch the Tires._--When the Irons are getting thin, have them taken
off, before they become too weak to protect the Wood-work:--the best
plan is, _when the Irons are half worn out_, and before the joints
in the Wood-work get loose, as they wear most on the outer edge, to
have them taken off and turned;--if the Wood-work is sound, they will
run then half as long as they did at first; then, if the Wood-work
continues sound, have new Irons put on;--_the Ringing_ is about
one-third the price of New Wheels, say £6. 6_s._, and if the Spokes and
Naves are good, they will then run nearly as long as New Wheels.
THE
ORNAMENTS OF CARRIAGES,
If for common use, cannot be too simple and plain: Expense is saved in
the purchase, and Time in the cleaning;--it is not so much the Quantity
of furniture about the Carriage and Harness that makes it appear to
advantage, as the having what there is, kept nicely Clean and Bright.
I would not advise any Brass or Plated Beading on the Body of a
Carriage, as in the rubbing it bright, you are very apt to rub off the
Varnish and Paint contiguous to the moulding--which, for this reason,
had better be painted black, or of the same colour as the Body.
_The Key-hole of the Lock_ on the Carriage Door is sometimes of Brass,
or Plated, and covered with a Plate; but it is much neater to have
it Black;--as we have already observed, of all Ornaments attached
to the Body, as often as they are cleaned, some of the Varnish and
Paint is carried away, and in the same proportion that those Metallic
additions are kept bright, the Body becomes blemished. For this reason,
we recommend _the Accommodation Handles_, if any are fixed, (the Body
looks infinitely more elegant without), to be Black.
Those _Buckles_, &c. are best formed for wear that have fewest sharp
edges;--Round moulded furniture is also the cheapest.
Nothing varies in quality more than _the Plated Furniture_ for Horses
and Carriages--the inferior kind of Plating is cheaper than Brass, but
at first looks as well as the best strong plating, which costs twice as
much, although it will not wear half so long.
The making of _Lamps for Carriages_ is a distinct branch of
business--and those who are desirous of choosing for themselves, should
ask their Coachmaker to attend them to his Lamp Maker, where they may
see the various patterns which are in vogue.
The same with regard to _the Door Handles_.
There are several Shops for both these Articles in Long Acre.
The present fashion for Lamps is preposterous--many are made so
large and so heavy, that they are evidently too great a Load on the
Front Pillar of the Carriage. Have _Square Lamps_, about six inches
square:--these are sufficiently large to hold air enough to feed the
Lamp or Candle, and the less they are, the lighter they are, and the
less injury they do to the Carriage Pillars:--Two sides of this Lamp
are to be of Glass, and the others furnished with Reflectors, which
will increase the light on the Road, and exclude it from the interior
of the Carriage.
_Circular Lamps_ are the most elegant; but if your Carriage is much
used in Travelling, we must recommend _the Square sort_; because if
a Square Glass is broken, it can be replaced easily, and costs not
one-half so much as a Circular one, which it is also difficult to find,
except at the place where the Lamp was bought; moreover, they seldom
fit so nicely and so closely as the Square ones, and the Air rushing
in, your Candles are quickly consumed, without any additional light
being given.
Lamps are generally lighted by _Wax Candles_, which weigh each a
quarter of a Pound, and cost about 1_s._ each: if the Lamp is well made
and well glazed, and no air gets in except where the air-holes are,
they will burn about five hours: such Candles will burn about 7½ Hours
when still in a Room; but the motion of the Carriage, and the current
of Air in the Lamp, so greatly accelerates their consumption, that they
will sometimes flare away in three or four hours.
_Lamps with two Flat Wicks_ will burn for the same time as a quarter of
a pound Wax Candle, at one-fourth part the expense.
However, _Candles_ are most commonly used, because they remain ready
for immediate use for half a year together, without being injured
in quality, but will burn as brightly as if only put in the day
before:--_Oil_ soon loses its spirit by remaining in Lamps; and in
a little time it will hardly burn at all, therefore can only be
recommended to those who use their Lamps and trim them carefully every
day.
_The Best Lamps_ are those which give plenty of light around the
Carriage, but do not throw any into it,--unless the Passengers think
there is an absolute necessity for letting those without see who are
within.
Now the Streets are so well lighted, _Lamps are useful in London only
in Foggy Weather_: the lighting them in London at any other time--is an
act of Puerile Pomposity.
SPRINGS should be made of the best Steel--the longer they are, _ceteris
paribus_, the easier they are.
Improvements in the mechanism of Modern Carriages, by which they are
made to convey a person from place to place almost without giving him a
sense of motion, may be one of the circumstances that have contributed
to the increased prevalence of Nervous and Bilious Complaints,
which originate in a great degree from an indulgence in Lassitude
and Languor. The notion of taking _Exercise_ upon Springs of such
construction, is scarcely less absurd, than that of taking an _Airing_
with all the windows closed!
Valetudinarians who wish to derive all the good effects from the
Exercise of riding in a Carriage, must not be super-curious about
having it suspended on extremely elastic Springs. The Jolting of strong
Springs is a salutary concussion, which is extremely convenient to
Nervous, Indolent, and Infirm persons who do not take other Exercise,
and must be classed among the most agreeable of Anti-bilious remedies.
The Coachmaker’s usual phrase of commendation--that such a Carriage
“is as easy as a Boat,” should be a prohibition to Invalids against
purchasing it; who should prefer a Carriage with Strong Springs, that
will give them as good a shaking as Equestrian Agitation.
TO DETERMINE THE RELATIVE ADVANTAGES OF LONG AND SHORT CARRIAGES,
“A weight of _twenty-eight pounds_ was placed in the middle of a _Perch
one foot six inches long_, and it was drawn at the rate of five miles
and a half an hour by twelve pounds.
“When the same load was placed upon a perch three feet long, that is to
say, _twice as long as the former perch_, it required _precisely the
same weight of twelve pounds to draw it_.
“This experiment was repeated a number of times with the same result,
so that it may be relied upon. This is contrary to the opinion of
drivers of all descriptions, from the waggoner in his smock-frock, to
the high-bred Coachman: consequently, there must be some reason for
this universal prejudice. The reason that seems to have given rise to
this opinion, is, that carriages whose fore and hind wheels are near
each other, extricate themselves more readily from ruts, change quarter
more easily, turn in a shorter compass, and thus make their way in
crowded Streets with more facility than longer Carriages.”--_R. L.
Edgeworth on Roads and Carriages_, 8vo. p. 120. 1817.
However, _Short Carriages_ are considered as of easiest draught; and,
to use the language of the Stable, almost every Coachman and Coachmaker
insists upon it, that they _follow better_, and that a Long Carriage
will tire a pair of Horses more in _Three_, than a Short one will in
Five hours’ Travelling.
That if the Body is hung higher behind than it is before, so that it
leans forward, it will push on the fore Wheels, is a foolish Vulgar
Error. You often see Hackney Chariots so hung:--such a position is
uneasy to the Passengers, and of no advantage to the Horses.
In a Chariot, it adds to the elegance of its appearance, and the ease
of the passengers, if the Body is hung rather lower behind than it is
before; but not in a Coach, because what is gained on the front is lost
on the back Seat.
CAUTIONS
AGAINST PURCHASING OF
CHEAP SECOND-HAND CARRIAGES.
“_Caveat Emptor._”
“_Beware of Putty and Paint_,”
Mr. JERVIS told me must be the Motto for this Chapter, and that
“_He who Buys,
Had need have an Hundred Eyes._”
_Old Proverb._
Those who purchase Second-Hand Carriages ought to be extremely
circumspect indeed. Inexperienced People are apt to imagine, that if
the Price charged for a Carriage is only one-half of what a respectable
Coachmaker has told them that he must charge them for a New One, that
it must be a Cheap Bargain; when it is most likely not actually worth
one quarter of that sum.
“_Experto Crede._”
Let no person venture to purchase without the advice of a Coachmaker.
It is easy enough to make an old worn-out Carriage appear fresh and
fair by the help of Paint and Putty, while at the same time, it may be
more fit to be broken up than to be made use of.
To promote the Sale of a Carriage, it is not seldom pretended, that it
belongs to _Sir Richard Whimmy_, or to some other Gentleman of fashion,
(who only parts with it merely because he happens to have it,) or that
the Proprietor is gone abroad; to which is generally added, it has been
only lately built, and has hardly worn the Nails of its First Wheels!!!
&c.
First observe the Fashion of the Body, keeping in mind the time when
such a shape was in vogue; examine the materials, especially the
timbers of the Carriage; for however cunningly a clever Coach-Cobbler
may have puttied and painted them, yet, in some parts, the infirmities
and chinks which time has made, will be visible enough to Eyes
accustomed to examine them.
If Old, the _Futchells_[12] in the chaps at the Pole Bolt hole, and at
the top where the Gib is placed, are rough and patched with Leather;
the Pole[13] if the original one, on the sides and top which go into
the Futchells, is likewise worn, and patched with a tin covering. Look
to _the Transom Plates_, if they are flat, thick, and clean, and that
if by pushing against the Coach Box, or Springs, the Upper Carriage
does not rock on them;--see that the _Fore Axle-tree Bed_, and transom
at the middle where the Perch Bolt is placed, are sound, and that about
the Perch Bolt hole there is not much patching with Leather--that the
ends of the Transom where the Springs and Coach Box is placed look
clean and sound;--_the Splinter Bar_, if much worn, has the moulding
towards the end nearly effaced;--_the Sway Bar_[14] and that part of
the bottom plate of the perch against which it wears, after much use
is gulled, and the defect is made up with Leather patched on it;--the
ends of the hind Axle-tree Bed where the Spring stays rest, if much
indented, is old:--the hind Foot board-ledge being worn hollow, is
another proof of the Carriage having been much used.
As to _the Body_ part, examine principally the Bottom sides, at the end
where the loops are placed; and in the corners of the rabbits under the
Door bottoms where the standing Pillars are framed, if very old they
will be rotten and appear rough; the mortices of the Door Locks, if
gulled, and the Bolts of the Lock if loose in the Spindles, are proofs
of their being old; and so it is if the Leather which covers the Roof
of the Quarters and Boot, appear to have been mended at the welts, or
if it has drawn from the sewings or nailing.
_The Braces_[15] should be supple and clean, free from patches and
cracks at the bearings;--the _Steps_, if ricketty at the Joints, and
when down, if the tread drops under, and the leather with which they
are trimmed is dingy and torn at the joint knuckles; this shews them to
have been much used: the leather also which covers the bottom sides at
the entrance of the Doors, if Old, is rough, and has the grain worn or
torn on the outside.
The Mahogany or Venetian Blind Frames, when old, have their colour
discharged by the weather, and look of a dingy brown;--the Glass
frames, particularly the front ones, are, when old, loose at the
corners, the sides of the grooves loosened, and held together only by
the Cloth which covers them.
Nothing is a better proof than the mouldings of the framings, and the
Scroll ends or finishings of the timber; for if much filled with Paint,
or defaced, it is a certain Proof of the Carriage having been often
painted, and of course old; the paint will, with a slight knock, if not
newly done, fly off in scales, particularly from the Iron work.
Examine well those places in the Body round the edges, if the framing
where the wet has been likely to lodge has not been rotten, and the
surface is not made up with Putty, or has been cased on the outside
with new pieces of Wood moulding.
Examine _the Cloth of the Lining_, observe the sides and back against
which the Shoulders rub, that the cloth is not threadbare, and that it
is free from Moth-holes in every part.
The Hand Holders and pasting Lace, particularly the small Lace which is
round the Lights or Windows.
If the Carriage has a Coach Box, examine the condition of the Seat
under the Hammercloth at the ends and corners on the inside; if it has
been much used, it will be ragged and worn through in many places.
In examining the _Wheels_, look not only to the outside edge of the
Iron which covers them, but also to the Spokes at the Nave, that they
are not started, and that the Wheels are firm on the Axle-trees.--These
are the General Rules to be observed when examining a Second-Hand
Carriage.
_Never buy without advice from some skilful and disinterested person._
HARNESS.
From decayed Harness, almost as much danger is to be dreaded as from a
faulty Carriage. However skilful the Coachman, if your Harness fails,
how can he manage his Horses?
That Harness may not be used so long as to become expensive and
troublesome in the repair, we will endeavour to give some guide as to
_how long it may be expected to last_: this, however, depends much on
the Quality of the Leather and the Goodness of the Workmanship, the
Weather it is exposed to, and the care that is taken of it.
Harness perishes with hanging by; and however moderately it may be
used, after five or six years is seldom fit for further service, unless
very extraordinary care has been taken to preserve it. It may be said
to wear in proportion to the Work done with it: this is ascertained by
the number of Wheels worn out, and we calculate that it will last in
London, at least, as long as Four Sets of Wheels.
Harness for common work should not be encumbered with superfluous
Ornaments, &c.: the plainer it is the better. The less the Horse is
burdened with trappings, the more easily he can do his Work;--the less
Time is required to keep it clean;--and the less Money it costs.
Those who are nice about the look of their Harness, must keep a set
of Old Harness for Wet Weather and Night Work; which is a plan to be
recommended to all Persons who make much use of their Carriage.
A Handsome set of Chariot Harness, of the very best Workmanship, with
patent Leather Waterdecks, according to Estimate (No. 9), costs from
about £30. to £36.
SECOND-HAND HARNESS.
Observe the condition of the Leather; if it is soft and pliable, it
is good:--if dry and stiff, it is bad. This is also the case if the
Grain is cracked, or if the Sewings are gummed up with grease, and the
veined marks on the edges are effaced. See that all the Leathers at the
buckling and looped parts are whole and perfect;--the trace ends, the
collars, the cruppers, the belly bands, and billets, shew best at the
buckling parts how much the Harness has been used.
The Furniture (except the Ornaments) usually remains longer perfect
than the Leather does, but look to the corners of the Buckles and Rings
of the Territs through which the Reins pass, and to the Ornaments;
likewise the inside Winker-pieces and the head chains; these are the
likeliest parts to look to for a proof of the Furniture, but the
Leather is the best guide, for if the pipes and ley of the Collars,
traces at the points, and the breeching at the straps, are perfect,
the Harness is likely to be a good one, though _a Second-Hand Harness
seldom proves_ (after the expense of alterations and changing the
Ornaments, which necessarily must be done before it can be used) _to be
so Cheap, in the long run, as a New one_.
TRAVELLING CARRIAGES
Should not be hung higher than Three feet from the ground, should have
strong well-seasoned Springs, which should be corded, and every part of
it should be much stronger than a Town Carriage. Bolts inside should be
attached to the Doors, to prevent their being opened on the outside.
The Dickey Box should have _Pistol Holsters_ on each side, covered with
black fur tops.
A front Budget attached to the Body, or fixed on the beds of Carriage.
_A hind Rumble_ for two servants, with knee boot attached to the Body.
_Cap Case_ to front of Body.
_Trunks for Travelling_ must be very strong, and strengthened at the
corners with Iron Plates, and should have Inside Straps and Laths;
these are conveniences to confine what the trunk contains from shifting
about; they are made with four or five laths covered with cloth or
paper, which are nailed, at a small distance from each other, to
three pieces of girth web, and lie at the top of the parcels within
the trunk; on the bottom of the trunks straps are nailed, which buckle
round the laths and keep all tight.
TRUNK COVERS
are made to fit the outside of the trunks, to cover and preserve them
from the weather; they are usually made of thick painted cloth, with
holes at the sides, for the handles of the trunk to be got at.
IMPERIALS,
are large flat cases made to the form of the whole or part of the Roof
or Body; they are conveniences to carry light articles safe, mostly
designed for wearing Apparel; they are made of thin boards, covered
with Leather, and lined with tow and baize: to prevent its rubbing
the roof, if intended to cover the whole of the roof, they are most
convenient to remove, if divided into, two parts; and as the half is
often sufficient for use, it saves unnecessary luggage. They are fixed
on the Roof by means of straps and staples.
DRAG CHAIN, SHOE, AND STAFF,
are necessary to every Travelling Carriage: the Chain is to lock the
Wheels, and to prevent the going too fast downhill; the Staff is to
stop the Carriage, and give rest to the Horses, when ascending a hill;
the chain is fixed to a hook about the middle of the perch or crane,
with a hook or shoe at the end for the Wheels. The Hook is most handy
for use, but the shoe is preferable, as it preserves the Iron of the
Wheel from Injury when dragging on hard stony ground. The Chain being
covered with Leather prevents it from rattling.
OIL-SKIN COVERS TO THE BODY
preserve the Paint from the injury of the Road dirt, or Boughs, while
Travelling: these covers are frequently used, and are so made that
the Doors may be opened and shut with them on. Every part of the Body
except the Windows and bottom is covered; it is looped on to the Body
by small buttons, and is put on and off with the utmost facility: they
are made of common oiled linen, lined with soft baize.
SPRING CORDING.
Springs are corded to prevent danger and delay, if by accident a plate
should break, and also to strengthen them, especially when Carriages
are loaded with heavy Imperials and much Luggage: it is done by placing
a thin piece of ash or a length of cord along the back, and afterwards
twisting a small but strong cord round, and fastening it well at the
top.
SAFETY BRACES
are fixed by strong Braces attached to the C springs, passing directly
under the bottom of the Body, (and prevent any stopping on the road by
the springs breaking or body-loops giving way), the expense of which,
with the fixing and check-loops, is 5 Guineas; the length varying from
nine to twelve feet, according to the length of the Carriage.
England is celebrated for the construction of Carriages of peculiar
Elegance and convenience; but the completest machine we have seen was
BUONAPARTE’S
TRAVELLING CHARIOT,
of which the following description may furnish hints to those who wish
to have a convenient Carriage.
The very curious and convenient Chariot of the late Emperor of
France, which I examined when it was exhibited at the London Museum,
Piccadilly, in 1816, was built by Symons of Brussels, for the Russian
Campaign, and was adapted to the various purposes of a _Pantry_ and of
a _Kitchen_; for it had places for holding and preparing refreshments,
which, by the aid of a Lamp, could be heated in the Carriage; it served
also for _a Bed Room_, _a Dressing Room_, _an Office_, &c.;--there was
a separation rising about six inches, dividing the Seat. The exterior
of this ingenious vehicle was of the form and dimensions of our large
Modern English Travelling Chariot--only that it had a projection in
front of about two feet, the right-hand half of which was open to the
inside to receive the feet, and thus formed a Bed--the left-hand
contained a store of various useful things.
Beyond the projection in front, and nearer to the Horses, was the seat
for the Coachman, ingeniously contrived so as to prevent the Driver
from viewing the interior of the Carriage, and yet so placed as to
afford those within a clear sight of the Horses and of the surrounding
Country:--beneath this seat was a receptacle for a Box, about 2½ feet
in length and 4 inches square, which contained a Bedstead of polished
Steel, which could be fitted up in a couple of minutes.
Over the Front Windows was a _Roller Blind_ of strong painted Canvass,
which, when pulled out, _excluded Rain, while it admitted Air_: we
wonder this is not an universal appendage to every Chariot in this
Country.
On the Ceiling of the Carriage was a Net work for carrying small
travelling requisites: in a recess there was a Sécrétaire 10 inches
square by 18 inches in length, which contained nearly an hundred
articles presented to Napoleon by Maria Louisa, under whose care it was
fitted up with every luxury and convenience that could be imagined,
and contained, besides the usual requisites for a Dressing-Box, most
of which were of solid Gold,--a magnificent Breakfast service, with
Plates--Candlesticks--Knives--Forks--Spoons--a spirit Lamp, for making
Breakfast in the Carriage--Gold Case for Napoleons--Gold Wash-hand
Basin--variety of Essence Bottles, Perfumes--and an almost infinite
variety of minute articles, down to Pins, Needles, Thread, and Silk.
Each of these were fitted into recesses, most ingeniously contrived,
and made in the solid Wood, in which they packed close together, and
many within each other, in so small a compass, that, on seeing them
arranged, it appeared impossible for them ever to be put in so small
a compass:--at the bottom of this Toilette Box, in divided recesses,
were found Two Thousand Gold Napoleons;--on the Top, Writing Materials,
Looking Glass, Combs, &c.--a Liqueur Case which had Two Bottles, one
with Malaga Wine, the other Rum,--a silver Sandwich Box, containing a
Plate, Knives, Spoons, Pepper and Salt Boxes, Mustard Pot, Decanter,
Glasses, &c.--a Wardrobe, Writing-Desk, Maps, Telescopes, Arms,
&c.--a large silver Chronometer, by which the Watches of the Army were
regulated, two Merino Mattresses, a Green Velvet Travelling Cap--also a
diamond Headdress (tiara), Hat, Sword, Uniform, and an Imperial Mantle,
&c. &c. &c.
DUTIES
PAYABLE ON MALE SERVANTS.
Per Servant. Total per Year.
No. 1. £1 4 0 £1 4 0
2. 1 11 0 3 2 0
3. 1 18 0 5 14 0
4. 2 3 6 8 14 0
DUTIES ON HORSES.
Per Horse. Total per Year.
No. 1. £1 8 0 £1 8 0
2. 2 7 3 4 14 6
3. 2 12 3 7 16 9
4. 2 15 0 11 0 0
DUTY ON CARRIAGES.
With Two Wheels £3 5 0
With Four Ditto 6 0 0
The Duties on Servants, Carriages, and Horses, are collected by the
same Officers that collect the House and Window Taxes; and are
reckoned from one fifth of April to another; and if you keep a Horse or
Carriage for a Single week, you must pay the Tax thereon for a whole
Year.
THE ART
OF
MANAGING COACHMEN.
The Christian precept of
“_Do as you would be done by_,”
is in few instances more difficult to observe, than it is towards a
Coachman, who is, in fact, paid to endure those Inconveniences from
which the Carriage protects his Employer. However, the Good Master will
“_do as he would be done by_,” and make his Servant as Comfortable as
the peculiar nature of his place permits.
_Merciful Masters_, who use their Carriage in Wet Weather[16], provide
their Coachman _Two Box Coats_:--a Second-hand Coat may be bought for
about £2. 10_s._--a slight increase to their Expense, a great addition
to his Comfort: for when _a Box Coat gets thoroughly Wet, it will take
forty-eight hours before it becomes thoroughly Dry_; for it must not be
dried otherwise than gradually and in the Air. _Mr. Jarvis_ says, that
“the best way of drying a Box Coat on these occasions, is to put it
round a Truss of Straw.”
The Hardy habits of Coachmen enable them to brave the inclemencies of
the Sky, and to set the Cold and Rain at defiance, when encompassed
in their seven-fold Cape, and a comfortable _Dry Coat_;--but, my
fair-weather friend, can you imagine a more awfully dangerous envelope
than _a Wet Blanket_?
Whatever Olympic Wits or Whips might think, there are few modern
Jockies who will agree with Pindarus, that Water is the best thing, at
least for the lining of the _Inner_ or the _Outer Coat_ of the Stomach.
_Damp Clothes_ are the cause of Coachmen being so often and so severely
afflicted with Rheumatism; therefore we insert the following, which has
frequently proved an efficacious remedy in old and inveterate attacks
of this complaint.
_Anti-Rheumatic Embrocation._
Sal Volatile, an ounce and a half;
Laudanum, half an ounce;
Mix--rub the part afflicted Night and Morning, and in the
Middle of the Day.
The Reader may have observed, that the Coach Box of the Carriages of
many Medical Men is furnished with a _Knee Boot_, _i. e._ an Apron
like that of a Gig:--this is a comfortable, and, indeed, a needful
defence to the Legs and Feet. The Author advises the general adoption
thereof to those who use their Carriage much in Cold Wet Weather, and
especially recommends it to those Genteel[17] people, who courageously
keep their Servants and Horses in waiting half the Night, in bitter
cold weather, while they are indulging themselves in the opposite
extreme of temperature in Crowded Assemblies.
No _Entertainments_ (as those _Midnight Inflictions_ are by courtesy
termed), afford so little satisfaction as
EVENING PARTIES.
All who know you, that _are not_ invited, will take umbrage, and half
of those who _are_, receive the intended Compliment only as their
due, and not seldom return it by ridiculing their Host, who, if he is
prudent, they will censure for his Parsimony; if he be generous, will
rate as a Prodigal.
These (foolish, if they are poor, but if Rich, wicked,)
“_Fly-by-Nights_,”
“Who Sleep till Noon, and hardly live till Night,”
who are unhappy except when in a Crowd, and fancy that they are
entitled to pass for folks of exquisite Fashion, in proportion to the
degree of fondness that they pretend to exhibit for being Stewed in
foul Air[18].
As _Sir Exquisite Irritable_ says, “Nothing can be less Nice than
the Re-respiration of _Respired Air_, every whif of which has just
popped out of the Mouth of another! To Drink out of the same Cup, is
comparatively an act of delectable Refinement!!!”
What is to be said FOR the Absurdity of not going out to an _Evening_
Party, until You ought to be going into Your Bed? Every Body has enough
to say AGAINST it! But, nevertheless, the very persons who exclaim
loudest against this foolish Fashion, are frequently found among the
foremost of those who follow it.--How comes this? why, this is quite
inconceivable!--No, indeed,--No!--pray pardon me--with the utmost
submission, it is among the strange things which are very easily
accounted for--_it is Fashionable! it is extremely Genteel!!_
However, these _Midnight Meetings_, under the inviting appellation of
GENTEEL _Evening Parties_, are, in fact, a _Barbarous Invention of the
Idle and Imbecile_, to undermine the Constitution, and annihilate the
Independence of the Industrious and the Healthful.
“Though bold these Truths, my Book with Truths like these
Will none offend, whom ’tis a praise to please.”
_Dr. Young._
The noisy announcement of the arrival of the Visitors at these
Nocturnal Assemblies, by the absurd custom of a Thundering Rapping at
the Door, which is already open, is one of the most ridiculous customs
of modern times, and should be entirely abolished.--If a parcel of
silly people are permitted to meet together at Midnight, they ought not
to be permitted to murder the Sleep of their surrounding neighbours,
from Ten at Night till Three in the Morning! It is as disorderly
an offence against the public peace as can be mentioned; and if
it happened at the house of a poor person, it would be immediately
indicted as Disorderly.
Good Nature may find some Excuse for the Poor and Dependent, who
(perhaps very unwillingly) are obliged to follow a Foolish Fashion; but
what apology can Good Sense invent for the Opulent and the Independent,
who are the Makers of Manners, and who set a Foolish Example[19].
_Tom Thrifty’s_ maxim for Evening Parties, was
“COME _before Seven_,
GO _before Eleven_.”
Have you in your Visiting Book the name of one Good Mother, whom you
have not heard heartily lament the Late Hours of the Fashionable
World as the principal cause of the predominance of the Lily in the
complexion of her Children?
“Late sitting up has turn’d their Roses white:
Why went they not to Bed?--because ’twas Night.”
Is it not astonishing, then, that Somebody will not be Wise enough, and
Kind enough, to invite us to return to Reasonable Hours?--But, as the
saying is,
“_What is Every Body’s Business, is Nobody’s Business_,”
and
“_Plain Dealing is Dead, and Died without Issue_.”
“Doubly distrest, what author shall we find,
Discreetly daring, and severely kind,
The courtly Roman’s shining path to tread,
And sharply smile prevailing Folly dead.”
_Dr. Young._
The Writer does not presume further, than humbly to advise those who
wish to enjoy any of their faculties in perfection, not willingly to
refrain from wearing their NIGHT CAP, _Later than Eleven o’Clock at
Night_.
“ONE _Hour’s Sleep before Twelve o’Clock is worth_ TWO _after_.”
Do you recollect, Gentle Reader, to have ever learned any thing worth
remembering
AFTER ELEVEN O’CLOCK AT NIGHT?
I don’t:--nor, indeed, _for a full Hour before that time_,--those
persons whose bodies or minds have been industriously employed during
the day, are arrived at that degree of exhaustion, that their faculties
are become obtuse;--if you ask them any thing, “they don’t know;”--and
if you tell them any thing, “they don’t care.”
_Midnight Conversation_ cannot be any thing more than a mere “_caput
mortuum_,” and the vapid draining of Brains collapsed by the continued
cogitations of the 14 or 15 preceding Hours!--or the unwholesome
effervescence of the “hot and rebellious liquors” which have been taken
to revive the flagging spirits.
_The Machinery of Man_, like the wheels of a Watch, after a certain
time wants winding up, or it will go down--when this time comes, till
your Gentleman is wound up by Food and Rest, he cannot talk, any
better than that can tick, till that is wound up again.
To the person who is intrusted with so important a concern as the
management of your Carriage and Horses you will do wisely to give
proper encouragement: on his Honesty and Judgment greatly depend the
safety of the Rider and the Expense of the Equipage--therefore, it is
as much your Interest to be kind, as it is his Duty to be Careful.
It will be well, therefore, to put your Coachman beyond any petty
temptations from Hackneymen, Horsedealers, Farriers, Coachmakers, _et
id genus omne_, and pay him cheerfully all such reasonable Perquisites
as will make it His Interest to take care of Yours.
People are often biassed by their Coachman in what is to be done in the
Repair or alteration of their Carriage and Horses, and from interested
motives, or capricious whims, the Knights of the Whip, it is said,
sometimes have gone to extravagant lengths, and the Carriage has
become rather the Property of the Coachman and Coachmaker, than of the
Proprietor.
A careful Coachman is a valuable Servant. “A Coachman,” says the
_Sieur Soleysell_, “should be skilful, Nimble, Hardy, and Honest,
should love Horses, and have a desire to perform all his work
well:--when a Master findeth a Lad with these qualities, he should not
easily part with him; for this Merchandise, although Clownish, is hard
enough to be found.”--See his _Complete Horseman_, folio, p. 145, 1717.
To the above Qualifications, must be added, that of Reading and
Writing; and if you reside in London, that of “knowing Town well,” _i.
e._ be well acquainted with the situation, the distance, and the best
Roads, (as they may now be called) to the various parts of that amazing
Labyrinth of Lanes called London.
_Before you permit him to mount the Box_--ask him how far it is to half
a dozen different places in opposite directions, and which Way he would
go, and how Long he would be in driving you thither.
The best Age for a Coachman is between 30 and 40--before the former,
they are perfunctory, and soon after the latter, they lack Activity.
The following maxim, which I gave for hiring a Cook, applies as aptly
to engaging Coachmen.
Before the age of THIRTY, however comfortable you may endeavour to
make them, their want of experience, and the Hope of something still
_better_, prevents their being content with their present state.
After they have had the benefit of Experience, if they are tolerably
comfortable, they will endeavour to deserve the approbation of even a
moderately kind Master, for _Fear_ they may change for the _worse_.
“The Good that they wish for, mayn’t match what they’ve got;
And therefore they’d best be content with their lot.”
Life is divided into the Seasons of HOPE, and FEAR. In YOUTH _we hope
that every thing may be right_;--In AGE, _we fear that every thing will
be wrong_.
Whether you have your own Horses, or Hire of a Hackneyman:--_Mr.
Jarvis_ begs you to be very careful in choosing a Coachman, or you may
get for a Charioteer, an ignorant, careless creature, who hardly knows
“_Come may thur wut_”
from
“_Come may thur woo-ee._”
_The best Person to apply to, to recommend a Coachman_, is the
Hackneyman of whom you Hire your Horses; it is his own Interest to
recommend a Servant who is capable and careful: or by looking in the
Daily papers, you will find many who are in want of places:--The
shortest way, is to advertise for one--this will bring plenty of
applicants presently--direct them to call on your Hackneyman, or to
some person on whom you can depend, and let him select and send to you
only such as he thinks likely to suit: this will save you much time and
trouble: moreover, it is desirable that a Coachman should be in some
degree dependant upon the person of whom you hire Horses, that he may
be accountable to him for the proper treatment of them, and you will
thus be better served.
Accept of no _Written Character_ when any other can be obtained; and it
is the most satisfactory plan for all Parties, to _Give, and Receive
the Character of a Servant in the presence of such Servant._
The common custom, is for the Coachman to come for
ORDERS
at a certain hour. Very well,--tell him “to stay at Home, and be ready
to attend to your Business,” adding, however, (if you expect him to do
so) that “whenever you wish for a Half, or a whole Holiday for your
own Business,”--for every one has Business and Desires, such as they
are,--“ask me for it, and I will not Dissappoint you, even though your
Absence may be Inconvenient--Mark!--Mind my Business, and I promise
you, that I will never prevent your having every reasonable opportunity
of minding Your own:”--make an agreement with him, that he shall
have certain Hours in certain Days for such business as the Horses,
Carriage, &c. require.
“_Leave is Light;_”
and warn him that if you find him out without leave, at any other
time--you will immediately give him leave of Absence from your service
for ever after, and that it will become your Duty, to state the reason
why you do so, to any person who may apply for his Character.
Desire him, _Five minutes before he brings the Carriage round_, to
open the Windows and ventilate it: even in Winter, _Cold_ Air is not
so offensive as _Confined_ Air--desire him to bring the Carriage with
the Glasses and Blinds, &c. in the position in which you generally
use them; and when you tell him at what Time to come, _tell him which
Way to bring his Horses’ heads to the Door_, _i.e._ East or West, so
that he may start at once, without the disagreeable trouble of turning
about--give him similar directions when you stop any where, and apprise
him, that when you get in again, if you don’t immediately direct him
otherwise, he is always to take you towards Home.
_Finally_, let his General Business be given to him in Writing; _i.
e._ at what Hours you most usually want the Carriage--how Long at a
time you are generally out--what Pace you wish to go--and what Roads to
particular places, &c.
Give _him a Map of London_, on which, mark with Red Ink the way you
wish to be taken to those places to which you are most frequently
going--and tell him, if you order him to take you to any place, the way
to which he is not well acquainted with, always to say so plainly, and
you will direct him.
Some Good Masters never (unless in a case of necessity) take their
Carriage out on a _Sunday_.
In well-governed Families, every Servant has the liberty every _Sunday_
of going once to Church; which if they neglect, and fail in their duty
to their Maker, they may well be suspected of failing in their duty to
their master:--_A Person who goes regularly to Church_, will be WELL
spoken of, though he may have no other merit to recommend him: He who
neglects that Duty is ILL spoken of, if he has no other Fault, and has
every other Virtue.
Whenever you find it necessary to give any Directions, or to reprove
him for Neglect, &c., never send any Message to him by another
Servant,--mention it yourself; You may do this with much more effect
than you can by any deputy, who, through Mistake or Ill-nature, may
likely enough either say more or less than you told him.
Never reprove Servants unless you are quite in a Good Temper; the best
way to ensure which, is,--_Never to Lecture them, till at least ONE
DAY AFTER they have offended you._
Never forget to Commend them when they are Right; nothing can cherish
the desire of pleasing in Them so effectually, as to shew them that you
are pleased:--it is a much pleasanter, and a more effectual mode of
proceeding, to _Praise_ them into good conduct, than to _Scold_ them
out of bad.
There is a Perversity in poor human nature which sets itself against
Correction, and is restive to reproof, but is pliant and yielding to
the least expression of Kindness. _Pride_ is like the Rust that seizes
and stiffens the Spring of an Engine, and checks its motion, so that no
force can set it to work; but _Kindness_ is like Oil, which smooths the
machinery in such a manner that the parts move almost of themselves.
This Gentle method of dealing with our fellow-creatures is GOD’S own
method of dealing with mankind, who “delighteth not in the Death of a
Sinner, but rather that he should turn from his Wickedness and Live;”
and chooses rather to lead us to Repentance by his Goodness, than to
drive us to it by his Wrath.
PUNCTUALITY
In a Coachman is indispensable,--if he has 15 or 20 Minutes’ notice
that he will be wanted, there is no excuse for his not being ready by
that time; for a regular Coachman gets his Harness and Carriage clean
and ready to put to, early in the day.
In establishments where it is not known at what hour a Carriage will be
wanted, but when it is, is wanted at a minute’s notice, the Horses are
kept ready Harnessed.
Desire him always to be at your Door, _Five Minutes before_ the time he
is ordered, especially _when ordered at an unusual hour_;--when you are
going out “on actual Service,” his being ready at the desired moment,
is infinitely more important than when you are going out at the usual
hour merely for Amusement. One Minute of Your Time, is often worth an
Hour of His.
Tell your Coachman, that “THE ORACLE _has declared_ that--He who
sometimes comes _Before_ the time he is ordered, manifests respect for
his Employers and a laudable Anxiety to obey Orders.
“He who never comes till _the Last Moment_, presents presumptive
evidence that he is disposed to do no more work than he is obliged to
do.
“He who comes _After_ the Time, would not come then, unless Fear
flogged him:
“Encourage the First,
“Endure the Second,
“Do as you like with the Last.”
One Friend informed me that he cured an excellent Coachman of his
neglect of being punctual (which was the only fault he had)--by hiring
a Hackney Coach, whenever his own Carriage was not at the Door to a
minute, and deducting the charge thereof from his Wages. Another makes
it part of the Agreement, in hiring a Coachman, that he shall forfeit a
Shilling for every Minute he comes after the time he is ordered.
Remember _Tom Thrifty’s_ account of that excellent Disciplinarian, old
Admiral EVERREADY.
“The first time I received Orders to attend his Honour on a
Cruise,--‘_Tom Thrifty_,’ (said the gallant Veteran,) ‘be sure, have
Every Thing ready for Action to-Morrow Morning before Eight o’Clock.
_Getting out well is half the Battle._’ ‘I will take care, your Honour,
not to be later than Eight.’
“‘Not _later_, Sir!--Pipe all hands a _Quarter Before_, if you please,
Sir!!--a Quarter _Before_, Sir!!!--to that Quarter of an Hour I owe all
my success in Life!!!--Do you think that Old EVERREADY would have won
every Battle he has fought, if he had not always had a Broadside ready
to pour into the Enemy, _Before_ it was expected that any Engagement
could possibly take place!--_Oh! that precious Quarter of an Hour!_--it
has been, as a body may say, the Guardian Spirit which has gained me
all my Laurels. Now, my Boy, let me heave a bit of advice to You;
if you wish to keep clear of the shoals of _Disappointment_, take
_Preparation_ for your Purser, and _Punctuality_ for your Pilot--they
will put you into the track of _Preferment_; and if you mind that your
vessel is well ballasted with _Integrity_, you may carry almost what
Sail you will with safety, and soon hope to cast anchor for Life in the
Bay of Independence.’”
_When you order your Coachman to call for you_, tell him to send
you notice of his arrival as soon as he comes, and that within Two
minutes after you hear of it, you will either come or send to him--if
you do not, to conclude that you have not been told, and desire him
peremptorily to order that you may be informed of it, for some people
are Rude enough to desire their Servants not to tell their Guests that
their Carriage is come, until just such time as they wish them gone.
The surest plan of protecting yourself from the tricks of such folks,
and of knowing when your Carriage is come, is to give your Coachman a
LETTER directed to you, on which is written “_An Immediate Answer is
desired_.” Direct him to deliver this wherever you are, with a special
request that it may be _given to you directly, as it requires an
Immediate Answer_: this may also serve the purpose of furnishing you
with an excellent excuse to get away as early as you please.
Do not order your Carriage till you actually want it; and enter it the
moment it comes to the Door, especially in Cold and Wet Weather.
Have a _Good going Clock_ placed where it may be easily seen by all the
Members of your Household; by which let them set their Watches. Desire
your Coachman, when he comes for Orders, to set his by this Clock; and
then, if he is a steady fellow, by referring to your own, you will
see when he comes for you. Let his Watch be so regulated, that it may
rather gain than lose. If it be not a very good one, if it is set every
morning by a good clock, it will answer almost all the purposes of a
_Good_ one. Keep it _five minutes too Fast_, and tell him to keep all
appointments by its Dial, as if it shewed the True time.
Before you start from home, give your Coachman distinct directions
when to come for you; and do this yourself: if you do it by deputy, or
when you get out of your Carriage, and probably in a hurry, a mistake
is easily enough made. When he is to call for you at any place with
which you are not quite certain that he is acquainted, let the plainest
possible Direction thereto be given him in Writing.
An experienced Driver can always calculate how long he will be in
going; and when you tell him to come for you, you may be certain that
he need never be more than five minutes after the time you order him:
thus, you will be independent of any information from the Servants at
the House where you visit.
“_Punctual Masters make Punctual Servants._”
_If you go out to Dinner in London_, a distance exceeding Three Miles,
it is more advisable to put up your Horses, than to send them Home,
as the wear of the Carriage in doing the double work of going home
and coming again for you, will cost as much as you will be charged
for Hay at a Livery Stable, which will not be more than Two Shillings
(including 6_d._ to the Hostler). Moreover, it is convenient to have
the power of returning home sooner or later, as you like, without
danger of your Servants and Horses catching Cold in waiting for you.
It is customary to allow the Coachman some refreshment when your Horses
are put up, while you are at Dinner. Whatever you choose to give, give
in Money.
_If you go out to Dinner in the Country_, your Nags will like to Dine
too, and have half a peck of Corn and some Hay also. Different Inns
vary in their charges from 2_s._ 6_d._ (including 6_d._ to the Hostler)
to 3_s._ 6_d._
_When you go out to Dinner in the Environs of Town_, where you have not
been before, and are unacquainted with the Topography of the Country,
start at least a quarter of an hour earlier than you may think is
absolutely necessary, that you may have time to find the House, which
is not always very easy, especially if your friend has only lately
resided there.
_Those who dwell in Suburban Villas_, have (or ought to have) engraved
on the back of their Cards, _a Map of the Road from the Stones’ end to
their House_. This would save their Visitors a vast deal of trouble,
and they would not have their Dinner spoiled quite so often, by their
Guests not arriving in time, from not knowing the way.
_Persons dwelling four or five Miles from Town, and those who invite
Friends from the Country to dine with them_, should Dine, and have all
such Parties at least an Hour or two earlier than the fashionable town
time, so that their Guests may get home at their usual hour of retiring
to Rest.
For people who live half a Dozen Miles from the Standard in Cornhill,
to invite you, or you to invite them, to a _Dinner Party_ later than
Four o’clock, or an _Evening Party_ later than Seven, is one of the
most ridiculous affectations imaginable! Courteous Reader, summon
resolution enough to _set a Good_ Example:--surely this cannot require
more Courage than it does to _follow a Bad_ Example.
“And leave the folly of Night Dinners
To Fools, and Dandies, and old Sinners.”
Desire your Coachman to give you notice a day or two before the Horses
will want
SHOEING,
that you may appoint a convenient time for that purpose. See _Obs. on
Shoeing, in the Chapter on Horses_.
_If you think that you may want your Carriage earlier than your usual
time of going out in the Morning_, give your Coachman notice over
Night; or when you send in the Morning, expect (and don’t be uselessly
angry if you get) for an answer, “John is gone to the Blacksmith’s,” or
“to the Coachmaker’s,” or “to the Hay Market,” or to any other Market
that the person who serves Fudge for him, happens to think of first. If
any such Answer be given, desire that as soon as he returns, he will
come for Orders; you will then know how long he has been absent.
LENDING YOUR CARRIAGE.
As soon as you set up a Carriage, lots of Idle and Impertinent People,
and all the various branches of “the _Skin Flint’s_,” and “the _Save
All’s_,” are up early on the alert, setting all kinds of Traps to ride
at your cost.
Caution those Friends to whom you may give such accommodation, not to
mention it: if they trot about, telling every one that they and you
know, that “_Mr. Benevolus_ was so good as to lend us his Carriage, and
we had such a nice ride all round here and there, and &c.”
If any of the numerous members of the “_Free and Easy_,” or “the _Save
All_” families, who happen to have the slightest acquaintance with
you, hear that you have given this accommodation to some very old and
excellent Friend, who may have honestly earned every attention that
you can possibly offer:--I should not wonder, if they were to Whisper
to one another, “Oh, oh! is it so?--well,--I have really a vast respect
for Mr. B.--hav’nt you? And if he is so exceedingly fond of Lending
his Leathern convenience, don’t you think that we ought to do him the
favour to Borrow it?--it will be so exceedingly convenient when we go
to our Uncle _Makefeasts_--for we can’t hire a Glass Coach to take us
Ten Miles and back under _Thirty_ Shillings, you know!”
_If you have any regard for Punctuality_, take care who you carry with
you, especially _when going out to Dinner_!
If you undertake to carry people to one place, some unreasonable
selfish beings are, not seldom, so pleased at an opportunity of
shewing off “_en carrosse_,” that they will plague you with perpetual
solicitations to stop at almost every Door they pass;--Aye, and act as
if they fancied that they were jumping in “_an Errand Cart_.” Tell such
Free and Easy folks very plainly, that _you must be at a certain Place
at a certain Time_, and have not a moment to spare.
If you have any Mercy for your Horses, lend them not to others,
unless you limit the _Time_ they are to be out, and the _Distance and
Pace_ they are to go; say not exceeding ten Miles. Consider, you may
be called upon to go a long Journey to-morrow, and if your Horses
are over-worked to-day, how are you to get on? This caution to your
Coachman is quite necessary, my good Reader; for those who borrow
Horses and Carriages have been found willing enough to work them hard
enough! If those who borrow it ask the Coachman to do any more work
than you have directed him, tell him if he does it, it is at the peril
of losing his place, and desire him to say plainly, “Such are my
Master’s orders; if I disobey them he will discharge me the moment I
return home.”
Forbid your Coachman receiving any present from those he carries.
_Give him yourself, before he goes_, the same perquisite that you
would give another person’s Servant who had driven you as far as he is
going to drive your Friends, who will be Shabby companions indeed, if
they do not offer him something, and who will tell you if he refuses
to take it.--If they are not furiously anxious to acquaint you with
your Servant’s _Integrity_, they, most likely, may have _Self-Love_
enough to wish to prove to you their own liberal intentions.--On such
occasions, tell your Servants to say gently and respectfully, “I am
much obliged to you, Sir--I am equally obliged to you, but my Master
has already paid me extra for attending upon you.”
“_Edmund Burke_ brought with him and retained the hospitable customs
of his Country. I knew an old School-fellow of his, who used almost
annually to go to London from Ireland, frequently with some of his
Family: they used to lodge at his house. Mr. Burke sent his Servants
and Carriage with them to a considerable distance from Town, when the
Guests, on parting with the Footman, expressed their obligations for
the attention shewn them, and put a piece of Gold into the Coachman’s
hand. ‘I cannot receive this, Sir: it would displease Mr. Burke
exceedingly.’ ‘But I don’t intend ever to let him know any thing about
it.’ ‘Sir, I should use my Master extremely ill were I to consent: for
he gives me extra Wages, on the express condition of my not receiving
any thing from those who visit him.’ ‘Thou art right, and I will report
thy Integrity to thy Master.’”--_Dr. Walker’s Fragments_, 8vo. p. 118.
1802.
“Many are the tricks of Coachmen,” says the sagacious DEAN SWIFT.
“If they are not in the humour to Drive, they will tell their Master
that the Horses have caught Cold--are off their Feed--want Shoeing--the
Harness is out of order--Wet Weather roughens their Coats: and if any
body takes a liking to one of your Nags, and they can get a Guinea by
selling it, will persuade you to part with it, by telling you that he
is beginning to be touched in his Wind, or Foundered, or is so Vicious
that it has become dangerous to drive him.”
FIFTEEN THINGS
WHICH
(MR. JARVIS SAYS)
A GOOD COACHMAN WON’T DO.
1. He _will not_ gratify a greedy Innkeeper, Hackneyman, Hay Farmer,
Coachmaker, Sadler, or other Tradesman, at the expense of his Employer;
but, in laying out his Master’s Money, will be as careful as if it was
his own.
2. _He will not_ leave his Master to the care of the Waiter and his
Horses to the Hostler, and think only of Himself; but take care and
attend to both, and be particularly careful that his Horses are well
dressed, well fed[20], and well littered, and that their Shoes,
Saddles, &c. are in proper condition to continue their Journey.
3. _He will not_, in disagreeable weather, urge the Hostler to say the
Roads are bad, in order to detain him till the weather is better, or to
go round a particular way.
4. _He will not_ recommend Strong Beer to his Horses, or Brandy to
their Heels, in order to gratify a thirsty palate, at the expense of
his own Head, and his Master’s Pocket.
5. _He will not_ contrive to have a Horse’s Shoe loose, or drive in a
Stone to make him halt, in order to shorten or delay a day’s Journey;
or advise his Master to stop under pretence of the Horses being faint
and weak.
6. _He will not_ recommend particular Inns out of favour to the
Landlord or the Hostler, or with a view of getting an extraordinary
Dram for such recommendation.
7. _He will not_, if he is employed to purchase Hay or Straw, &c.,
trot up and down the Market till he has found _the Cheapest_, and then
charge it to his Master as _the Dearest_.
8. _He will not_, when leading his Master’s Horse from one part of the
country to another, suffer it to be hard ridden, either to oblige an
old acquaintance, or to put half-a-crown into his own Pocket.
9. _He will not_, when sent alone to any distance, go round or out of
his way to see an old friend, and then, to fetch up the time, gallop
his Horse till he can scarce stand upon his Legs.
10. _He will not_, when Airing his Horses, play tricks with them,
gallop them against other Horses for a Pint and a Pipe, or leap them
over places that may stake them or spoil them.
11. _He will not_, to save his attendance in the Stable, fill the rack
to the top with Hay, and the Manger to the brim with Oats, so as to
occasion either being wasted; nor, to save his trouble, let the dirty
litter stand under a Horse the whole day.
12. _He will not_, when he is to carry his Master’s Great Coat in a
strap behind him, wrap his own Coat up in it, or leave his Master’s
Coat outwards to get Wet, in case it should Rain.
13. _He will not_, when he comes to an Inn, after a hard day’s
Journey, in cold and dirty weather, leave his Horses to a Stable Boy,
to splash them up to their bellies, in Water, in order to wash them;
suffer them to drink their fill, and then gallop them full speed a
mile to warm them, whilst he is indulging himself with Purl and Hot
Pot by the Kitchen Fire, although “Some Grooms are quite as curious in
providing good Cheer for Themselves as they are for their Horses,” says
the _Sieur Sollysell_, in his _Compleat Horseman_, fol. p. 110. 1717.
14. _He will not_, if his Horse drops a Shoe, gallop him as hard as he
can to the next Smith, to the danger of his feet, but will travel on
gently.
15. _He will not_, if he wants to spend an hour at an Ale-house, go out
with an old Girth or Stirrup Leather in his hands, under pretence of
getting it mended.
* * * * *
Coachmen have generally some spare hours, and would do wisely to
learn a business at which they could work during such leisure;--such
provident diligence would, in a few years, enable them to ride Inside
instead of Outside of a Coach:--perhaps the most useful Trade they
could take to would be that of a Sadler, a Shoemaker, or a Carpenter.
COACHMAN’S TOOLS.
Our friend _Mr. Jarvis_ assures us, that an experienced Coachman, who
understands the care of a Carriage, can do many little Jobs, just as
well as a Coachmaker, and can soon save his Employer not only the cost
of the following things, but rectify several trifling derangements,
which, if adjusted immediately, will prevent many heavy Repairs.--The
shaking of the Carriage frequently loosens Bolts, Nuts, &c., which, if
not immediately attended to, the Wood and Iron work soon suffers great
injury; therefore, desire your Coachman to tell you the moment that he
discovers any Repair to be wanting, or there appears any probability
that any part is likely soon to break.
REQUISITE IMPLEMENTS.
A Setter Prop £1 0 0
Ditto, for an Underspring Carriage 2 0 0
Screw Wrench 0 7 0
Pair of Pincers 0 2 6
Hammer 0 2 6
Water Brush 0 3 0
Spoke Brush 0 2 6
Lining Brush 0 3 0
Horse Brush 0 3 0
Rag Mop 0 1 9
Yard of Stout Leather for Washing and
for stopping Rattling, &c. 0 3 0
-------
£4 8 3
-------
_To ensure Punctuality in your Visits_, which, Civility says, ought to
be returned with as much Celerity as Convenience will permit, give your
Coachman a List of the Places he is to take you to, and the Time you
are to be there: the various branches of the _Gad-abouts_, who delight
in the laborious Idleness of paying Morning Visits, and wish to pay
as many as possible, in as little time as possible, and spend their
time in being Driven to Doors, where they anxiously desire--not to be
admitted, will find the above hint very valuable.
_When you go about paying Visits_, (especially in Cold Weather), desire
your Coachman not to drive faster than Five miles an Hour:--_Nothing
destroys more Coach Horses_, than the practice, so common in London,
of driving them fast till they are Hot, and then keeping them standing
still in the Cold.
Buildings have now spread themselves over such an immense extent of
_Terra Nova et Incognita_, that a modern
MAP OF LONDON
and the Environs is as needful an Article in a Carriage, as a Compass
in a Ship.
The size of this said Town of London is strangely changed since _Mr.
Sorbiere_ wrote his _Journey to London_, 8vo. 1698, in p. 5 of which he
says, “But that which makes the dwelling in the City of London most
delightfully diverting, is the _extremely pleasant facility of walking
out into the Fields_!!!”
“Happy were the Days then,
To what they is now.”
_Old Bawlit._
Now, instead of the Fields being come-atable with extremely pleasant
facility! before you can put your Foot upon a blade of _Verdant_ Grass,
(there is _Black_ Grass enough in the Squares), you must drag your Legs
through a Grove of Houses of at least two or three Miles in length!
_The New Road from Paddington to Islington_ was, till lately, the
Boundary line for limiting the ruinous rage for Building on the North
side of the Town.--There is a _Ground Plan of the New Road_, from
Islington to the Edgeware Road, shewing the then state of the Ground,
(and the names of the Proprietors thereof) between Oxford Street and
the New Road, in the Supplement to the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ for 1755.
A Stop ought to be put to the practice of constructing irregular groups
of Houses. “The ACT OF PARLIAMENT for forming the New Road, which was
made in 1755, directs that no building be erected within Fifty feet[21]
of the _New Road_.”
“The present _mean appearance of the backs of the Houses and Hovels
have rendered this approach to the Capital a scene of confusion and
deformity_, extremely unbecoming the character of a Great and Opulent
City.”--_Gwynn’s London Improved_, 4to. p. 11.
Mr. Gwynn’s remarks apply very aptly to _that Quarter of a Mile of the
New Road which is between Westgate Turnpike at the crossing of Gower
Street North, and the East Entrance to the Regent’s Park_.
The _Southern_ and _Western_ avenues to THE REGENT’S PARK are as they
ought to be: the Roads are wide, and the space between the Houses and
the Road is laid out in Gardens, as THE ACT directs--very different
is the approach from the City along the _Eastern_ Road from the point
above mentioned, which is narrow, and is perpetually obstructed by the
Waggons, &c. that are unloading at the Timber and Stone Yards, &c.;
occupying the ground which the Act of Parliament has ordered shall
be _used only for Gardens_. The intention of this judicious clause
was, no doubt, to preserve the Light, Air, and Cheerfulness, so highly
necessary to a great leading Thoroughfare--such it has hitherto been,
and with increasing respectability, excepting at the one point I am
about to mention--many great Improvements have taken place--such as
_the Regent’s Park and Crescent_--_The New Pancras Church and Euston
Square_, &c. &c. With these useful and even splendid works upon the
same line of Road, it becomes a matter of Surprise, that the distance
_between Westgate turnpike, at the crossing of Gower Street North, up
to the Regent’s Park_, should not only remain without any reformation,
but that buildings,--workmen’s huts,--sheds,--smoky chimneys, and all
manner of nuisances, should be allowed not only to continue, but to
increase daily close to the Road.
In proceeding from the City Westward, a fine line of road, and noble
footpaths _on each side_, are found, until on arriving near Tottenham
Court Road both appear to terminate abruptly, and the Road is faced,
and its regularity destroyed by the projection of a range of low
buildings and hovels, converted, or now converting, into small Houses,
close to the Highway, which, strange to say, is much _narrowed_, at a
point where, from the increased traffic caused by the crossing of the
Road to Hampstead, a considerable increase of width is doubly requisite.
But here the Houses project about Ten feet, and nearly close up the
footpath; and this being one of the stations for the Paddington Coaches
to stop at, it becomes a service of no small danger to drive through
the very small opening that is left for the public to pass through.
A few yards further, on both sides of the Road, are ranges of Stone
Yards, with the incessant music of Sawing, Chipping, and Hacking stone,
grinding Chisels, and sharpening of Saws. Cow yards, picturesque stacks
of Timber, building materials, and dead walls.
Another angle turned, and the Traveller emerges again from the region
of smoke, stone dust, and mud, and traversing some hazardous passages,
pounces at once into the magnificent Crescent of the REGENT’S PARK,
wondering at the utter lack of Public Taste, which could allow such a
combination of Nuisances to exist, and even increase, in the immediate
neighbourhood of this great Public Improvement, and along the only Road
leading to it from the City of London.
Can the blame attach to the Commissioners of Mary-le-bone Roads
Trust?--or is it caused by the contending Interests of the 21 Paving
Boards of the Parish of St. Pancras, _that the footpath on the South
side of that quarter of a mile of Road is neither Paved nor Watched_.
Without venturing to propose _a Circus, or large open space, at the
crossing of the New Road and Tottenham Court Road_, with an OBELISK
in the centre, like that in St. George’s Fields, where there is not
half the traffic there is at this point--at which, for want of space,
Accidents happen almost daily; and which accommodation to the Public,
in this age of Improvement, is not to be considered impossible--it
may not be impertinent to suggest, that the few houses which project
into the Road on both sides, as well as the Sheds, which are, by
continual additions, gradually converting into Houses, should be
immediately removed; some of them are at this present time undergoing
additions,--the longer this measure is delayed, the more expensive
will the purchase become;--at present, Money might be easily raised
for amply remunerating the occupiers of the premises alluded to, and a
great public Benefit produced without any injury to Individuals.
If the Clause in the Act of Parliament, alluded to above, had been kept
in due force, the Evils would not have arisen.
It is hoped that the NEW COMMISSIONERS OF THE ROADS, who have the
power, will have also the inclination, to remedy these Evils without
delay, and that THE PARISH, and the COMMISSIONERS WHO HAVE THE
MANAGEMENT OF THE REGENT’S PARK will unite their endeavours for the
same purpose.
In other quarters of the Town, our Economical Ancestors appear to have
considered him as the most ingenious Architect, who could build up
the greatest number of Houses in a given Space--the Palladios of the
present day, are as prodigal of Space, as their frugal Forefathers were
parsimonious, and seem to fancy, that he is the cleverest fellow who
pulls most Houses down in a given time.
It must be granted, that the Town is improved by the Widening of the
Streets; but while it is the Fashion, for the Idle Children of the
Largest Growth, to all run together, into one Street, at One Hour;
it avails little how wide it may be; nor can it counteract the sad
inconvenience which arises from the extending of the Buildings, making
it impossible for two-thirds of the Inhabitants of London ever to enjoy
the animating influence of a walk in the fresh and fragrant Air of the
Country--a blessing which was within their reach, when they had only to
cross the New Road to be in the _Mary-le-bone Fields_;[22] on which,
read the following remarks, which we copied from “_the Examiner_” of
Sunday, the 22d of October, 1826:--
“To call the enclosure of these Fields A PARK, is, with all submission,
a little bit of a _Misnomer_; at least, it is no Park at present for
the Public, who are excluded from all but _the gravelled Roads_, which
are ornamented with about FIFTEEN BENCHES (without backs), _in a circle
of Three Miles in circumference!_ the nearest of which to the New Road,
on the West side, is more than a Mile from it!! Surely the Managers
of this concern might afford to give us as comfortable Seats, and as
plenty of them, as those which have been lately so liberally and so
properly placed in ‘_Hyde Park_.’
“Many Valetudinarians, and Persons advanced in Life, who stand most in
need of the invigorating influence of pure Air, cannot Walk more than
a Mile without Resting--such persons are tired by the time they get to
the Park; but if there were _Benches placed along the Walks opposite
Park Square_, _York Terrace_, &c., the weak and the weary might rest
themselves, and then toddle on and treat their Lungs with a little
fresh Air.”
It is said, that the Reason given for excluding the People from the
Park, is, that the Trees are so young that they _might_ be easily torn
up--so _may_ those on the North side of _Hyde Park_, for they are no
older: but softly, is not this presuming that Mr. BULL is a greater
Brute, than the Beasts which are grazing where he ought to be walking?
The Persons who keep this ground from the Public, charity commands
us to hope, do so, for reasons which appear to them to be good and
sufficient; perhaps they think that it is most profitably, if not most
properly, employed in being let out, as it appears to be, to Gardeners
and Graziers!--at the same time gradually cutting it up into sites
for Buildings as fast as they can find persons to speculate in it. To
effect this without incurring the notice and consequent indignation
of the Public, the encroachments upon their expected Playground have
generally been commenced in the Winter Season, at a time when there are
few People to observe them; and are so far advanced before the arrival
of Fine weather, that it is useless to complain--The Ground is gone,
for 99 years!!!
“Our gracious KING gave this ground to the Public,--surely a part of
it at least might be open to that Public. Is it not a pity to see it
wholly occupied by Market Gardeners, and Horses, and Cows, and Calves,
to the total exclusion of Mr. BULL himself!”
“_When_ and _What Part_ of the Park is to be opened?”
The Public should certainly be informed of this, as it would guide them
in the choice of Residences: some will like to live opposite to the
lively scene which will be in the Part which is thrown open,--others,
the quiet of that part that is opposite to the Slip of ground which is
appropriated to the occupiers of the houses in the Park, and Persons
who pay for Keys.
A certain portion, opposite to Portland Place, from which there is no
View and no Variety, has been recently decorated with Rows of Trees.
Surely this is not all that is to be saved from the Villa builders.
Who would propose to build Villas upon the highest and best ground in
_Hyde Park_? and why should a difference be made?
Are these Parks not equally the property of the Public? And the site of
_the Regent’s Park_, if left unoccupied by buildings, would be _more
generally_ valuable to the Public as an Airing Ground, as it is more
centrically situated than the other.
DRIVING.
To know how to Drive, so as to preserve the Carriage from the injury
which it would otherwise receive by violent Jolts, Twists, &c., is a
Merit of no small Value.
If a Carriage is driven on uneven ground, it requires great Attention,
or it will receive more injury during a journey of a Mile, than it
would by a Month’s moderate use on an even Road; therefore,
_The Pace_ in Driving should be accommodated to the roughness of the
Road.
_The Turnings_ should be regulated by the Room. If a Carriage is not
wheeled fairly across a channel, the Perch is twisted according to the
descent, as the one Wheel falls, in proportion as the other at the
opposite angle rises; and frequently by such a wrench the main or Perch
Bolt is broken, and every part strained, especially when going fast.
Desire your Coachman to _avoid all short sharp Turnings_; it is much
wiser to go on a few poles further, where another Street will allow
plenty of room.
HARD-DRIVING, _especially on the Stones_, exposes a Carriage to many
mischiefs, either by running against other Vehicles, or breaking by the
violence of its own motion.
Some fidgety Coachmen are continually whipping, or, as it is
technically termed, “_fanning_” their Horses--this frets the poor
creatures, and puts them into a state of irritation extremely
injurious to them, and your Carriage moves in a “hop, skip, and
jump” style:--Forbid all use of the Whip, but in cases of inevitable
necessity.
Tell your Coachman that your motto for Drivers is
“_Slow_ and _Sure_;”
that the First time he presumes to attempt to display his Dexterity in
any place by what is termed _driving to an Inch_, shall be the last
time that you will trouble him to wear your Livery.--_Five Miles in
an Hour_ is quite fast enough for Crowded Streets; especially when
turning Corners, and in Streets which have many other Streets leading
into them, as Oxford Street, Cheapside, &c.--Better wait Five minutes
quietly, or follow a Hackney Coach for Ten paces, than cut and dash
along at the risk of your Wheels, your Pannels, and your Neck, &c.:
however, you must give him a license to drive a little “_ad libitum_”
in some situations; a rapid movement is sometimes really requisite, in
order to escape out of the way of Carts and Waggons, &c.
An experienced Whip, who has a sharp sight, may calculate pretty
nearly what space will be sufficient to pass between two bodies
which are at rest--but as he will unavoidably meet many Carriages,
guided by inexperienced, and often drunken Drivers, which do not for
half a minute together move in a precisely direct line, and his good
Coachmanship cannot protect him against such Blunderers, unless he
proceeds with extreme care, and allows them plenty of room.
A cautious Coachman is ever unremittingly upon the look out, keeping
both his Eyes open; employing One to guide his own Horses, and the
Other to watch how those who are coming guide theirs; or, as a Wag
might say, _an Accomplis’d Coachman ought to Squint!_ He depends
entirely upon his own Attention to keep so completely out of their way,
that it may be next to impossible for them to run against him.
The most Crowded places are not always the most Dangerous: Accidents
most frequently happen from _empty One Horse Carts_, in which the
Driver rides, instead of walking by the side of the Horse. These
vehicles are frequently conducted at such a furious rate by Carmen, in
order to make up for the time they have wasted, in tippling, that they
often run against inexperienced Coachmen. They abound most in Tottenham
Court Road and Holborn, and the outlets from Town.
Every _Cart_ that approaches, a wary Coachman watches with the most
anxious care, and gives all the room it appears to require.
A Fine of at least 10_s._ should be levied upon all persons driving
Carts in such a manner, payable to any person who may demand it. In the
event of their occasioning an Accident, let them not only be fined but
punished severely.
If your Coachman drives leisurely, you will escape many Dangers, and
your Carriage last much longer;--by such gentle use (excepting as
to the Wheels) it is worn almost as little as if it remained in the
Coach-house.
_In Crowded Streets_, never permit any person to ride on the Coach
Box:--Conversation diverts the attention of the Driver from his
Business, and accidents frequently ensue.
Never go into the City through the Strand, Fleet Street, and Cheapside,
if you can avoid it, after twelve o’clock: from that hour until five
o’clock, they are crowded with Carriages and Carts. In these great
Thoroughfares _Hackney Coach Stands_ should not be permitted. At
present the centre of Cheapside, &c. is sometimes filled with a Stand
of _Hackney Coaches_ all the way from St. Paul’s to the Poultry: let
these be removed from all Crowded Streets into the Cross Streets
adjoining, as is ordered in _Bond Street_.
_If the Hackney Coach Stands are removed from the Strand_, _Fleet
Street_, &c., the Public will no longer have to complain of the tedious
Stoppages which are now so frequent between two and four o’clock of the
Day, especially on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
If you go into the City on Mondays and Fridays you will have to
encounter _the most_ BARBAROUS NUISANCE _that disgraces the British
Capital_--droves of Oxen passing through its principal Streets in the
middle of the Day. That this is still suffered to continue in these
times of universal improvement appears to us as wonderful as it is
offensive.
_To know to a Nicety at what Time you must start_ to arrive at a
certain Place at a certain Hour, you have nothing to do but to
ascertain _the Distance_, and direct _the Pace_ of travelling.
4 Miles an Hour is 1 Mile in 15 Minutes.
5 Ditto Ditto 12
6 Ditto Ditto 10
7 Ditto Ditto 8½
8 Ditto Ditto 7½
9 Ditto Ditto 6½
10 Ditto Ditto 6
_When you wish to go Faster or Slower_, do not say simply “_Faster_,”
or “_Slower_,” but say “_Four_,” “_Six_,” or “_Eight_,” according to
the number of Miles you wish to be driven in an Hour.
In traversing the main Streets of London, always allow at least five
minutes in every half hour for Stoppages.
_Desire your Coachman to choose the Pleasantest, rather than the
Nearest way._ Some inconsiderate charioteers, to save the tenth part
of a Mile, will drive you through all the nasty narrow Lanes they can
find, as if they were trying to make you sick with foul air. Moreover,
such Bye-ways are generally so badly Paved, that you will be longer
going over them than on a good road that is a little longer.
_Persons who have not an expert Coachman_, who has been accustomed to
cut his way through Crowded Streets, should desire their Driver to
avoid the great Thoroughfares, and to pass along the widest Streets
which run parallel to them. This can generally be done without danger
by a very young Coachman.
WHEN YOU STOP IN A PUBLIC STREET,
caution your Coachman always to avoid stopping where there is any other
Carriage stopping near, either on the same, or on the other side of the
way; and when he can, to choose the widest part of the Street, and _to
draw up his Fore Wheels close to the Curb, and his Hinder Wheels quite
square with them_. Most of the Accidents which happen to Carriages,
while stopping in Crowded Streets, are owing to want of attention to
this situation of the Hinder Wheels.
Whenever you get out of your Carriage, _Always Shut the Door_. If you
only stop Two Minutes, it may be necessary for the Coachman to move
from his station to prevent injury from other Carriages; and if the
Door is open it will swing about, and the Hinges will be strained, and
the Pannels may also get a violent blow against a Post, &c.
_Never keep your Carriage standing in a great Thoroughfare_, through
which crowds of Coaches, Carts, &c. are passing; in so doing, you are
a source of great inconvenience to others, by occasioning stoppages;
and your own Pannels are every moment in danger of being defaced, &c.,
which cannot be repaired without fresh Painting the whole of the Body:
this tedious process will deprive you of the use of your Carriage for
at least Three Weeks; therefore, let it wait for you round the corner
of some quiet neighbouring Street.
Remember the judicious Advice given by that arch adept in “_the Art of
Shopping_,” _Lady Betty Buybargain_, to her Niece, _Miss K. Cutadash_.
The fair Kitty was ever and anon irritably anxious to be whirled to
the Door of every “_Magazin des Modes_” that her caprice called her to,
in her Aunt’s shewy Carriage; saying, “I assure you, that if you go in
your Carriage, my Dear Aunt, the people are infinitely politer than
they are to their Walking Customers.” “Aye! Aye!” replied the discreet
Dowager, “what you say may be True enough, Dear, and their Politeness
would be pleasant enough, Love, _If_, as my poor dear _Sir Benjamin
Buybargain_ always used to say, _If_ they did’nt Book it, Kitty!--but
they charge for it, my Child; they charge for it, Dear!--as _Sir
Benjamin_ used to say, ‘they put those Bows down in Their Bills!!!’”
However, there is nothing in which more People are more extremely
mistaken, than in the general idea that keeping a Carriage always is
(as it ought to be) infallible evidence of superfluous Wealth. Many
pompous persons, in order to provide the means of indulging in this
expensive Luxury, are miserably penurious in all other matters; and
many Fine Liveries, &c. have been purchased with the Money that ought
to have been spent in Food, Fire, &c.; and to cut a dash at Vanity
Fair, and keep up an external glitter, the Comfort of Home is entirely
sacrificed:--as _Sir Spendthrift_ says, “They must have a Carriage, if
they are obliged to save it a Thousand ways.”
NEVER BREAK THE RANKS,
either in Crowded Streets or when setting down at Public Places: by
attempting thus impatiently (and unfairly) to save a few minutes, many
Carriages have been destroyed, and many Lives have been lost.
_In admitting others into the Rank_, (which you have often an
opportunity of doing,) “_Do as you would be Done by_.”
THE WISEST PLAN WHEN GOING TO THEATRES,
or other extremely Crowded places, is, when the weather permits, to be
put down a little before you get to them. This, however, is hardly ever
necessary when going, when it is both more safe and more desirable, for
many reasons, to be set down at the Door.
_When your Carriage is brought to take you Home_, desire your Coachman
to select, for this purpose, a situation where there is least danger of
being blockaded in by other Carriages, rather than that which may be
nearest and most convenient to get in,--it is to little purpose that
you can get Into your Carriage, if that cannot get Out.
Observe this particularly at the Play, or other Public places. If
the weather is at all favourable, you can get to your Carriage in a
tenth part of the time, and at half the risk, it can get to you; and
even delicate Ladies will suffer less by skipping a few yards along
the Pavement, than by waiting half an hour or more in the dangerous
draughts of a cold Lobby or perishing Ante-room.
As soon as the Play or the Party is over, most people are in desperate
haste to get Home; however, as _Tom Thrifty_ says, “Nothing is done
well that is done in a Hurry, except catching of Fleas.” The frightful
Confusion created in the immediate vicinity of crowded Assemblies, will
be carefully avoided by all persons who wish to preserve their Carriage
from damage, and their Persons from risk: even at a large party, in a
private house, to get up to the Door is sometimes a service of both
difficulty and danger.
_When you pull the Check String_, and do not at the same time direct
the Coachman to stop at any particular House, tell him to take care not
to stop before _the Door_ of any House, but _in the middle_ between
Houses, so as not to give any persons the needless trouble to come to
their Door, from an idea that you are coming to their House. And desire
him never to drive up to a Door in the furious manner which vulgar
Coachmen seem to imagine is very stylish, but to go at his usual quiet
pace.
During what is termed _an Airing_, get as much pure Air as you can
without risk of taking Cold: rather put down the Front than the Side
Windows; the former are convenient for giving directions to the
Coachman: by merely uttering the word “_Left_” or “_Right_,” you may
direct his track wherever you wish.
In Cold weather, you may do this, by telling him to look round just
before he comes to a Turning, by putting your hand to the Right hand
front Glass when he is to go to the _Right_, and to the Left hand when
he is to go to the _Left_: or you may arrange, that one smart pull of
the Check String means “to turn to the _Right_;” a double one, “to the
_Left_;” and a continued one, “to stop where he is.”
When you call out STOP! without saying or pointing to _where_, tell
him you mean that he should instantly _Stop, i. e._ as quickly, and as
nearly as possible where he then is, even if that be in the middle of a
muddy Street.
One of the many and great advantages of having a Coachman a long time
in your service, is, that a single word will direct him where to drive
you: you have merely to say the name of the Street, or the Person to
which you wish him to carry you. One Word does it; therefore, if you
love your Lungs, beware of changing your Coachman.
SIR JOHN FIELDING, the famous Police Magistrate, who was blind, had a
pipe fixed from the Carriage to the Coach Box, through which he could
converse with the Coachman, without being heard by others. When his
Chariot was stopped by any obstruction in the Streets, he inquired of
the Coachman what kind of Carriage, &c. occasioned it; and it was his
humour then to put out his head, and shout out in his usual peremptory
tone, “Take that Cart out of the way!” or, “You Sir, in that Chaise,
drive on!” This occasioned great astonishment, how he, who was blind,
could perceive the cause of the stoppage, and was a source of great
amusement to Sir John.
Desire your Coachman never to dispute with, or return any Uncivil
language to any Coachman, Carman, &c.: if your Carriage is obstructed
or offended by any disorderly persons, take out your Pocket Book, and
let them see you are setting down their Number, and then coolly tell
them you will summon them if they do not immediately clear the way.
By the 1st Geo. I. c. 57, “Drivers of Hackney Coaches are to give way
to Gentlemen’s Carriages, under a penalty of 10s.”
_If your Carriage be injured_ by another running against it, ascertain
whose Carriage has done the mischief, and let your Coachmaker give an
Estimate of what he will charge for repairing it; then, before you have
the repair done, let the person who injured it see the mischief and pay
the sum charged for amending it. _Mr. Jarvis_ says, that the custom is
for the Repair to be done by the Coachmaker of the Party who committed
the Injury.
If curious Children ask “Whose Carriage is this?” tell your Coachman to
Stare full in their face, and Say Nothing: if they have the Impudence
to repeat the Question, he may reply, “it belongs to Mr. PRY.” If
equivocation be ever allowable, it is to such Impertinents.
Those who may admire the Carriage and want to know who built it, will
find the Coachmaker’s name on the Axle-tree Caps.
If any of your Coachman’s own acquaintance speak to him while he is
either driving or waiting for You, he must answer them only by a civil
movement of his Head or Whip hand. Nothing is more disrespectful and
disorderly than Gossiping while on Duty.
CARE OF THE CARRIAGE.
Have an exact _Inventory_ of the Harness, Working Utensils, and every
thing appertaining to your Carriage; give a Copy of this to your
Coachman, and once in Three months examine the state of the various
articles.
A Carriage (especially when newly Painted) should be cleaned as soon as
possible after it has been used.
A conscientious Coachman, who has any regard either for your Carriage
or his own Character, will never permit any body to touch it but
himself. If in your Visits to the Stable, you frequently find him
out, or observe any persons lurking about there, who are meddling
with either your Horses or your Carriage, be sure that he is Idle and
worthless, or has Business of his Own, which he likes better than
Yours:--then let him follow it.
The sooner you give such a Gentleman notice to quit, the better.
Never permit a Coachman to keep either Fowls, Pigeons, Dogs, Goats,
Pigs, &c. which will not only eat your Corn, but be a public Nuisance
to your Neighbours; for which offence you will be Indicted. See page 87.
If a Carriage cannot be cleaned till the dirt is dry, let it be well
sluiced, and let the water have time to loosen it:--by rubbing it when
dry, the sand and gravel in the Dirt will inevitably scratch off the
Varnish and deface the Paint. When the Pannels have been heated by the
Sun, they should not be washed till they become cool.
While the Pannels are wet they must not be exposed to the Sun, which
ought to be avoided at all times as much as possible, as nothing
injures the Varnish more.
The Iron work must be wiped quite dry, particularly the Springs: if the
wet gets between the Plates they will rust.
A Regular Coachman will get his Carriage and Horses cleaned and
dressed as early in the morning as he can, and not wait lounging about
to know when he will be wanted.
An active Stable-Man will begin his work by Six in the Morning: to set
his Stable to rights, and Dress a pair of Horses, will take from an
Hour and a Half to Two Hours.
Washing and Cleaning the Carriage and Harness will take from Two to
Three Hours, according to the work on the Harness, &c.: including his
time for Breakfast, &c., he will be ready by Eleven.
However late he comes home, a good Groom will oil and wipe the Bits,
wash his Horses’ feet, give them a whisp down, &c.--to shake their Beds
down, and give them Water and Corn, and to rack them up for the Night;
if he has a Carriage, he will also dish-clout the Body of it, will take
about from an Hour, to an Hour and a Half: therefore, when a Coachman
is required to wait at Table, let him be Home a full Hour and a Half
before he is so wanted.
THE HAMMERCLOTH.
When Coaches were first introduced, our frugal ancestors used to
load the Carriage with provisions for the family when they came
to London. The _hamper_, covered with a _cloth_, was a convenient
repository, and a seat for the Coachman. This was afterwards converted
into a _Box_. _Hammercloth_ is therefore very probably a corruption
of _Hamper-cloth_: it is now one of the principal Ornaments to a
Carriage:--according to the fulness of the plaiting of the Cloth, its
depth, and the quantity of Trimming thereon, is the cost thereof, which
varies from £10. to £40.
After a dusty Journey, let it be well brushed: if it is not, and it
gets wetted, it will be spoiled; the Lace and Fringe cuddle dust
greedily, and ought to be diligently disturbed.
SCREWING THE BOLTS.
The shaking of the Carriage frequently loosens the Bolts and Nuts[23];
and if these are not attended to immediately, the Timber, Iron work,
&c. will suffer material injury.--A Coachman may attend to this as well
as a Coachmaker.
A Careful Coachman will gently try the Nuts about once a fortnight;
but, in screwing them up, use no violence, and take care not to injure
the Paint with the Wrench.
RATTLING
is very disagreeable, and is a sign of something being loose about the
Carriage, which requires to be tightened or lined with Leather; where
Iron works upon Iron, if a thin piece of Leather can be introduced
between, the Rattling will be stopped.
_The Squeaking_ of any part is to be cured by a little Oil or Grease:
this frequently happens in the Bolts of the Springs, or in the shackles
where the wet has got in and rusted them; it often proceeds from some
loose Nut or Bolt.
_A Carriage, when first Painted_, requires great care to prevent
it from being spotted with Dirt--the Colour and Varnish take a
considerable time to harden before they can entirely resist the action
of Wet, &c.
If Dirt be allowed to dry and remain on the Carriage, some Colours
(especially a bright Green) will be marked with Spots, which are not
removed without considerable difficulty.
Therefore, the moment a Newly-painted Carriage returns from Work,
sluice the Pannels well, and with a wet Sponge wipe them clean all
over. If dusty with Road dust, take it off as gently as possible with a
Soft Brush--wiping it with a Cloth will scratch it.
Stains will also appear where the Rain has run for any length of time;
to remove which, rub the pannels with a little sweet Oil on a bit of
soft baize, so as just to damp them; rub the stained places with a
little more strength than the other parts of the pannels; dry them off
with another piece of baize, then with a third piece, and a little
flour; wipe or rub the pannels very dry; and if the stain has not then
disappeared, rub it hard with the palm of a dry soft hand, drawing it
smartly down, till the friction elicits a sharp squeaking sound. This
will probably clear the Stains; if not, after a short interval repeat
the same process: if then it cannot be cleared, the Colour or Paint
beneath the Varnish is injured, and nothing but time will effect a
change.
Rubbing common Varnished Bodies rather strong with a soft Skin,
and drying them with another, helps to increase the lustre of the
Varnish--a common Varnished body, well kept and often cleaned,
frequently improves in its lustre.
HIGHLY VARNISHED PANNELS.
The clear brightness of this polished surface shews every little
blemish; and though likely to be stained from the same causes as the
other, yet the colour is not so apt to be affected, as it is much more
thickly coated with Varnish, and the resistance stronger--to clear
them, use the means before mentioned.
TO RESTORE THE LUSTRE OF VARNISH.
The Varnish looking dull, striking in, or cracking, as often arises
from the badness of its own quality, as from any improper treatment in
the Cleaning, or effect of the Weather: the high Varnish in particular,
on account of the extra quantity, which, if not good, produces a change
much sooner that the common Varnish, the latter being much thinner.
When Varnish Cracks, it can only be remedied by the Painter, who
should be immediately applied to; but if Varnish strikes in, and looks
dull, as is sometimes the case in very damp weather, use the following
means:--Get a quarter of a pound of Rotten Stone or Tripoly Powder
from a Colour Shop, which must be ground with water, and used of the
consistency of paste, in the following manner:--Double a piece of
woollen cloth, and with the flat part rub each pannel with a gentle
force for about a quarter of an hour, taking care to rub it equally
all over; wash off the substance, and with a hand free from corns,
and damped with a soft leather, rub it smartly downwards, till by the
friction it makes a shrieking noise: if this does not sufficiently
polish, the rubbing with the Rotten Stone and the hand should be
repeated. Much depends upon the hand rubbing clean off the pannels
and mouldings as before directed with soft baize, oil, and flour. If
well managed, the Body will look nearly as well as if new Painted,
particularly a common Varnished Body, especially if it has never gone
through the process before.
Thus, with one or two days’ trouble, and at the expense of about one
Shilling, New Painting may sometimes be saved.
Let _the Carpet_ at the Bottom of the Carriage be often cleaned and
reversed, so that the wear may not always be in one place; for Winter
use and for dirty Weather, one of the _Dressed Sheep’s Skins_ is the
best foot warmer for the floor of a Carriage.
DOORS.
These, in New Carriages, will shrink in Dry, and swell in Damp Weather,
however well seasoned the Wood may be--their tightness may often be
cured by rubbing the edges with a little Soap:--be cautious not to
touch either Door or Door Post with the Knife while damp weather
continues; for sometimes they will shrink in Dry as much as they
swell in Damp weather; and when Summer returns, you will find you have
irremediably injured your Doors.
HINGES.
If these move stiffly, a few drops of Sweet Oil will generally make
them easy enough.
GLASSES AND SHUTTERS.
If these do not slide easy enough, rub the grooves in which they slide
with a little Soap--long exposure to wet will sometimes make them move
stiffly; but after a few fine dry days, they will return to their
proper dimensions.
STEPS.
If the Joints are stiff, drop a little Sweet Oil upon them, and work
them well up and down.
SPARE PAINT.
Lastly; a little of the same Colour as that with which the Carriage is
painted, should be kept in reserve to repair Accidents:--Colours can
seldom be exactly matched; you will find that it is very convenient for
touching the Mouldings occasionally;--as much of each Colour as will
fill a pint pot will be sufficient; keep it in a pan under water.
The Brushes must be kept under Water;--but with all possible skill and
care. New and Old Colours seldom match nearly enough for repairing any
accident or bruise happening to a Pannel, which had generally as well
be left as it is until you repaint the Carriage.
Let your Coachman have some “_Black Japan_,” to retouch those parts of
the Carriage which are blacked, but which are frequently defaced by
use: this will contribute greatly to the neat appearance of it.
REPAIRS.
The Expense of Keeping a Carriage in Repair is regulated very much by
the original quality thereof--by the Work it has done--the Work it
does, and the Care taken of it.
The Work it does may, in some measure, be computed by the wear of its
Wheels, and its Appearance.
It is in a Carriage as in many other mechanical structures, that, in
order to Repair it, it must be taken to pieces; and the taking to
pieces and putting together again, costs more than the Repair itself,
and thus the charges for trifling things appear enormous. The expense
of unhanging, taking to pieces, putting together, and re-hanging, is
the same in small as in large Repairs: some Coachmakers copiously
mention in their bills every circumstance of the Job, almost to
the number of turns of the screws, or blows of the hammer, with a
constant repetition of driving out--driving in--taking off--putting
on--unscrewing--screwing--nailing--unnailing--unhanging and re-hanging,
&c. &c. &c., which sometimes seems to be done only to confound the
charge for the Job with so many different matters as to make it
perfectly incomprehensible.
To the above we have actually seen added, when the Carriage was taken
to the Coachmaker’s to have any little Job done, “_To Washing and
Cleaning_, 3_s._ 6_d._”--although the Coachman assured us that the
Carriage was clean when he took it, and that he found it dirty when he
went to fetch it home.
We refer the Reader to the
CAUTIONS ON REPAIRING CARRIAGES,
which are given in page 60 of this Work.
A Carriage cannot be taken to pieces and put together, by the most
careful and skilful Workman, without in some degree diminishing
both the Beauty and Strength of the Machinery; therefore, when it
is asunder, order that every part that appears defective be made
good, that the repetition of such separation may occur as seldom as
possible, not only to avoid Expense, but the Inconvenience of being
without your Carriage while the Repairs are going on, which take longer
time than people expect, who do not consider that New Timbers, Iron
work, &c. require Painting and Varnishing, which must have at some
seasons of the Year a considerable time to dry thoroughly hard.
When any of the main Timbers begin to decay, the greater part may be
supposed to be in a similar state; failures then become frequent, and
it is prudent to have the whole that is decayed renewed at once--which
will not only be Safest, but will save much Expense and Trouble.
MEM. _Be extremely cautious of altering_ any part of a Carriage--if you
alter one part, it often becomes necessary to alter many other parts,
and a trifling Expense becomes a very heavy one.
MEM. The Carriages commonly lent by common Coachmakers while they are
repairing a Carriage, are sometimes so extremely old and ricketty, that
it is not only disagreeable, but dangerous to ride in them;--insist
upon having a good effective Vehicle, or go to another Coachmaker;
therefore, _before you send a Carriage to be repaired_, desire the
Coachmaker to let you see the Carriage which he intends to lend you
during the time your own is repairing: this accommodation he ought to
give you, if you are a constant customer, without making any charge for
the use thereof.
_Have an Estimate in Writing_, particularly specifying every thing that
is to be done, and the whole Expense for which he will undertake to
make perfect every Repair that is wanting, without any subsequent extra
charge, and the Time in which he will do so. I again repeat, that it
is the cheapest and best plan To JOB a Carriage as well as Horses. See
_Estimates_, No. 4 and No. 9.
Desire your Coachman to be continually on the Watch, and to immediately
acquaint you of the least injury which the Carriage may sustain; for
the immediate repair thereof, is equally advisable, both for your
Economy, and for his own Safety.
The chief parts that wear, are the Timber works of the Carriage part,
and these fail more frequently than you may expect--either from decay,
faulty wood, or being too light made, and sometimes from Accident or
Violence, which may be judged of when they are taken asunder.
The _Body_ requires Repair much less frequently than the _Carriage_,
because it is placed on Springs in as easy a manner as possible, and
therefore not shook about so violently as the Carriage part; but
the _best plan is to have Springs under the Carriage fixed on the
Axle-tree_: Carriages so mounted last three times as long as those
on the old construction, and are extremely desirable from so seldom
requiring separation.
UNDER SPRINGS
Are strongly recommended. They afford the following advantages:--there
is no occasion for the Coachman’s seat to be attached to the Body, nor
extra Springs for the same, which are a nuisance from their Noise and
continually requiring Repairs:--the Coachman’s seat, to an Underspring
Carriage, is bolted on a Budget, and fixed to the Carriage on a pair of
Carved Blocks, the Body hanging free:--the additional expense is from
£20. to £30.; but we have been told they save full an hundred and fifty
pounds in the wear of a Carriage;--but remember, that although _Under
Springs_ are easy to the Carriage, they are not so to the Carried,
especially those whose top half is a _Dummy_, _i. e._ made of wood,
which is used for cheapness. My last Chariot, which has such Springs,
jerks and jumps about as much as a rough Trotting Horse, affording
fine _Anti-bilious_ Exercise for those in tolerable Health, but is
intolerably agitating to an Invalid!!
ON HORSES.
To define a perfect Horse is almost, and to find one, quite
impossible.--_Camerarius_ says, that this useful and beautiful creature
is an assemblage of Excellencies--“He should possess Two of the
Beauties of a Woman; the Breast must be plump, and the Hips round.--In
three things he should resemble _a Lion_; in ferocity of countenance,
in fortitude, and irresistible impetuosity. He must have three things
appertaining to a _Sheep_;--the nose, gentleness, and patience;--three
of a _Mule_, strength, perseverance, and sureness of foot;--three of
a _Deer_, head, legs, and skin;--three of a _Wolf_, throat, neck, and
ears;--two of a _Fox_, tail and trot;--three of a _Serpent_, memory,
sight, and flexibility;--and lastly, three of a _Hare_, running,
walking, and perseverance.
“Round hoofed, short jointed, Fetlock shag and long.
“Broad Breast, full Eyes, small Head, and Nostrils wide.
“High Crest, short Ears, strait Legs, and passing Strong.
“Thin Mane, thick Tail, broad Buttocks, tender Hide.”--_Shakespeare’s
Horse of Adonis._
No man who has witnessed the performance of _Mr. Ducrow’s_ stud in
“_the Battle of Waterloo_” at Astley’s, will deny, that our Poet Pope’s
epithet of “half-reasoning” is not quite as justly due to the sagacity
of the Horse, as it is to the Elephant.
It would be Injustice not to add, that the energetic and natural acting
of _Mr. Gomersal_ in his personation of “_Buonaparte_,” is as perfect a
performance as the English stage can exhibit.
The whole of this Drama is a very extraordinary effort, and does great
credit to the ingenious author of it, _Mr. J. Amherst_.
The figure and symmetry of the Horse is no where more perfectly
displayed, than in _the Equestrian Statue of Charles the First_,
at Charing Cross, which is said to be the most finished piece of
workmanship of its kind ever produced: that of Marcus Aurelius, or the
two Horses on the Monte Cavallo, or Quirino at Rome, not excepted.
Continually, however, in our sight, this “_Chef d’Œuvre_” is not only
disregarded, but neglected.
English Horses, are equally remarkable for their Strength and for their
Speed.
“Each seeming want compensated of course,--
Here with degrees of Swiftness, there of Force.”
_Pack Horses_ in Yorkshire carry, not unusually, loads of 420 Pounds.
A _London Dray Horse_ has been known to move, on a plane surface for a
short space, the weight of Three Tons, and to draw half that weight a
considerable distance.
On the Turnpike road, one Ton per horse is _the Weight usually allowed
for a Journey_.
The famous _Childers_ moved 82½ Feet in one second of time, which is
nearly at the rate of a Mile in a Minute; for he ran round a course
at Newmarket (little less than four miles) in six minutes and forty
seconds; a degree of Velocity, which no horse has been known to exceed.
Another account avers that he ran over another course at Newmarket
(which is 380 yards more than Four English Miles) in 7½ Minutes.
In general, the Racers run round the Four Mile course in about seven
minutes and forty seconds, or eight minutes, which gives Forty-four
feet six inches in one second of time, and twenty-four English feet at
each stretch.
The late Duke of Queensberry, on the 29th of August, 1750, won his
wager, that he would produce a machine, with four wheels, which should
pass over 19 miles in six minutes. The Carriage was made by Wright, of
Long Acre, and was constructed partly of Wood and partly of Whalebone;
and for the Harness, Silk was substituted for Leather.
The match was run at Newmarket, and four blood Horses rushing on with
a velocity almost rivalling the progress of sound, darted within the
appointed time to the Goal.--See an Engraving and particular Account of
this Carriage in the _Gents. Mag._ for 1756, p. 440.
It would be happy if a Law were passed to prevent the furious spirit
of Gaming which prevails at _Horse Races_:--this amusement might also
be rendered useful, which it is not at present, for Horses of most
Speed, are generally of least Use.
If _Premiums_ were allotted to those who brought to the field the
strongest and most beautiful Horses of the best paces for the Saddle,
Coach, or Cart, the Breed of these useful Animals might be really
improved.
As managed at present, _Horse Racing_ is but one remove from the
barbarous practice of “_Bear-baiting_,” and “_Bull-baiting_,” against
which that excellent practical philosopher, _Montaigne_, has protested
his honest Indignation, that “Few people are pleased to see Beasts
caress, or play together; but many seem delighted to see them lacerate
and worry one another.”
HINTS
TO
PURCHASERS OF HORSES.
To decide by the first appearance of a Horse, as to what he may
prove on continual Exercise, is a perfection of Judgment which not
even Experience itself can confer. Those erudite Equestrians, _Will
Whipcord_ and _Sam Spur_, candidly assured us, that
HORSES WHICH ARE FOR SALE
are usually so pampered and highly fed, and have the interstices of
their Muscles so filled with Fat, that their real shape, I. E. their
form when in full Exercise, and with their ordinary Food, cannot be
imagined.
If Dealers meet with a Horse that is unable to stand to the work they
require of him, they let his Business be so light, that it may be
merely Play to him--and so keep him in Condition till they can dispose
of him.
Appearances are so deceitful, that the above-named skilful Jockeys
confessed to me that they frequently found themselves mistaken. In the
selection of a Horse, we rarely seek for latent good qualities, when
the Eye is disgusted by deformity. A Horse of true proportions strikes
the fancy of every beholder; we immediately assent to the beauty of the
object, and take it for granted that Symmetry must be accompanied with
either Strength or Swiftness. True Judgment is displayed in selecting
a Horse possessing great powers, under the cover of an ill-favoured
outward appearance, and discriminating from among those of a pleasing
form such as are devoid of them.
Many who have written on Horses have attributed much to _the influence
of Colour on the Constitutions of Horses_; but we fancy that Colour
is often suffered to bias the decision on a Horse’s Goodness, when it
should be considered merely as it relates to his Beauty. Many will not
buy a Horse which has a _White Leg_; but _White Legs_ are as likely to
fly as _Black Legs_.
Mr. Mennill, of Leicestershire’s, famous hunter, “_Whitestockings_,”
had four White Legs; and a better hunter never leaped a Gate.
_Childers_ had White Legs.
A Horse of symmetry and good action should not be undervalued from any
peculiarity of Colour. Good Judges of Horses are very indifferent to
the irregularity of Marks, &c. Thus much, however, is certain, that
some colours denote Strength and Hardiness more than others, and are
also more Beautiful; as the Dappled Grey,--Bays, particularly the
Dappled, Golden, and Blood Bays, with the Legs, muzzle, tails, and list
down the back black, Nutmeg Greys, Dark Duns, with mane, muzzle, tail,
and legs, Black.
A mealy Bay and light Chesnut, or what is commonly called Sorrel, are
for the most part delicate in Constitution. The latter is also often of
a hot and choleric disposition.
As the Proverb says,
“_A Good Horse cannot be of a Bad Colour._”
Few things are more difficult to find than Horses that are exactly what
you wish.
“It is a cruel thing to say, but a very true one, that amongst the
present breed of Horses in this nation, a man of any tolerable judgment
can hardly find One in Fifty for his purpose, whether designed to Draw
or Ride.”--_Wm. Osmer on Horses_, 8vo. p. 59.
Many of the Defects of Horses cannot be discovered till they have been
in your possession some days. As that experienced Equestrian, _Mr.
Geoffrey Gambado_, said, some Horsedealers, like some other Merchants,
are “not a bit honester than they ought to be.”
_Mr. Hanway_ observes, that “If the _Gentleman_[24] seldom treats his
_Friend_, (and hardly ever an indifferent person,) with strict honour
in selling a Horse!--what are we to expect of those who have been bred
among Horses?”--_Hanway’s Travels_, 8vo. 1757, vol. i. p. 206.
The only safe, and indeed the only satisfactory plan, both to the
Seller and to the Buyer of a Horse, is to
“Try,
Before you Buy,”
as _Capt. Bindon_ cautions you, “Don’t fall in Love with him before
you Ride him.” In his _Gentleman’s Pocket Farrier_, printed at
Edinburgh in 1731, of which most of the works with a similar title are
incorrect copies, with merely another name to them.
Deal with a respectable Man, to whom you have been well recommended,
and stipulate, that if after a Trial for a day or two, you do not like
your purchase, that upon paying a certain Sum you may return it. This
sort of Agreement will not always be acceded to, unless you are known
to the Dealer, and are a constant Customer.
_If you have a Pair of Horses on trial_, the usual charge for them, you
finding provender, is about Two Guineas per Week:--Try them by driving
them two or three times seven or eight Miles into the Country, where
there is a good Hill to go up, such as Highgate or Hampstead Hill, you
will soon find out what kind of Temper they are of:--if they have any
lameness, or defects, &c.--and if they _work equally, and step well
together_, which is extremely important;--if they are not of equal
Courage and equal Pace, your Coachman will be obliged to be continually
whipping one of them, in order to keep him to his Collar; and he cannot
flog the Idle horse without hurting the feelings of his Industrious
companion, and also those of the Persons he is driving, who, if they
have any humanity, will not bear to see the willing suffer for the
sluggishness of the Lazy. Moreover, every time the Whip is used the
Horses spring forward, and the Carriage goes in a Hop, Step, and a
Jump kind of style, which is extremely disagreeable.
_Sluggish Horses are good for Nought_, but to drag a Cart. Your own
Arms will be almost as soon tired in making them move their Legs, as if
you had travelled as far on your own Feet.
The following paragraphs are from “The New Method of Managing Horses,
by the Thrice Noble, High and Puissant WILLIAM CAVENDISHE, Duke,
Marquess, and Earl of Newcastle,” fol. 1667:--
“Be not afraid of a Horse who shews _Strength_, _Spirit_, and
_Stomach_: a Horse having them cannot choose but be made a _Ready
Horse_, if he be under the Discipline of an Understanding Hand and
Knowing Heels.
“When a Horse doth not _Rebel_ it shews Weakness and faintness of
_Spirit_, and no Courage. Where Nature is much Wanting, it is hard for
Art to supply it.”--P. 199.
“TRYING is the only way to KNOW HORSES.”
“I told you that Marks, Colours, and Elements, are nothing at all to
know a Horse by; they are but _Philosophical Mountebanks_ that talk
of such _Toyes_. Nay, _Shape_ is nothing to know the Goodness of a
Horse--_the best Philosophy is to Try him_; and you may be deceived
then, if he be a Young Horse;--Colts alter extremely both in _Spirits_
and _Strength_. What Judgment can one give of a _Little Boy_, what
_Kind of Man_ he will prove? No more can one give a Judgment of a Colt,
what Kind of Horse he will prove. _Ride_ him and _Try_ him; that is the
best _Philosophy_ to know him by.”--P. 104.
“A Young Horse of _Three Years Old_ is but a _Gristle_,” saith his
Grace of Newcastle, in p. 202 of his Book.
“For any Man that would have _a Horse of Use_ in his ordinary
occasions, or for _Journeys_, or _Hunting_, I would never buy a Horse
till the _Mark be out of his Mouth_, _i. e._ till he be SEVEN years
old; and if he be sound Wind, Limb, and Sight, he will then last you
Eight or Nine Years.
“A Young Horse will have as many _Diseases_ as a Young Child, and you
will have to leave him with your Host at some Inn, and hire another
Horse for your Occasion; and have your Host’s Bill, and the Farrier’s,
which will come to more than your Horse is Worth; and there’s your
_Young_ Horse; but your hearty _Old_ Horse shall never Fail you.”
There is more Trouble in looking after _One_ Young Horse than in taking
care of _Two_ old ones.
Let the Horse you select for trial be stripped--let your own Servant
(who being a stranger to him will not know how to humour defects or
conceal any dispositions he may have to vice, &c.) walk and trot
him in a strait line, on a paved piece of Road, such as is used for
this purpose at the Veterinary College at Saint Pancras; while you
stand alternately before and behind him; observe well if he has any
inequality in his motions--see if he steps firmly on the ground--stop
him often--put him on again--observe whether in setting off he has a
partiality for either Leg, beyond that which seems to be natural to
Horses in every part of the World, of taking off with the Left.
_If a Horse is Lame with one Leg_, it is sometimes disguised by putting
in a Stone between the Shoe and the sole of the other foot, which is so
judiciously contrived as to make him pick them both up alike.
_The best way to discover Lameness_ is to have the horse rode so as to
be heated; let him then be put into the stable till he get cool, when
take him out for another trot, and examine again.
They sometimes bring Horses for trial, heated, by which many bad
qualities and defects are concealed; dull Horses are animated, while
the vicious pass as mere mettlesome; with many other disadvantages
to the Purchasers, endless to mention. The best way is to get to the
Dealer’s _early_ in the Morning, before you are expected, and you will
so find out more defects than any other way.
If the Horse be heated, let him be turned into the Stable till he
gets cool; go up to him by yourself--examine him--observe his general
manners, and, above all, to judge of his Temper watch his Eye:--a
Horse never plays a vicious trick, or thinks of one, without shewing
his intention to do so by his Eye;--study the Eye of a Horse during the
usual operations of the Stable, and you will be enabled to form some
opinion of his Temper and Disposition.
The following account was given to me by a friend who has had great
experience in Horses:
“There can be no doubt that a vicious Horse is to be known by his
Eye:--I took a Horse to Mr. Professor Colman, at the Veterinary
College, St. Pancras, to be examined previous to purchasing;--he had
on a water-deck, the Day being Wet; the wind caused it to flap against
his sides, and he reared and plunged most violently. Mr. COLMAN, whose
Judgment respecting Horses I had previously repeatedly consulted
with the greatest advantage, after looking at him for a few minutes,
decidedly pronounced him to be a Vicious Horse. I begged Mr. C. to
tell me whether he judged so from his plunging occasioned by what is
mentioned: he said No, from his Eye; he was constantly trying to look
back:--however, I bought the Horse; and sure enough the Professor’s
prognostic was perfectly true--he was decidedly vicious! the very next
day he attempted a grand go at kicking and plunging, and did great
damage to my Carriage.”
For the following Advice, we are indebted to as Honest a Man as any
that deals in Horse-Flesh.
“I have found many persons who have purchased Horses of me, very
inquisitive and troublesome about their Eyes; indeed, as much so as if
their Eyes were any way concerned in the action of the Animal. As I
know they are not, I give myself very little trouble about them:--if a
Rider is in full possession of his own, what his Horse has is perfectly
immaterial.
“Be sure to buy a _Broken-knee’d Horse_, whenever he falls in your
way: the best bit of flesh that ever was crossed will certainly come
down one day or another; whereas, one that has fallen, (and sacrificed
himself pretty much,) never will fall again, if he can help it.
“Buy any thing but a _Threatener_. By the Threatener, Man himself,
the Lord of the Creation, who subdues all the Animals that range the
Forest, is himself kept in fear and trepidation!--This ingenious
Animal has the sagacity, at every step, to threaten the fracture of
his Rider’s neck, probably with a view to abolish the practice of
Riding; but has, at the same time, the good sense not to fall quite
down, lest he should accidentally break his own. As amongst Pigeons, so
amongst Horses, there are _Tumblers_: the feat is, however, performed
differently, and varies a little in its effects on the performers: the
Pigeon executes it without any thing on its back; the Horse seldom
achieves it without somebody upon his. To the latter, therefore,
we must give the greatest share of merit, who ventures to perform
upon a hard Road what the other does only in the Air, without even
a cloud to brush against. The one seeming to prefer the Milky, and
the other the Highway.”--See the Duke of Newcastle on _Horses_; Lord
Pembroke on _Breaking Horses_, &c. 12mo. 1761; Mr. Berenger’s _Art of
Horsemanship_; and Dr. Bracken and Mr. Gibson’s Books.
See a Comprehensive Abstract of the various Acts of Parliament relative
to “_Stealing Horses_,” “_Buying Stolen Horses_,” “_Killing or Maiming
Horses_,” &c. in p. 1046 of the Second Volume of Sir George Chetwynd’s
comprehensive Edition of Dr. Burn’s Justice, 8vo. 1825.
TO PRESERVE
THE
HEALTH OF HORSES.
The methods of treating and keeping Horses are as various, and, for the
generality, as inconsistent with reason as those of Shoeing are; but a
little consideration would, in most common cases, direct people right
in both. One pampers his Cattle, with a view of strengthening them; and
afterwards, by way of correction, pours down Drugs into them without
thought or measure:--Another lets no Air at all into his Stable; and
his Horses inevitably catch cold when they stir out of it, and get
Fevers if they stay in it, by corrupted Air:--a Third, equally wise,
leaves his Stable open, and his Cattle exposed to the wind and weather
at all times, whether his horses or the weather be hot or cold, and
frequently even in wind drafts, while they are in a sweat.
All these practices are alike attended with destruction to Horses; as
also are the many extravagances that prevail in the same contradictory
extremes, with regard to Coverings. But in answer to all these foolish
systems, reason plainly suggests to us, that proper wholesome Food, a
well tempered circulation of sweet Air, moderate and constant Exercise,
with due care and suitable clothing, as weather and occasions may
require, will never fail to preserve Horses sound and in health.
No Vulgar Error is more common, than that Horses cannot continue well,
unless they are periodically Bled, Purged, and crammed with _Cordial
Balls_, &c.
_After a very Hard day’s Work_, give him a couple of Gallons of
_Gruel_, made by putting a Quart of Oatmeal into a pail, stir it
together with a little cold water, then add the proper quantity of
boiling water, half a Gallon of good Strong Ale, and two Wine-glasses
of Brandy: this the old Fox-hunter will tell you is better than all the
_Cordial Balls_ that were ever composed. In cases of Emergency, when a
Horse is distressed, a Quart of Mulled Beer; or, in an extreme Case, a
Bottle of Wine, will refresh him like a charm.
The following is Squire _Tallyho’s_ advice respecting Physic:--
The Day after a hard Run, on inquiring how his Horses were, his Groom
replied, “They are pretty well; but I think, Sir, that a little Physic
would do them good.”--“Why,” said the Squire, “would you give them
Physic? Do they Eat well, and Drink Well, and Sleep well?”--“Yes,
Sir.”--“Well then, what good do you expect to do by giving them Physic?
You don’t take Physic yourself when you are Well, do you, Tom?”--“No,
Sir.”--“Then why give it to a Horse?”
To prevent Diseases and preserve the Health of Horses, there is seldom
occasion for Bleeding, Purging, or any other Physicking, &c., if a
proper attention be paid to procure them,
1st. Sufficiently spacious and well-aired Stables: at the bottom of
each Stall there should be, rather beyond the centre, a Grating, so
that the Stable may always be dry; the Litter will last longer, and the
Stable be sweet and wholesome.
“In Russia, and other Northern Countries, Horses lie on boards
without inconvenience, from which it would appear a great saving
might be made if our own stalls were provided with frames for Horses
to lie on without a litter. They may be constructed in the following
manner:--Suppose the stall to be 6 feet wide and 9 feet long, then
eight deal boards eight inches wide, nailed one inch apart to three
or more ledges about two or three inches deep should be prepared for
each stall. The Horse will lie dry, what falls must be swept off, and
the frame turned up by day. Thus all the litter will be saved, and the
straw, reed, or fern, be given for food. The frame will, probably,
not cost more than the straw used for litter in a season. The boards
will be very little injured, and may afterwards be applied to common
purposes.
“HENRY PENNECK, M.D. A.L.S.
“Penzance, July 30, 1826.”
(_From the Dublin Courier._)
_Cleanliness in a Stable_ is extremely important: let the Mangers be
well washed once a Week, and wipe down the Stalls, and whitewash it
once a year.
Let the Horse Cloths be scoured at the same time--it preserves the
Cloths, and prevents the Moths getting into them.
When it is considered that Saddle or Coach-horses, on an average, pass
at least 20 out of every 24 hours, or full five-sixths of their time
in the Stable: the importance of keeping that as clean as possible, is
evident enough without further Argument. _The Stalls_ should not be
less than six feet in the clear width.
2d. Allow them plenty of wholesome Food and Drink, in proportion to
the Work required of them, due Exercise when they are not at Work, and
good Rubbing and Dressing twice or thrice every day--“It is regular
Feeding and Dressing which maketh Horses fat and Healthy, not the mere
great abundance and rest alone which maketh plump. A man need not much
trouble himself to inquire after Physic for this purpose: upon my word,
there is no other Secret to perform this, but to observe a methodical
manner of Feeding and Dressing.”--_Sollysell’s Compleat Horseman_, fol.
page 138. 1717.
The last thing at Night, give to those _Horses that are very Lean_,
about a couple of Quarts of Wetted Bran, over and above their ordinary
allowance of Oats, &c.--a double handful of _Cinquefoil_, cut into
Chaff, is given by an experienced Stable-man, who was consulted in
forming this work.
_In Exercising Horses_, the farther they are carried from home the
better; _i. e._ take them four or five miles out and back, and never go
twice one road if you can avoid it: a Horse will perform his work more
cheerfully, and it breaks his temper to go different roads.
Have them out by Six in the Morning, and give them two hours’ Exercise;
walk them till you get to a nice bit of even ground, and then give them
a good trot or a Canter for a quarter of an hour, but never gallop them
hard.
Never gallop Horses that you are training for Hunting--their Master
can always take enough out of their Legs when they are in the Field.
Never let a Horse be hard ridden when he has just had his belly-full of
meat or water; but let him move in his own way: he will mend his pace
by degrees.
DRESSING OR GROOMING.
There are three Intentions answered by Dressing Horses; it cleans them
from dust and dirt; it counteracts the artificial state of inactivity
they are occasionally under by their confinement, by exciting the
Circulation; and lastly, it gives a sleekness to their Coat. Grooms
usually consider only the latter intention; and as Dressing requires
some labour, they idly resort to such means as produce a smooth coat
without Exertion; and this, Experience tells them, is best effected by
Hot Stables: Idleness is the origin of this deviation from Nature; but
to make their masters allow these Hot-House Stables, Grooms tell them
that they improve the Health of the Horse.
TO MAKE
A HORSE HAVE A FINE COAT.
[From the Duke of Newcastle’s Book, fol. p. 123. 1677.]
“There are but these Four things; viz. _Feeding Well_, _Clothing
Warmly_, _Many Sweats, and Dressing Well_.
“For _Dressing_, there are these _Things_: the _Curry Comb_, which
fetches out Dust; the _Dusting Cloth_, that takes away the _Loose
Dust_; the _Hard Wisp_, a little moistened, that takes out _More Dust_
yet from him; and the Felt, a little moistened, that takes out _More
Dust_ from him afterwards; but the _Wett Hand_, which should be last,
takes not only _More Dust_, but a great deal of Loose Hair, which is
much better than any of the Former:--after this, a _Linen Cloth_ to
wipe them over, and then a Woollen Cloth, and so cloathe him up.
“But the Best of all is the _Knife of Heat_, which is the Scraper; for
when he is Hot, Scraping of him gets all the _Sweat_ and _Moysture_ out
of him, so that he is _Dry_ presently after, and all that _Wett_ would
turn to _Dust_, so there is so much Labour saved. Besides, it gets
abundance of Hair from him, which the rest doth not; so that it is the
most Excellent thing I know, both to Cool a Horse, and to give him a
_Good Coat_.”
“If a fine Coat is wanted, it may be easily enough procured by proper
_Dressing_.”--_Dr. Blaine on Horses_, 12mo. p. 142. 1803.
“Much rubbing (saith Old G. Markham) is comfortable, and cheereth every
member.”--_G. Markham’s Way to Wealth_, 4to. p. 10. 1638.
“When a Horse is well Drest, his Sweat, when he is Warm, will come from
him clear as Water; but the first time he be well Drest, it will take
near Three hours to do it thoroughly--afterwards one hour a day may be
sufficient.”
MEM. It is as necessary to rub their Backs as it is to fill their
Bellies.
ON THE
FOOD OF HORSES.
Horses _must be Fed in proportion to their Work_--they must not be kept
to certain regular Feeds, unless they are kept to certain regular Work,
or Disease will soon overtake them, and Death end them full Gallop.
_Our English Cavalry_, the labour of which is about equal to that of a
Coach Horse in a Private Carriage, are allowed 14 lb. of _Hay_, and 10
lb. of _Oats_ per Day. Government contracts for Oats to weigh 40 lb. to
the Bushel, so that it is a Peck per Day.
To the French Cavalry in Garrison, they distribute the Allowance, and
fix the hours of Feeding in the following manner:
_At Five_ o’Clock in the Morning, a third part of Hay.
_At Eight_ o’Clock, a half allowance of Oats, and afterwards a third
of Straw.
_At Mid-day_, a third of Hay.
_At Three_ o’Clock, a half allowance of Oats, and afterwards a third of
Straw.
_At Seven_ o’Clock in the Evening, a third of Hay, and a third of Straw.
“_Horses are Watered_ half an hour before receiving the Oats;
consequently, twice a day during the hot weather, and their Thirst
quenched again in the Evening.”--From p. 132 and 133 of _Mr. R. de
Rochefort’s Promenades à Cheval_. Paris, 16mo. 1826.
_Blundevill_, in his Order of Dieting Horses, 4to. 1609, p. 10, says,
“that half a Peck of Oates, or as much as a Man can easily take up at
six times with both his hands together, is enough to give a Horse at
once.”
_For Carriage Horses_ employed in the usual Town work, sixteen to
twenty pounds of sound meadow _Hay_, with from three quarters to a
Peck of good full _Oats_, per Day, will be sufficient:--should Frost,
or other circumstances, lessen their labour, their Food should be
lessened also, and a small proportion of _Bran_ substituted; on the
other hand, when their Exercise is severe, the allowance of _Corn_
should be increased; to which, when they are worked very hard, a few
_Beans_ are an invigorating addition; a great quantity of _Hay_ is not
good, except for Cart Horses, who are meant for no other use but to
roll on slowly, with a fat fellow full of Beer swaggering beside them.
_Lord Pembroke’s_ plan of feeding Horses, especially Old ones, with
bruised Corn, and Chaff, is to be recommended--“Every grain then goes
to nourishment, and Three feeds go further, than Four, as commonly
given.”
Although a horse has but a short Stomach, he has Long Bowels:--_Dr.
Bracken_ tells us, that “the length of the Alimentary Canal of a
Horse is seldom less than 35 Yards: He must, therefore, feed a little
at a time; and as we know that when our own Stomach is empty, we
feel languid, so does the Horse--and as a small Stomach must be soon
emptied, it requires to be frequently replenished.”
A Horse should have Four feeds in a Day, the first about Six in
the Morning, the next at Eleven, again at Four, and the last thing
at Night:--of these, Supper and Breakfast should be the Best; the
intermediate Eating should be at about Noon, and four or five hours
after: in the intervening time, let his Rack and Manger be empty, then
when he comes to his meal he will eat with an appetite whatever you
give him.
Make it a Rule, to give your Horses their Food two hours before you
put them to Work--that the first act of the restorative process of
Digestion may be finished before they are disturbed.
_Young Horses_, that have not done growing, have strong Appetites, and
require to be more fully fed than those that have come to Maturity,
but not so much Corn;--Bran, and Clover Hay. Chaff damped, will
occasionally do for them better--Young Horses, like Young Children,
require their Food in Quantity rather than Quality, and the lighter it
is the better.
SOFT WATER is to be preferred; the condition of a Horse’s Coat depends
much on the quality of the Water that he drinks--very cold and hard
water will break his Coat directly.
A Cavalry Officer informed me, that, observing One Troop in his
Regiment in much finer condition than the rest, he found, on inquiry,
that it was occasioned by the Horses of that Troop drinking _Soft_
water, while the others had _Hard_ water.
HAY
Varies quite as much in Quality, as it does in Price--_Clover_ grass
is, by some, considered to be the best; whence the Proverb, “_to Live
in Clover_.”
The Nose is your best guide in the choice of Hay. _Good hard Hay_ has a
quick and agreeable smell:--it is of great importance that Hay be good;
if it is not, let a Horse eat as much as he will of it, he will be low
and poor.
I am told that there is a great deception practised in Hay Markets:
they take care that those Trusses in the Cart which are likely to be
examined are good; but the main bulk of the Load is not always of
equally good quality.
The Reader is recommended to deal regularly with the same Farmer,
as the best security against the deceptions which it is said are
sometimes practised in Markets.
When a Buyer endeavours to bate a Seller down below the regular market
price, it may tempt a Seller to make himself amends, by putting up some
Trusses of inferior Quality, if not of short Weight also.--Say to your
Hay-salesman, “Now mind, I buy this as a load of Good Hay, and I shall
not pay for it till I have unloaded it and found it all right.”
The fresher _Hay_ is cut from the Stack the better: it soon turns soft
and musty in a damp Hayloft, and in the course of a few weeks loses all
its best Qualities.
Never lay Trusses of Hay upon each other: the best way to keep Hay from
Damp and Moulding, is to set it up on its edge--so that a current of
Air may circulate round it.
Go to Market in good time;--if you wait till your Stock is quite out,
you must buy what you can.
BEANS
are only needful when Horses have a great deal of hard work, and in Wet
weather.
BRIEFLY, AS TO HORSE-MEAT.
Hay is _Horse-Bread_.
Corn--_Horse-Mutton_.
Beans--_Horse-Beef_:
And the most strengthening substance that can be given them.
_Good Bran_ is a useful article in a Horse’s diet, and when Scalded,
with a handful of Salt to it, is occasionally as good a Mash for a
Horse as a Mess of Gruel is for a Man.
A Truss of _Hay_ should weigh 56 lbs.
A Truss of _Straw_, 36 lbs.
A Truss of _New Hay_, 60 lbs.
_A Ton_ and _a Load_ of Hay are nearly the same.
If you send a Servant to purchase Provisions, &c. for your Horses, at
least choose the Purveyor yourself, and tell your Servant previously to
bring you _the Price_, (in writing), with the Samples of the various
things.
Desire each Tradesman to send home with each Article, whether you pay
Ready Money for it, or otherwise, “_A Ticket of the Quantity and the
Price of it_,” of which carefully ascertain the correctness.
_Cast up every Bill,_
_Pay every Account Yourself,_
_and_
_Take care of your Receipts._
These are your only effective protections against those ruinous
Impositions which perfunctory Persons continually suffer, from
combinations between their Servants and their Purveyors.
ON
SENDING HORSES TO GRASS.
Delicate Horses who have been treated over tenderly, and have long
stood warmly clothed in a hot Stable, must not be all at once turned
out to Grass in cold Weather.
A Horse must have “the Constitution of a Horse” indeed, who can stand
such a shock; for which, he should be gradually prepared by diminishing
his Clothing, and gradually accustoming him to the Open Air;
“for one Extreme,
Ne’er without Danger meets its own reverse.”
Let him be well fed till the day that he is turned out, on which give
him nothing; then he will graze the greatest part of the Night;--_if
you turn him out with a full Belly, he will lay down, and most likely
catch a mischievous Cold._
When Horses are sent to Straw-Yard or to Grass, let their Shoes be
removed, and their Feet set at liberty--Toe-pieces are sometimes put on.
_Early Spring Grass_, for five weeks in May and June, is not only
excellent Food, but admirable Physic for Horses;--_Dr. Green_ cures
most of the Disorders that Horses are subject to, sooner than any.
Strong Horses frequently fall a sacrifice to Diseases, by being kept
continually upon hard dry food, which feeding on soft Green herbage for
a few weeks would frequently cure sooner than any Physic.
It is recommended, that Horses in the Stable should occasionally have
_Green Meat_, viz. Rye, or Tares, &c. which are carried about London in
Carts during the Spring, &c.
A Horse will get fresher, by having a Run in a _Salt Marsh_ for One
Month, such as at Plaistow, or the Isle of Dogs, &c. than he will in
Two Months on Upland Grass.
“I have been told that it is no unusual thing to take up Horses from
the Marshes, and send them on a long Journey directly, without any
preparation; and am the more ready to believe this, because I have
several times known Horses taken off the dry Commons in Winter, and
perform very well on the Road:--it is quite otherwise with those that
go on common Pastures, either in cold clay grounds, or where the Grass
is forced with Dung: many of these require a good deal of management
before they are fit to be put on hard service.”
Fields which lie near to Great Towns, and are much manured, do not
afford half such wholesome Hay or Pasture as those that are further in
the Country, and are not so forced. _Mr. Jarvis_ says that he would not
thank ye for the Hay that is made within 10 miles of London. The loads
of Dung may make the Ground yield a more plentiful crop, but it is
always of an inferior, and often of injurious Quality.
Send your Horses to Grass where _the Pasture_ is fine without being
forced, where the _Water_ is good, and there is comfortable _Shelter_
for them to run to in Wet Weather: they should always have Hay to go
to, especially in Winter. You may be charged a trifle per Week more
for this; but it is Money well spent, if you value your Horse.
_When a Horse returns from Grass_, although he may be free from
Disease, he is not fittest for Work; but will require a Week’s hard
Food, and must have Hay and Corn, and be gradually Exercised for
several days before he be put to Hard Work, or he will be apt to empty
himself too often, and is no Horse for a long Journey--unless you wish
to make a Skeleton of him.
COLDS.
Young _Horses_ are much more liable to Colds than those that are full
grown.
_The most common cause of Colds_ is riding or driving Horses till they
are Hot, and then suffering them to stand still where the Air is cold
and chilling.--Another very usual cause of Colds is removing a Horse
out of a Hot Stable to a Cold one:--a Cold taken this way will be more
violent, in the degree that a Horse has been highly fed and hotly
clothed: this is the reason why many Horses catch such very severe
Colds soon after they come out of a Dealer’s hands.--New-built Stables,
before they have been well aired and seasoned, and even Old Stables,
when they have stood long empty and grown damp, are dangerous to tender
Horses, that have been kept warm.
WHEN A HORSE HAS CAUGHT A COLD,
for his Diet let him have the sweetest and best Hay, and scalded Bran
and Water, with the chill taken off;--for his Physic, the following
prescription: let him be prepared for it (if his Disorder permits) the
two preceding days by some feeds of scalded Bran, which will render its
operation not only more easy, but more effective:--for those Horses
that have a narrow swallow, or that take Balls reluctantly, let the
Ball be dissolved in a pint of Ale or Gruel, made just milk-warm.
HORSE BALLS
should be made into an Oval shape, and not exceed the size of a
pullet’s Egg; when the dose is large, they may be made into two:
they should be dipped in Oil, that they may slip down with ease; for
striving much in thrusting down Balls, greatly increases a Horse’s
antipathy to such things, and renders it troublesome to administer them.
PURGING BALL.
Take Soccotrine Aloes, six drachms;
Castile Soap, three drachms;
Grated Ginger, one drachm;
Oil of Caraway, twenty drops;
Syrup sufficient to make it into a Ball, which may be
rolled in Flour.
This will answer all the purpose of Physic for Horses whose intestines
are not extremely idle, for whom a drachm of Jalap may be added, which
will seldom fail operating effectually.
_The best time to give a Horse Physic_, is about 5 or 6 o’Clock in the
Evening: it will then begin to operate about Noon the next day, and
sometimes it will move the Bowels in the Morning.
About three or four hours after, a Horse should have a feed of scalded
Bran: when he has eaten that up, he should have a small portion of
Sweet Hay let down into his Rack. He may have one or two more feeds
of scalded Bran the same day; and if he refuses to eat warm meat,
which some Horses will loathe that have been cloyed with it before,
he may be allowed raw Bran, which, if he drink sufficiently with it,
will do the business perfectly well. Let his drink be made milk-warm,
with a handful of Bran squeezed in it; but if he refuse to drink white
water freely, let him have it without the Bran, for his Physic will
always work the more, the more kindly he drinks, which let him do of
warm water as much as he will. Early the next morning, he may have
another small feed of scalded Bran; but if he does not choose to Eat,
which sometimes happens before the Physic has begun to work, while his
stomach is squeamish, let him Drink as much water as he cares for,
with the Chill taken off, and ride him gently, beginning with a Walk,
and afterwards a gentle trot, which will help the operation of his
Medicine.--_Gibson on Horses_, 4to. p. 129. 1751.
FOR CRACKED OR SORE HEELS.
To cure these, there is nothing better than the _Zinc Ointment_ of the
last Pharmacopœia of the London College of Physicians.
At night wash the Heels clean first, and then rub in a little of the
Ointment with your fingers, and tie a bit of linen rag round it. Take
it off when he goes out. On his return home, wash his Heels, and repeat
the above application. In ten days or a fortnight it will effect a
complete cure, if your Horse be in good Health.
For Cracked Heels, the following is recommended:--
Take Soap Liniment, an ounce and a half;
Camphorated Spirit, an ounce;
Oil of Turpentine, half an ounce.
Mix.
DIURETIC BALLS FOR SWELLED HEELS, ETC.
Take Yellow Resin, one pound;
Yellow Soap, and
Nitre, in powder, each twelve ounces;
Ginger, in powder, four ounces;
Oil of Juniper, a quarter of an ounce.
Melt the Resin and Soap in a pan over a slow fire:
when dissolved, stir in the other articles. One ounce and
a half for a Dose, to be given about twice a Week.
_London Carriage Horses_ frequently fail in their Health about October
and November, which the administration of this medicine will speedily
restore.
STABLES.
There are few instances of the Ornamental triumphing over the Useful in
a more ridiculous degree, even in this _Age of Eye-Architecture_,[25]
than in the usual management of _Horses_, which some people seem to
suppose are as fond of Heat as Crickets. I have almost wondered that
Stables have not been furnished with Stoves to keep them of a regular
Pine Apple heat: this might improve the appearance of a Horse’s Coat:
the fineness and smoothness of which seems to be the grand desideratum.
Providence has protected the Horse with a coat of Hair sufficient
to defend him from the inclemencies of the severest Climate, which
Providentially begins to grow thicker about the month of October, and
increases in thickness as the Cold to which he is exposed increases.
But it is the Fashion at present to fancy that his Stable and Clothing
cannot be too close: in fact, many Horses are treated like Hot-house
Plants, and thereby rendered so delicate and tender, that they are
morbidly susceptible of all that vast train of complaints which are
caused by what is called
“CATCHING COLD.”
The Door is generally the only entrance for Air, and that only when it
is occasionally open: the very threshhold of the Door is frequently
stopped up with Dung, and the Key-hole filled with Straw. In the
Morning, when the Door has been shut all Night, especially in Summer,
the heat is intolerable, and the Air absolutely unfit to breathe. It
is surprising that these poor creatures are not oftener found stifled
by the steams from their own bodies:--added to this, they are perhaps
muffled up in thick and tight Body Clothes.
“_In Summer_ a single Sheet is fully sufficient for a _Horse Cloth_,
and in Winter, one Woollen Cloth is all that is requisite. Neither
Hacks nor Hunters should have _Head Cloths or Breast Cloths_, which,
though ornamental, are something worse than useless, for they keep a
part, while at rest, warm, which, as soon as the Horse gets out, is the
part that most meets the Cold Air, and is most exposed.”
Hot-House Horses suffer severe Rheumatisms, &c. upon every trifling
occasion:--a change of Stable--a Shower of Rain--standing still for a
little while in the open air, produce a variety of Disorders, Lameness,
Stiffness in their Joints, &c. &c.: in attempting to remove which,
after they have been tormented by cramping Shoes and Pailsful of
Physic, &c., the poor creatures are pronounced incurable, and given
over as “Foundered in the Chest,” or “Shook in the Shoulders,” or some
such equally unintelligible Jargon.
“Till at last, having labour’d, drudg’d, early and late,
Bow’d down by degrees, he bends on to his fate;
Blind, old, lean, and feeble, he tugs round a Mill,
Or draws sand till the sand of his hour Glass stands still.”
_Dibdin’s Race Horse._
To cover a Horse with heavy Clothes while he is in a hot Stable, and to
strip him stark naked when he goes out into the Cold Air, is, I think,
as absurd a custom as can easily be imagined!--Gentle Reader, how would
You like to have your Great Coat put on while sitting by your Fire-side
in your Snug Parlour, which is of the comfortable temperature of 60,
and have it pulled off when you went out, and were obliged to stand
two or three hours with a cold wind blowing upon you of a chilling
temperature of 40, and perhaps Raining hard into the bargain?
Such treatment is as uncomfortable to a Horse as it would be to a Man;
and is the cause of the otherwise unaccountable premature mortality
of these valuable animals, especially of our London Carriage Horses,
which are often kept standing still exposed to the open air in cold and
damp weather for hours together!
When Carriage Horses are taken out in Wet Weather, they should have
_Water Decks_ over their Loins, and be kept moving about every ten
minutes.
Where the ceiling of a Stable is low, and there is no window, the
best way to ventilate it is by a funnel passing up through the Stable
Ceiling, and through that of the Loft above.
Stables should be aired every day by keeping the Doors and Windows open
during the absence of the Horses. Experience teaches us how agreeable,
and indeed how indispensable fresh Air is in our own Apartments: it
is equally so to Horses; and one would almost suppose that Persons
who neglect to give it them never enjoyed the benefit of fresh Air
themselves.
As good _Master George Markham_ tells us, in his Way to Wealth, 4to.,
1638, p. 9, “_Coach Horses_, by reason of their many occasions to stand
still, must be inured to all Hardnesse.”
Never let Carriage Horses be clothed while in the Stable, but desire
your Coachman to carry their _Body Clothes_ with him, and put them
on when they have a waiting Job, as he does his own _Box Coat_;--the
former will be as comfortable to his Horses, as the latter is to
himself.
A Coachman should make it a Rule (especially when he finds it cold
enough to put on his Great Coat) every quarter of an hour to move his
Horses about a little, and to draw round some Corner, so as to get out
of the Wind. It is not so much their being long out of Doors, but their
long standing quite still in a current of Cold Air, that injures Horses.
See more on this subject in the Chapter on Coachmen.
MANAGEMENT OF HORSES
IN
CASE OF FIRE.
When a Fire happens, such is the natural dread of the horse, that
he cannot be prevailed on to move out of danger, but remains to his
certain destruction.
In this alarming case, it has been recommended, and practised with
success, (the opportunity of a few minutes offering,) to _blind_ the
horses with any cloths which can be suddenly laid hold on, and a Bridle
or Halter also being put on, to _back_ them out; for when these animals
see or smell fire, they obstinately refuse to move forwards, but may be
forced backward.
HINTS TO HORSEMEN.
If you do not wish your Horse to catch cold, Mount him the moment he
comes out of the Stable.
“_The Stirrups_,” says Lord Pembroke, in his Essay on Horses, 12mo.
1761, pp. 18 and 19, “must be of just such length, that when the
Rider, being well placed, puts his feet into them (about one-third of
each foot from the point of it) the point may be about two or three
inches higher than the heel when the Rider places himself upon the
Saddle strait, even, upright and well with his Legs hanging down, and
the stirrups likewise; and when he is in this position, take up the
stirrup, till the bottom of it comes just under the Ankle bone. The
Rider must not bear upon his Stirrups, but only let the natural weight
of his legs rest upon them.”
Always ride a hole or two shorter across the Country, than you do on
the Road.
Ride with a Snaffle, and use your Curb only occasionally.
Choose your Snaffle full and thick in the middle, especially at the
ends to which the reins are fastened. Most of them are made too small
and long, and cut the Horse’s mouth, and bend back over the bars of his
jaw, working like pincers.
If you ride with _a Curb_, make it a rule to hook on the chain
yourself; the quietest Horse may bring his rider into danger, should
the curb hurt him.
If in fixing the curb you turn the chain to the right, the links will
unfold themselves, and then oppose a further turning. Put on the chain
loose enough to hang down on the Horse’s under lip, so that it may not
rise and press his jaw till the reins of the Bridle are moderately
pulled.
Observe that your Horse is furnished with a Bit proper for him, and
by no means too heavy, which may incline him to carry low, or to rest
upon the hand when he grows weary, which Horsemen call “Making use of a
Fifth Leg.”
Always endeavour to avoid a Quarrel with your Horse:--if he is apt to
Start, you will find occasions enough to exercise his obedience when
what he starts at lies directly in his way, and you must make him pass:
if he is not subject to start, do not contend with him about a trifle.
The notion of the necessity of making a Horse go immediately up to
every thing he is afraid of, and not suffer him to become master of his
rider, seems to be generally carried too far. It is an approved method
to conquer a Horse’s fear of the sound of a Drum, by beating one near
to him at the time of feeding him: this not only familiarises the noise
to him, but makes it pleasant, as a forerunner of his Meat; whereas,
if he was whipped up to it, he might perhaps start at it as long as he
lived. Might not this be applied to his starting at other things, and
shew that it would be better to suffer him (provided he does not turn
back) to go a little from, and partly avoid an object he has a dislike
to, and to accustom him to it by degrees, convincing him, as it were,
that it will not hurt him, than to punish him, quarrel with him, and
perhaps submit to his will at last, while you insist on his overcoming
his fear in an instant? If he sees a like object again, it is probable
he will recollect his dread, and arm himself to be disobedient.
“Now of _Corrections_, the most principal is _the Spur_, which must not
at anytime be given triflingly or itchingly, but soundly and sharply,
as oft as just occasion shall require: then, the Rod, which upon
disorder, sloth, or miscarriage, of the members, must be given also
soundly: then, the Voice, which being delivered sharply and roughly, as
_Ha, Villaine!_--_Carrikra!_--_Diablo!_--and such like threatenings,
terrifieth the Horse, and maketh him afraide to disobey: and lastly,
the Bridle which now and then stricken with a hard chocke in his
mouth, reformeth many vices and distemperatures of his head: yet this
last must be done seldome, and with great discretion, for to make a
custom thereof is the ready way to spoil a Horse’s mouth.”
“Now of _Cherishings_ there are generally in use but three; as first,
the voice, which being delivered smoothly and lovingly, as crying
_Holla_--_So, boy_--_There, Boy, There_--and such like, gives the Horse
both a cheerfulnesse of Spirit and a knowledge that he hath done well:
then the hand, by clapping him gently on the necke or buttocke, or
giving him Grasse or other foode to eate after he hath pleased you:
and lastly, the big ende of the rod, by rubbing him therewith upon
the withers or maine, which is very pleasing and delightful to the
horse.”--_Markham’s Way to Wealth_, 4to. 1638. p. 16.
“The Hope of Reward, and the Fear of Punishment, governs the whole
World, not only Men, but Horses; for it is impossible that you can well
manage your Horse until he fear you, and out of that fear, Love and
Obey you; for it is Fear maketh every body obey both Man and Beast.
_Love is not so sure a Hold_, for there you depend upon his Will; but
when he Fears you, he depends upon yours.”--_Soleysell’s Horsemanship_,
fol. 1717. p. 272.
_Old Blundevill_, in his 24th Chapter of his Book on Horses, 4to. 1609.
p. 22, gives the following advice:--
“But because few keepers can correct with discretion, I would wish him
rather to use no correction at all, but only to winne him by gentle
meanes, by faire speaking, and by often clawing him and feeding him by
hand, and in Summer season, by wiping away Flies,[26] Nats, or other
things that doth annoy him: so shall the Horse be alwayes glad of him,
and rejoice in his presence, and in time become so familiar, as he will
play with him like a dog; for, truely, unless there be mutual Lore
betwixt the keeper and the horse, the horse seldom or never battleth;
for if the keeper love not his horse, he will never meat him thoroughly
nor delight to dresse him, nor will the horse be delighted with his
dressing. And, therefore, the chiefest point of a horsekeeper is to
love his horse and to seeke to be loved againe of him; so shall he
profit the Horse and pleasure his Maister.”
_Before you mount your Horse_, if you are only going to take an Airing,
examine whether the Bridle, Girths, and Straps, &c. are all good and
well fixed, and that he is properly Shod.
“For want of a Nail the Shoe is lost,
For want of a Shoe the Horse is lost.”
Direct that neither the Heel nor Frog be pared more than merely to
take off what is ragged and broken. It is still more safe to do that
yourself, or direct your Coachman to do it, than to trust it to a
Farrier or Shoemaker, notwithstanding the Gentleman may have written
over his Door, “Here Horses are shod agreeable to Nature and according
to Art.”
Fit the _Shoe_ to the Foot, and not the _Foot_ to the Shoe.
ON THE
ROUGH-SHODDING OF HORSES
IN
FROSTY WEATHER.
It is manifest, that a considerable increase of pressure on the Heels
naturally follows--so that Lameness frequently attends the practice of
Frosting even for a short time.
The ordinary method of Frosting is by taking a Shoe off, heating it,
and turning up the Heel and Toe; but this being Iron only, it lasts,
for any efficient purpose, but a short time; and if hard worked, the
same process must be repeated almost daily, as long as the Frost
continues.
It is evident that the Hoof must suffer most severely by such a
continued and repeated perforation with the Nails; so that if a Frost
should happen to last a Month or two, it is probable there would be
scarcely horn enough left to nail a Shoe on with safety. When Frosting
is required, I have found that by _Steeling the Heels_, and if a Draft
Horse, the Toes also, that they will last considerably longer, and
consequently diminish the frequency of Driving Nails. A much shorter
Rough will answer, and the usual head will not need to be so much
altered.--_Goodwin on Shoeing Horses_, 8vo. p. 280. 1824.
The usual charge for Roughing the Shoes of Coach Horses, is 2_s._ 8_d._
per Horse.
To perform the operation so sensibly recommended by Mr. Goodwin, will
cost but little more, and the Shoes will certainly last much longer.
_Mr. T. Clark_ recommends the following plan:--
“When the Roads, &c. are covered with Ice, it becomes necessary to
have the Heels of the Shoes turned up, and frequently sharpened, in
order to prevent Horses from slipping and falling. As this cannot
be done without the frequent moving of the Shoes, which breaks and
destroys the crusts of the Hoofs where the Nails are drove, to prevent
this, I have always recommended to those who were willing to be at the
expense, to have _Steel Points_ screwed into the Heels or quarters of
each Shoe, which might be taken out and put in as required.
“The method of doing this properly, is first to have the Shoes fitted
to the shape of the Hoof; then to make a small round Hole in the
extremity of each heel, or in the quarters, about three-eighths of an
inch in diameter or more, in proportion to the breadth and size of the
Shoe: in each of these holes a screw is to be made: the Steel points
are likewise to have a screw on them exactly fitted to that in the
Shoes. Care must be taken that the Screw on the points is no longer
when they are screwed into the Shoe than the thickness of the latter.
The Steel points are to be made sharp; they may either be made square
or triangular. The height of the point above the Shoe should not
exceed half an inch for a Saddle Horse: they may be made higher for a
Coach Horse.
“The Key or Handle that is necessary to screw them in and out
occasionally, is made in the shape of the Capital letter T, and of a
sufficient size and strength: at the bottom of the handle there is a
socket or cavity, properly adapted to the shape of the Steel point, and
so deep as to receive the whole point that is above the Shoe. In order
to prevent the screw from breaking at the neck, it will be necessary
to make it of a gradual taper: the same is likewise to be observed of
the female screw that receives it; that is, the hole must be wider on
the upper part of the Shoe than the under part: the sharp points may
be tempered or hardened, in order to prevent them growing too soon
blunt; but when they become blunt, they may be sharpened as at first.
These points should be unscrewed when the Horse is put into the Stable,
as the Stones will do them more injury in a few minutes there, than a
day’s riding on Ice. A Draught Horse should have one point on the Toe
of each Shoe, as that gives him firmer footing in drawing on ice; but
for a Saddle Horse, when they are put there, they are apt to make them
trip and stumble.”
OF THE
COMPARATIVE EXPENSE AND ADVANTAGE
OF
HIRING
A HACKNEY COACH. KEEPING
A PRIVATE CARRIAGE.
1. A Hackney Coach, for 1. A Private Carriage
the business of the moment, costs (see Estimate No. IV.)
to rest your Legs, or shelter £345 PER ANNUM, _i. e._
you from the Weather, may 6900 shillings a Year.
be had for the ¹⁄₆₉₀₀th part
of the Annual Expense of a
Private Carriage. Think o’
that, ye Lame and ye Languid!
for ye are the Grand
Patrons of Ponies, Perches,
Whips, and Wheels--Bless
your Stars that you are in a
Country where, although it
costs _Three Thousand Four
Hundred and Fifty Shillings_
to keep a Coach for Half a
Year, that you can Hire one
for Half an Hour, for _Twelve
Pence_! which you may command
in all respects as absolutely
as if it was your
own.
2. A Hackney Coach is 2. Your own Horses and
almost always to be had in Carriage cannot be brought
a few Minutes, except in the round in less than 25 minutes
lamentable instance of a after you order
pelting shower. it: even if it and the
Harness are all clean and
ready, an active Coachman
cannot dress himself and put
to in less time,--and Your
Own Coachman may be
Ill,--or not ready for
Action,--Your Horses may be
Sick,--or your Carriage
may be broken:--moreover,
if that prime minister of the
machinery of Locomotion
has not previous notice that
you will want the Wheels to
go round, if he is not a
marvellously steady Man, it is
an even chance, that, making
sure you will not require
his services, he will imagine
he may emigrate from his
Hay-Loft with impunity,
and be frisking about after
his own Affairs.
3. The Hackney-Coachman’s 3. Gentlemen’s Equipages
Motto is the same as are generally Fair-weather
MADAM HECATE’S, Play-things.--If
“_Fair is Foul, and Foul is Fair._” you have your Carriage out
in Wet Weather, and are
He is well pleased to wait obliged to keep it waiting in
for you, at all Hours, and in the Rain--if you have a
all Weathers, Cold or Coachman, a Coach Horse,
Windy, Hot or Rainy, as or a Carriage, either one of
long as you are pleased to which are Good for any
wish him;--when you have thing--if you are Good for
kept him long in the Rain, any thing Yourself, you will
if you give the poor fellow not feel quite contented,
Six or Twelve pence extra however comfortably sheltered
when you discharge him, by a good Roof, or however
(can you lay them out better?) agreeably you are surrounded
it will make him as well satisfied by good Company, whilst
with waiting in the they are exposed to the
Wet for you, as your own inclemency of the Sky.
Servant would, in a similar
situation, be ill satisfied! MEM.--A Waiting Job,
in cold rainy weather, may
cost you not merely a pair of
Horses worth a Hundred
Pounds! but the Life of an
useful Servant into the
Bargain!! For _One_ London
Coachman or Coach horse
that dies from over-work,
_an Hundred_ are destroyed
by standing still in Cold and
Wet Weather.
4. Persons who keep a 4. In the Estimate (No.
Carriage in London, on an IV.) you have the Service
average seldom go above of the Coachman occasionally,
8 or 10 Miles per day, or when he is not busy with
have their Carriage out more his Horses and Carriage--and
than 3 Hours in the 24:--to if you keep a sharp lookout
hire a Hackney Coach to do that your Carriage is kept
such work every day in the in a good state of Repair,
Year, will cost 10_s._ per Day, you will very rarely be
or £182. 10_s._ per Annum. liable to those Accidents
The Expense of keeping a which sometimes happen to
Carriage, as per Estimate the infirm Constitution of a
No. IV. Hackney Coach: moreover,
you will be moved about
£345 0 0 not merely with more Safety
and more Celerity, but with
Charge for keeping a more Comfort, from knowing
Hackney Coach to do that you have a Pilot whom
the same work 182 10 0 you may depend upon:--the
------------- latter is an extremely
_i. e._ £162 10 0 important consideration to
those whose business calls
saved by not keeping a them to places which are
Carriage. crowded with Carriages.
It appears, therefore, that When you wish your Mind
it is more convenient and to be active, and to do its
much Cheaper, even if you best, it should have nothing
employ it as often as you before it except the single
would your own Carriage, to object under its consideration;
hire a Hackney Coach, than and the Body should
it is to keep a Private Carriage; also be at Ease:--this, and
and if you only hire the saving of time in passing
a Hackney Coach when you from one place to another, are
really want it, if your Ten-toed the chief benefits a Carriage
machinery is in tolerable affords to Men of Business.
condition, instead of your Again: it is a Rule with
Hackney Coach hire costing Hackney-coachmen to take
you £182. 10_s._, you may the shortest route; the
have as much riding as your consequence is, that as they
Business really requires, for naturally desire to perform
£100. a Year: moreover, their task as soon as possible,
your Health will be better if they think half a dozen
preserved than if you walked yards are to be saved by
less and rode more; the additional it, unless specially directed,
Exercise will ensure they will bring you through
the more perfect performance all the nasty, narrow, badly
of those interesting ventilated and badly paved
“_Opera Minora Vitæ_,” Lanes, &c. which they can
“Eating, Drinking, and find, and which, if you
Sleeping!” understand the value of Fresh
Air, you would studiously
“Weariness avoid.
Can snore upon the Flint, when
nesty Sloth These vehicles are often
Finds the down pillow hard.” used to convey sick people
_Shakespeare._ to Hospitals, especially
Coaches: Chariots are
If you keep a Carriage, more easily ventilated, on
you will often be as much account of their Front windows.
tempted to Ride, merely because Never get into a
you can ride for nothing, Hackney Coach that has the
as from any actual Windows shut up, if there is
want you feel of the assistance one on the Stand of which
of the Wheel-work. the Windows are open;--stagnant
Air is always Offensive,
_Walking_ is the natural and and often Infectious.
the best Exercise that Man
can take; and, however those
who walk may occasionally
envy those who Ride, the
Gentleman in the Coach
would often gladly give more
than it costs him to keep it,
to have the power of using
his own Legs.--Dr. Franklin
advised a friend to _burn_
his Carriage, that he might
get _heat_ out of it at least once
in his Life.
AN
EASY PLAN
OF
ASCERTAINING EVERY FARE
OF A
HACKNEY COACH.
Get an accurate Map of London, on a Scale of not less than 6 Inches to
a Mile; set a pair of Compasses (or rather, what I believe are called
_Dividers_, which have a screw that fixes them firmly to any distance
at which you wish to keep them separate,) to a Furlong, and with them
you may easily measure any distance--allow for Turnings, and keep your
reckoning short by at least half a Furlong, that is, 20 Poles, _i. e._
330 feet in each Mile: as some Guide to guess this, Houses in London
being, on an Average, not more than 20 feet in front, stop within at
least 16 houses of what you consider to be the full Mile.
A Map of the Metropolis, laid down from actual measurement on a scale
of an Inch to a Furlong, _i. e._ of 8 Inches to a Mile, is much
wanted;--with it and a pair of Compasses, all Hackney Coach Fares might
be settled with the utmost ease, and with sufficient exactness, to
satisfy All, except litigious triflers, who are more Nice than Wise.
I read the foregoing paragraph to _Mr. Cary, the Map-maker, of St.
James’s Street_, who replied, “I have had thoughts of publishing a Map
on the scale you mention; on such a plan, that by merely looking at it,
the distances might be determined within Twenty Poles, _i. e._ within
the ¹⁄₁₆th part of a Mile.”
Such a Map would be a very great acquisition, and I hope Mr. C. will
meet with encouragement sufficient to induce him to put his design into
execution speedily, as it would form a certain standard by which all
questions respecting distances might be immediately adjusted, to the
satisfaction of both parties.
Let _Measure Stones_ be placed at the ends of our Streets, or at least
of the principal Streets, as Mile Stones are on our Roads; or let their
length be written under the Names on the Boards which are fixed up at
the ends of Streets.
To make an actual Measurement of every Street with a Measuring Wheel,
would not cost more than £500.; to affix the Distances under the Names
of the Street, not so much: the Expense might in part be defrayed by
the Sale of a Map of London, on the scale of one Inch to a Furlong,
laid down accurately from such an exact survey, and a Volume like
_Cary’s Guide for Ascertaining Hackney Coach Fares_; of which very
curious and useful Work, see a specimen at the end of this Chapter.
The length of Mile. Furl. Poles.
Oxford Street (the longest in London) is 1 2 19
Piccadilly 0 7 28
Bond Street 0 4 16
Holborn 0 7 1
Tottenham Court Road 0 5 14
The Strand 0 6 9
Fleet Street 0 2 3
Make a list of Fares, North, South, East, and West, from your House,
of 1_s_., 1_s_. 6_d_., and 2_s_., taking care to add thereto the
distance from the Stand, or Place whence the Coach is called.
_To acquire a general idea of Distances_, draw on a Map, of the scale
before mentioned, Circles around your House of two Miles, of three
Miles, and of four Miles in diameter, the Semi-diameter of which will
give the distance from your residence of a Mile, a Mile and a half, and
Two Miles, _i. e._ of Shilling, Eighteen-penny, and Two Shilling Fares.
Hackney Coaches travel, on an average, about 5 miles an hour, seldom
more than 6, nor less than 4:--therefore, riding at the rate of 5
miles in an hour, costs about A Penny a Minute; and when you have
been carried for 12 minutes, (look at your Watch when you enter the
Carriage, and make allowance for stoppages,) you may reckon that you
have 12 Pence to pay:--above 24 minutes, the Fares increase in a higher
ratio, as above Two Miles is 3_s_.
The advantage of such Calculation is, if you are set down a few
Poles within Two miles, you save, first, Sixpence on the Ground, and
secondly, the extra Sixpence to which the Coachman is entitled on
exceeding every Two miles; making the difference of a Shilling for
perhaps a single Yard.
_Before you get into a Hackney Coach_, take the Number: it is
especially advisable to do so, when you hire a Coach to carry home
Ladies, and then do it in such a way, that the Driver may observe
that you have taken his Number; and to complete your Care, ask the
Coachman what his Fare is, which, if your Gallantry is as great as your
Circumspection, you may perhaps do yourself the pleasure of Paying.
If the Coachman conducts himself improperly, or if any thing is left in
the Carriage, apply to your friend _Mr. Quaife_[27]: by summoning the
Coachman to the Hackney Coach Office, at the bottom of Essex Street
in the Strand, or to one of the Police Offices, you will most probably
recover it.
_Avoid any dispute with a Hackney Coachman_--pay what he demands,
although you know it to be more than his Fare, and seek redress at the
Office in Essex Street.
The Driver of a Hackney Coach has the option of charging[28] either for
the _Time_ he is detained, or for the _Distance_:--Time is rated at
less than half what is charged for Travelling.
When you intend to be charged according to _the Time_ you keep the
Coach, in order to prevent any dispute when you discharge it, tell
the Coachman the time when he first arrived, making allowance for the
minutes that he has been coming from the Stand whence he was called.
The Machine used to measure the distances at the Hackney Coach
Office is called “_a Perambulator_,” or “_Surveying Wheel_.”--This
consists of a Wheel which is 8 Feet 3 Inches, _i. e._ half a Pole, in
circumference; so in two revolutions it measures one pole, or 16½ feet.
One revolution of this Wheel turns a single-threaded worm once round;
the worm takes into a Wheel of 80 teeth, and turns it once round in 80
revolutions: on the socket of this wheel is fixed an index, which makes
one revolution in 40 Poles, or one _Furlong_; on the axis of this worm
is fixed another worm with a single thread, turning about a wheel of
160 teeth, whose socket carries an index that makes one revolution in
80 Furlongs, or 10 Miles: on the dial plate there are three graduated
circles; the outermost is divided into 220 parts, or the _Yards_ in a
Furlong; the next into 40 parts, the number of _Poles_ in a Furlong;
the third into 80 parts, the number of _Furlongs_ in ten Miles, every
Mile being distinguished by its proper Roman figure.
The above Apparatus, MR. HARRIS, Mathematical Instrument maker, No. 50,
High Holborn, makes for £12. 12_s._: it may be attached to the wheel of
a Carriage, and the Dial will shew the progress made in Travelling, and
then is called a _Way-wiser_.
This Machine may be applied to any kind of Chaise or Carriage, and may
be put on and off at pleasure, without any injury to either.
It will accurately register the number of Miles the Vehicle travels
over, to any distance. It is fixed so as to be of no possible detriment
to the Carriage, and can be ornamented as elegantly as fancy may
desire. A Time-piece may be attached to it, by which may be seen the
Distance travelled per Hour.
I can think of only One way of _infallibly preventing all disputes
about Distance_, between the Riders in and the Drivers of Hackney
Coaches.
_To Regulate all the fares by Time_, according to the present charge
for Time, 2_s._ for the first hour, and 3_s._ for every hour after:
as the Pace in Travelling seldom exceeds five Miles in an Hour, about
double the sum is charged while the Coach is in motion that is charged
while it is in waiting. Let after the rate of Five or Six Shillings
per hour be paid while the Wheels are going round;--this could be much
easier reckoned than the Distance they have gone over, and would put an
end to all Disputes on the subject.
To determine exactly between an extremely long _Twelve_, and an
extremely short _Eighteen-penny_ fare, is not a very easy task to
the most Experienced: it is, in fact, determining whether you have
proceeded 1760 or 1761 Yards!
A friend of mine informs me, that he puzzled himself and the Hackney
Coachman too on one occasion, by pulling him up so that the Horses had
exceeded the Shilling fare, and the Coach had not. This deserves to be
referred to a _full_ bench of Justices. They might, at the same time,
decide how it would be, if the Coach had been stopped, so that the two
fore Wheels were in the above predicament of the Horses, and the other
two in that of the Coach. Perhaps then it would make the difference of
6_d._ on which side the passengers sat.
QUERY. Can persons who can afford to ride in a Hackney Coach lay out
_Sixpence_ more to their own advantage than in spending it to prevent
their being put out of Temper?--If they are going out to Dinner, any
disagreeable irritation of the Animal Spirits will destroy their
Appetite;--if they are returning Home, it will as inevitably invite an
Indigestion. Surely no man who is worth a Shilling, would encounter
either of these tremendous evils for the sake of Sixpence! unless the
Gentleman (to use the nomenclature of the Hero of a certain popular
Drama) be a regular _Jarvy-Teaser_.
But who grudges these Poor Fellows their full Fare? except a
few Washerwomen, Milliners, and Tailors, and Coffin-makers, and
Grave-makers, who may like them as little as Link Boys love the Moon,
who, for their outrageous antipathy to
“The silver Queen of Night,”
are denominated in _Mr. Grose’s Classical Dictionary_, “Moon-Cursers.”
How many pretty Bonnets and smart Dresses would have been spoiled
the first day of wearing, but for a Shilling Fare?--How many Colds
caught?--How many Lives lost?--but for these convenient Rests to
Weariness and Shelters from Rain; a shower of which sometimes does as
much mischief to Man’s person as it does good to his Potatoes, often
produces the most dangerous Diseases, and even Death itself!
In a note in the _Prolegomena_ of Malone’s supplement to Johnson and
Steevens’s Shakespeare, we have the following account of
THE ORIGIN OF HACKNEY COACHES.
“I cannot (says Mr. Garrard) omit to mention any new thing that comes
up amongst us, though never so trivial. Here is one Captain Bailey, he
hath been a Sea Captain, but now lives on the land, about this city,
where he tries experiments. He hath erected, according to his ability,
some _four Hackney Coaches_, put his men in livery, and appointed them
to stand at the Maypole in the Strand; gives them instructions at what
rates to carry men into the several parts of the Town, where all day
they may be had. Other Hackneymen seeing this, flocked to the same
place, and performed their journey at the same rate, so that sometimes
there are twenty of them together, which disperse up and down, that
they and others are to be had every where, as watermen are to be had
by the water-side. Every body is much pleased with it. For whereas,
before, coaches could not be had but at great rates; now a man may have
one much cheaper.”
This Letter is dated April 1, 1634.--See _Gents. Mag. for 1780_, p. 375.
The Rules given in the preceding pages will protect the Rider from
extortion on the part of the Driver, beyond _Sixpence_; and for that,
is it worth contending? However the furious Economist, and Penny
wise and Pound foolish Boys may differ from us, we say again, it
is too great a trifle for the Wise to be nice about. A man who has
Twelve-pennyworth of Sense will have no Sixpenny Sorrows.
“There is a Time for all Things.”
_Ecclesiastes_, chap. iii. verse 1.
“There is a Time to Save, in order to Spend”--and so is there also “a
Time to Spend, in order to Save.”
The Price of Labour is usually in proportion to the degree of Skill or
Strength requisite to perform any operation, or to the Disagreeableness
of the work, or to the Detriment it occasions to Health:--few
situations are more disagreeable, or more destructive to Health, than
the exposure at all Hours to extreme Heat in Summer, and intense Cold
in Winter, and continual Wet in the Rainy Season:--neither are
THE PROFITS OF A HACKNEY COACHMAN
so large as his hard service seems to indicate that they ought to
be--though the Outfit does not cost much. _A Coach_ may be purchased
for about £30. or £40.--_a Chariot_ for about £20.--_the Horses_ may be
had from £8. to £20. each:--but, as the old saying is,
“_They Eat o’ Nights.”_
Bad Horses have as good an appetite as the best: ay, sometimes a
better, (if Goodness be measured by Greatness,) in the same way that
bad land wants more manure than good. It may be said, that the inferior
Provender provided for these poor hard-worked Hacks, is not so dear
as that which is purchased for the pampered animal, whose sleek coat
is his Master’s pride: but it must be taken into the account, that
if their Food be somewhat cheaper, their Stomachs are so constantly
stimulated by those strongest excitements to good Appetite, Air and
Exercise, that they are ever and aye, “_as Hungry as a Hunter_,” and
eat nearly double what those Horses do who pass their days indolently
in an over-heated Stable: indeed, we think that to be “_as Hungry as a
Hackney Coach Horse_” must be a few degrees beyond being as Hungry as a
Hunter; or one degree nearer to that state which is considered by the
_Grand Gourmand_ as the most enviable in Existence.
It is told of a certain worthy and wealthy Citizen, who has
acquired the reputation of being a considerable Consumer of the
good things of the Table, and has been “widened at the expense of
the Corporation,” that on coming out of a Tavern, after a Turtle
Feast, a poor Boy begged Charity of him--“For Mercy’s sake, Sir, I
am so very Hungry!” “_Hungry!_--_Hungry!_--hey!--what!--_complain_
of being _Hungry_!--why I never heard the like!--complain of
being _Hungry_!!--_Prodigious_!!!--why I’d give a Guinea to be
_Hungry_!!!--why, a Hungry Man (with a good Dinner before him) is the
Happiest fellow in the world!--There, (giving the Boy Half-a-Crown,)
there, I don’t want you to take my word for it: run along, my fine
fellow, and make the experiment Yourself.”
It appears, from the following Estimate, that a Hackneyman must every
day earn Thirteen Shillings for the maintenance of his Machinery,
before he will receive any Profit.
£. _s._ _d._
The Keep of Three Horses, (a Hackney Coach
cannot be well worked every day with
fewer of such crazy cattle as they are often
obliged to be content with) at £31. 10_s._ per
Annum for each, (see Estimate No. 4) 94 10 0
Coachman’s Wages, at 9_s._ per Week 23 8 0
Board, ditto, at 14_s._ ditto 36 10 0
Coach-house and Stables, and Tax thereon 20 0 0
Tax on Coach and Horses, £2. per Month, per
Annum 24 0 0
Interest of the Purchase money of the Carriage
and Horses, and the wear and tear thereof,
and New Wheels annually 40 0 0
-------------
238 8 0
-------------
The above Estimate, however considerable it may appear, will not be
considered as too high, when it is recollected that the Carriage is in
continual use, that the Horses are exposed to all weathers, and are
often Over-worked and Under-fed.
Hackney Coachmen get upon the Stands about nine in the Morning, and are
often out till past twelve at Night, except those who work double, who
take out one Coach and Horses Early in the Morning, bring them home at
about six or seven in the Evening, and then take out another pair for
Night-work.
It appears from _Mr. Jervis’s Journal_, which account I believe to be
“quite correct,” that _the Harvest of a Hackney Coachman_, like the
Hay-farmer’s, is in the Sultry Summer Months.
We can defend ourselves from Cold and Rain much more easily than we can
from the fatigue brought on by walking in Hot Weather.
“Careful Observers can foretell the hour,
By sure prognostics, when to dread a shower.
If you are Wise, then go not far to Dine,
You’ll spend in Coach hire more than save in Wine.”
The Vauxhall season is another source of considerable profit to the
proprietors of the Leathern Conveniences.
_The least productive Months_ are February, March, and April: this
may be partly accounted for, by the Economy which is so inevitably
submitted to during those months, occasioned by People’s pockets being
drained by Christmas Bills and Christmas Gambols.
On an average of Forty weeks, it seemed, that _the most productive
Days_ are Wednesdays and Thursdays. This may, in some measure, be
accounted for, by the greater number of Dinner parties, &c. which are
given on those days.
One of the most frequent uses of these accommodating Vehicles, is
to carry People out to Dinner. The following hint, every one who is
equally a true lover of polite Punctuality and of a Hot Dinner, will
think Good Advice.
An Excuse, which is as foolish as it is common, but which a furious
Economist seems to fancy is a sufficient plea for spoiling the best
Feast, is, “_there was not a Coach to be had_.” Uncalculating and
Improvident! not to send for one till the very last moment. You
save nothing by it!--you spoil your Friend’s Dinner! and excite the
displeasure of his Guests!!--and all this--to save your dear, dear
self, _Sixpence_!!! (or as I found it in _Mr. Jervis’s MS._ “a little
white farthing.”) As such a Mite would have prevented it, although your
Polite host may pretend not to notice your Rudeness, no Apology that
you may make can cancel such a confirmed certificate of your Selfish
Impertinence; therefore be not so silly as to fancy that it will.
Remember the English Proverb, “Hunger and Anger are nearly allied;” and
the Scotch saying, that “Hungry people are aye Angry.”
WHEN TO CALL A COACH.
Suppose you have a Mile and a half to go, the fare is Eighteen-pence,
you will seldom be less than 15, or, if you meet with Stoppages on the
way, more than 20 minutes, in going:--for Eighteen-pence you may keep a
Coach 45 Minutes; therefore, _call a Coach a Quarter of an Hour before
you want it_, i. e.--if you do not wish to be Too Late.
HOW TO CALL A COACH.
Having settled _When_--by your leave, we will tell you _How_ to call a
Coach:--
“Go--call a Coach; and let a Coach be called:
Let him that calls the Coach, be called the Caller!
And in his calling, let him nothing call,
But COACH! COACH!! COACH!!!”
_Chrononhotonthologos._
Equity requires that you ought to take the first Coach on the Stand,
however little you may like the appearance of the Driver, the Carriage,
or the Horses; because the occupier of that place having obtained
it by being the longest in waiting, has therefore a fair claim to a
preference, which it is apparently unjust not to grant: However, we
have heard persons give the following advice--_If you are in haste_,
take the Coach, the Driver of which is on the Box, the Horses bitted,
and who stand with their faces towards the way you wish to go:--if
not in a hurry, Open your Eyes, and choose that Vehicle to which the
tidy appearance of it and its Driver attract you, and present ocular
demonstration that the Carriage is clean, and the Coachman careful.
_The Servants of Industry_ are known by their Livery, which is always
_whole and wholesome_--the _Slaves of Idleness_ are slovenly and
loathsome:--the former, generally prove Civil and honest,--the latter,
Impertinent and imposing.
_When going out to Dinner_, Beware of indulging your Benevolence by
conferring the silly Sixpenny Civility of taking up every person
that is bound to the same house: such mighty good kind of Gentry are
commonly too late. However, since Colonel BOSVILLE established the
right laudable custom of locking out all those who come after the
appointed hour, this caution has become almost needless; as now the
rudeness of those who come too late, by such a prudent order to your
Porter, very properly recoils upon Themselves:--Good Dinner-Giver, let
such perfunctory persons be locked out!
Let those who wish to ensure Punctuality, have their Letter of
Invitation expressed in the following manner, and affix thereto the
Seal of the Committee of Taste, the motto on which is,
“BETTER NEVER, THAN LATE.”
_Messrs. Champaigne_ and _Turtle_ request the honour of Messrs.
_Thirst_ and _Hunger’s_ company at Dinner on Thursday the 9th Nov.,
five minutes _before_ Five o’clock.
NOTA BENE.--Messrs. C. and T. have directed, that as soon as the First
Course is served, the Table shall be garnished with the Key of the
Street Door, where it shall remain among the Dormant decorations till
the Second Course is removed.
A prudent General always provides for a Retreat.
_The Best way of securing a Coach to bring you Home_, if it is a long
distance, is to keep the Coach in waiting--or tell the Driver to call
and take you home at a certain hour; or fee the Waterman at the nearest
Stand, to send one at the hour you wish.
A Facetious Friend of the Editor’s, on a very Wet Night, after several
Messengers, whom he had despatched for a Coach, had returned without
obtaining one: at last, at “past one o’clock, and a Rainy Morning,” the
Wag walked himself to the next Coach-stand, and politely advised the
Waterman to mend his Inside lining with a Pint of Beer, and go home to
bed; for, said he, “there will be nothing for you to do to-Night,--I’ll
lay you a Shilling that there’s not a Coach out.”--“Why, will you, your
Honour? then, done,” cried Mr. Waterman; “but are you really serious,
’cause, if so be as You be, I must make haste and go and get one.”
Being assured he would certainly touch the Twelve-penny if he did, He
trotted off on his “Nag a ten toes,” and in Ten minutes returned with a
Leathern Convenience.--_Bonaparte_ used to say, “In some cases, there
is nothing like a Subsidy.”
We make no remarks on the newly introduced
CABRIOLETS,
further than to observe, that they are entitled to only two-thirds of
the Fare of a Hackney Coach.
Mr. JERVIS says that a Carriage with only Two Wheels, however well
piloted by the most expert charioteer, is an extremely dangerous
Vehicle in a paved and crowded street--especially, at the rapid rate at
which some perfunctory people require them to keep moving. If the Horse
be ever so sure-footed, and the Driver ever so skilful and steady, they
are frightfully dangerous Vehicles for town work, and will only be
used by those who are rash enough to sacrifice safety to Celerity, and
Comfort to Cheapness.
HACKNEY COACH AND CHARIOT FARES;
Commencing June 23, 1808, [48 Geo. III. cap. 87.]
FARES ACCORDING TO DISTANCE.
Not exceeding _s. d._
One mile 1 0
One mile and a half 1 6
Two miles 2 0
Two miles and a half 3 0
Three miles 3 6
Three miles and a half 4 0
Four miles 4 6
Four miles and a half 5 6
Five miles 6 0
Five miles and a half 6 6
Six miles 7 0
Six miles and a half 8 0
Seven miles 8 6
Seven miles and a half 9 0
Eight miles 9 6
Eight miles and a half 10 6
Nine miles 11 0
Nine miles and a half 11 6
Ten miles 12 0
Ten miles and a half 13 0
Eleven miles 13 6
Twelve miles 15 0
And so on, at the rate of 6_d._ for every half mile, and an additional
6_d._ for every two miles completed.
FARES ACCORDING TO TIME.
Not exceeding _s. d._
Thirty minutes 1 0
Forty-five minutes 1 6
One hour 2 0
One hour and 20 minutes 3 0
One hour and 40 minutes 4 0
Two hours 5 6
Two hours and 20 minutes 6 0
Two hours and 40 minutes 7 0
Three hours 8 0
Three hours and 20 minutes 9 0
Three hours and 40 minutes 10 6
Four hours 11 0
And so on, at the rate of 6_d._ for any fifteen minutes further time.
Cabriolets are entitled to two-thirds of the Coach fares.
MEM.--A Coachman may contract to drive you to a certain Place for a
certain Sum, and if it exceeds the distance which you are entitled to
be carried for such Sum--he cannot demand more.
The fares are to be taken by the Hour or Mile only, and not by the Day.
_Coaches discharged after Sun-set hours_ (viz. after 8 between Lady Day
and Michaelmas, and after 5 between Michaelmas and Lady Day,) between
the carriage-way pavement, or if hired at a stand beyond the same, may
demand the full fare back to such extremity or standing.
For Coaches hired to go into the country in the day-time, and there
discharged, additional fares are to be taken for their return to the
pavement or next stand where hired, as follow: for 10 miles, 5_s._;
8 miles, 4_s._; 6 miles, 3_s._; and 4 miles, _2s._ If under 4 miles,
nothing.
Coachmen are not compellable to take more than four, nor Chariots more
than three, adult persons inside, and a servant out: but if they agree
to take more, then 1_s._, in addition to the fare, must be paid for
each extra person; and if the coach be hired for the country, and to
return, 1_s._ for each extra person going, and 1_s._ for his returning.
_Abusive Language._--The Drivers behaving rudely, or using abusive
Language, are to forfeit not more than £10,--in default of payment, are
sent to the House of Correction for any time the Magistrate may please,
not exceeding two months.
_Extortion._--Coachmen refusing to go on, or extorting more than their
fare, are to forfeit not more than 3_l._ nor less than 10_s._ Not only
the Commissioners in Essex Street, Strand, but also the Magistrates at
the Police-offices, determine such Offences, and inflict Punishments.
_Obligation to go on._--If a Coach be drawn off the Stand to the side
of the pavement, it is equally as liable to be hired as if it stood
on the Stand, and the Coachman may be made to go with you, if not
hired--if he refuses, he is liable to be fined. They are compellable,
if plying for hire, at any hour of the Day or the Night, to go upon
all Turnpike roads, any where within Two miles and a half from the end
of the Carriage-way pavement.
_Articles left in a Hackney Coach_ are (by a late Act) to be taken
to the Hackney Coach Office, Essex Street, Strand, on pain of paying
20_l._; to be recovered on application to the Commissioners, or a
Justice of the Peace.
The Coachman is to take the shortest way, and to charge accordingly:
but if he, from choice or ignorance, does otherwise, he can make no
extra charge.
He may refuse to take _Heavy Luggage_, unless he is paid something
more than the fare; but he must object to it before it be put into the
Coach: he cannot, however, object to take a small Parcel that may be
carried in the hand.
_When a Coachman is desired to wait_, he may demand a sum in hand
beyond his previous fare, and is accountable for such sum when you
discharge him. He is not bound to wait without such a _detainer_, nor
longer than it will pay for the time.
See a comprehensive Abstract of the 18 Acts of Parliament relating to
Hackney Coaches, in p. 765 of Vol. II. of Sir George Chetwynd’s edition
of Dr. Burn’s Justice, 8vo. 1825.
Those who wish to ascertain distance very exactly, I advise to purchase
Mr. QUAIFE’S HACKNEY COACH DIRECTORY, which is sold only at the Hackney
Coach Office in Essex Street, Strand, and contains nearly _Eighteen
Thousand Fares from actual Measurements_, and
CARY’S NEW GUIDE FOR ASCERTAINING
HACKNEY COACH FARES, Price 3_s._ 6_d._
This elaborate work gives an actual admeasurement of every Street in
the Metropolis, and affords the means of ascertaining _the Length of
any Route, however indirect_.
We subjoin, as a Specimen, the Two first pages of this Work.
The first and second Column contain the Distance of one Street
from the other as they occur in the Route; the third, fourth,
and fifth, the total or full Length from the Commencement.--M.
signifies Mile--F. Furlong--P. Pole.
PICCADILLY.
_Hyde Park Turnpike to Leadenhall Street._
Streets, &c. passed through:--Piccadilly, Haymarket, Cockspur
Street, Charing Cross, Strand, Fleet Street, Ludgate Hill,
Ludgate Street, St. Paul’s Churchyard, Cheapside, Poultry,
Mansion House Street, Cornhill, Leadenhall Street, Aldgate
Street, Aldgate, Aldgate High Street, Whitechapel, and Mile End
Old Town.
|F.|P.||M.|F.|P.|
_Piccadilly._ |--|--||--|--|--|
To Hamilton Street | | || | |35|
Park Lane | |16|| | 1|11|
Down Street | |24|| | 1|35|
Engine Street | |18|| | 2|13|
White Horse Street | |20|| | 2|33|
Half Moon Street | |14|| | 3| 7|
Clarges Street | | 9|| | 3|16|
Bolton Street | |11|| | 3|27|
Stratton Street | |10|| | 3|37|
Berkley Street | |15|| | 4|12|
Arlington and Dover Streets | |13|| | 4|25|
St. James and Albemarle Streets | |12|| | 4|37|
Bond Street | |10|| | 5| 7|
Duke Street | |19|| | 5|26|
Sackville Street | |18|| | 6| 4|
Swallow Street | | 8|| | 6|12|
Air Street | |19|| | 6|31|
Eagle Street | | 2|| | 6|33|
The Haymarket | |35|| | 7|28|
7 .. 28 | | || | | |
| | || | | |
Enter _Haymarket_. |--|--||--|--|--|
To Norris and Panton Streets | |26|| 1| |14|
James Street | |11|| 1| |25|
Theatre | | 6|| 1| |31|
Suffolk Street and Opera House | |11|| 1| 1| 2|
Pall Mall | |11|| 1| 1|13|
1 .. 25 | | || | | |
| | || | | |
Enter _Cockspur Street_. |--|--||--|--|--|
Suffolk Street | |14|| 1| 1|27|
Whitcomb Street | |10|| 1| 1|37|
Spring Gardens | | 5|| 1| 2| 2|
0 .. 29 | | || | | |
| | || | | |
Enter _Charing Cross_. | | || | | |
Statue Of King Charles | |19|| 1| 2|21|
St. Martin’s Lane | |15|| 1| 2|36|
0 .. 34 | | || | | |
| | || | | |
Enter _Strand_. | | || | | |
Northumberland Street | | 2|| 1| 2|38|
Hungerford Street | |15|| 1| 3|13|
Villiers Street | |12|| 1| 3|25|
Buckingham Street | | 9|| 1| 3|34|
Bedford Street | |21|| 1| 4|15|
Adam Street | |13|| 1| 4|28|
Salisbury Street | |13|| 1| 5| 1|
Cecil Street | | 7|| 1| 5| 8|
Southampton Street | | 5|| 1| 5|13|
Beaufort Buildings | | 7|| 1| 5|20|
Burleigh Street | |15|| 1| 5|35|
Catherine Street | |25|| 1| 6|20|
Somerset Place | |14|| 1| 6|34|
New Church and Little Drury Lane | |16|| 1| 7|10|
Newcastle Street | | 3|| 1| 7| 3|
Surry Street | |11|| 1| 7|24|
Norfolk Street | |10|| 1| 7|34|
Arundel Street | | 9|| 2| | 3|
Essex Street | |18|| 2| |21|
Temple Bar | |24|| 2| 1| 5|
6 .. 9 | | || | | |
|--|--||--|--|--|
Enter _Fleet Street_. | | || | | |
To Chancery Lane | |13|| 2| 1|18|
Fetter Lane | |23|| 2| 2|21|
Serjeants’ Inn | | 6|| 2| 2| 7|
Bouverie Street | |11|| 2| 2|18|
Water Lane | |11|| 2| 2|29|
Salisbury Court | |17|| 2| 3| 6|
Shoe Lane | | 1|| 2| 3| 7|
Fleet Market | |29|| 2| 3|36|
2 .. 31 | | || | | |
| | || | | |
Enter _Ludgate Hill_. | | || | | |
Old Bailey | |29|| 2| 4|25|
St. Martin’s Ludgate Church | |18|| 2| 5| 3|
1 .. 7 | | || | | |
| | || | | |
Enter _Ludgate Street_. | | || | | |
Creed and Ave Maria Lanes | | 8|| 2| 5|11|
St. Paul’s Churchyard | | 8|| 2| 5|19|
0 .. 16 | | || | | |
| | || | | |
Enter _St. Paul’s Churchyard_. | | || | | |
Paul’s Chain | |18|| 2| 5|37|
Watling Street | |25|| 2| 6|22|
Cheapside | |28|| 2| 7|13|
1 .. 31 | | || | | |
| | || | | |
Enter _Cheapside_. | | || | | |
Old Change | | 5|| 2| 7|15|
Foster Lane | | 3|| 2| 7|18|
Gutter Lane | |13|| 2| 7|31|
Friday Street | | 6|| 2| 7|37|
Wood Street | | 5|| 3| | 2|
Bread Street | | 5|| 3| | 7|
Milk Street | | 2|| 3| | 9|
Bow Churchyard | |11|| 3| |20|
Bow Lane | | 4|| 3| |24|
Lawrence Lane | | 7|| 3| |31|
King and Queen Streets | | 5|| 3| |36|
Ironmonger Lane | | 4|| 3| 1| |
Bucklersbury | | 9|| 3| 1| 9|
1 .. 39 | | || | | |
| | || | | |
Enter _Poultry_. | | || | | |
To Old Jewry | | 4|| 3| 1|13|
Charlotte Row | |24|| 3| 1|37|
0 .. 28 | | || | | |
| | || | | |
Enter _Mansion House Street_. | | || | | |
Mansion House | | 5 3 2 2
Bank Buildings | |20 3 2 22
0 .. 25 | | || | | |
| | || | | |
Enter _Cornhill_. | | || | | |
Royal Exchange | | 9|| 3| 2|31|
Freeman’s Court | |12|| 3| 3| 3|
Birchin Lane | | 3|| 3| 3| 6|
Finch Lane | | 1|| 3| 3| 7|
Gracechurch and Bishopsgate Streets| |27|| 3| 3|34|
1 .. 12 | | || | | |
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The Expense of King George the Third’s State Coach which was made
in the year 1762, was--
£ _s. d._
Coachmaker 1,637 15 0
Carver 2,500 0 0
Gilder 935 14 0
Painter 315 0 0
Laceman 737 10 7
Chaser 665 4 6
Harness Maker 385 15 0
Mercer 202 5 10½
Belt Maker 99 6 6
Milliner 31 3 4
Sadler 10 16 6
Woollen Draper 4 3 6
Cover Maker 3 9 6
7,562 4 3½
[2] There are 36 Trusses in a Load of Hay, and the same in a Load of
Straw; 40 Trusses of each, 1 Ton.
[3] These were by Chief Justice Mansfield called “_Bankrupt Carts_,”
because they were, and are, frequently driven by those who could
neither afford the Money to support them, nor the Time spent in using
them, the want of which, in their Business, brought them to Bankruptcy.
[4] Do not give unusually high standing _Wages_. These should neither
exceed nor fall short of the Rates which Custom has established; or, in
the former case, you will make your own servants idle and extravagant,
and those of your neighbours unhappy and discontented. If you do
not pay the customary compensation for the service you receive, you
will excite a continually rankling discontent in the minds of your
Domestics, and will be harassed with those continual changes in your
establishment, which will soon render Good Servants shy of engaging in
it.
The best way to encourage Servants is to give them “_Occasional
Presents and Indulgences_.” These I would not bestow in Money, but
give him a pair of Good Boots or Shoes, or an Umbrella, or a Watch,
according to his Diligence and Long Service: confer these Rewards,
rather as given for general Good Conduct, than as for any particular
occurrence, or they may be received as merited payment for an insulated
piece of service.
[5] The price charged by _Mr. Williams_, Button Manufacturer, No. 103,
St. Martin’s Lane, for a pair of Button Dies, is £2. 2_s._
Buttons are not always stamped so carefully as they ought to
be:--caution your Button Maker, that you will not take any impressions
that are imperfect: you may be charged a trifle more per Dozen, if
you will have every Button as perfect as the Proof Specimen. Let the
Letters of the Motto, which is generally put round the Crest, be large
enough to be legible--they are generally too small.
[6]
_s._ _d._
Letting the Horses wash their Mouths, which
is comfortable to them in very hot weather.
If you are Travelling a long Journey, it will
refresh them much more, if you at the same
time give them a little bit of Hay; for
these you are generally charged, for a
Pair of Horses 0 6
For a _Short Bait_, i. e. if you go out for Ten
Miles, and the Horses are put up for an
hour or two, a feed, a Quartern of Corn each,
including 6_d._ to the Hostler, is about 1 6
See more of the Estimates of Expenses in Travelling, in Part I. of the
“_Traveller’s Oracle_.”
[7] The Strap for pulling up the Step, and the Inside Handle, are great
conveniences to those who do not take a Footman out with them. See
“_Dumb Footman_,” in the Index.
[8] _The Ancient Equestrian_ who read the MS. of this Work, wrote the
following note:--
“Those who keep Horses should occasionally look into the Mews early in
the morning; and if a man is there with a Sack, or Donkey and Panniers,
immediately think of their Corn and Hay, &c.”--A. E.
[9] Pens, Parchment, and Wax.
[10] _Cook’s Patent Life Preserver for Carriages_ may be viewed at the
_Manufactory, No. 127, Long Acre_. Its object is to stop horses when
running away: the contrivance is extremely simple, and a Lady may, with
the greatest facility, apply its force against the power of the horses,
thereby gradually but irresistibly arresting their progress. Should the
coachman leave the box, this invention will enable him to prevent the
possibility of the horses starting off in his absence; or should he be
thrown from his seat, or fall off in a fit, or from any other cause,
an infirm person or even a Child in the carriage, has the power of
stopping a pair, or four horses, with ease and certainty.
[11] Carriage, in the usual meaning of the word among Coachmakers,
signifies the lower system, on which the Body containing the Passengers
is suspended, and to which the Wheels are attached: though speaking
generally of Coaches, Chariots, &c. they are properly called Carriages
of such descriptions; but as the word Carriage will be frequently used
in both senses, when it signifies the lower system only, it will be
printed in _Italics_: when used in the general meaning of the word, in
common letters.
[12] The Timbers of the Under Carriage, in which the Pole is placed.
[13] The long leaver by which the Carriage is conducted.
[14] A compassed timber, fixed on the Futchells, which keeps the fore
Carriage steady.
[15] The Leathers by which the Body is hung or checked.
_The Main Braces_ are what the Body hangs by.
_The Collar Braces_ are those which go round the Perch or crane, and
are buckled through a Ring fixed to bottom of the Body, to check its
motion sideways, and to confine it from striking against the Wheels.
_The Check Braces_ are for the purpose of checking the motion of the
Body endways, and are placed at the four Corners.
The Braces should be occasionally shifted from their bearing, as that
part on which the weight rests is deprived of the moisture of grease,
which preserves the Leather, and the Brace becomes dry and susceptible
of the Wet, and soon Cracks and Breaks;--therefore, once in a month let
the situation of the Braces be changed a little, and they will last
three times as long.
[16] _Mr. Jarvis_ assures us that none of the plans for rendering
Clothes Water Proof have answered his expectations.
[17] We were amused, and perhaps the Reader may, with the following
definition of the word “_Genteel_.”
_Q._ Has any Body called (said _Mr. Thin_) while I have been out?
_A._ Yes, Sir, a Gentleman called, about Two o’Clock.
_Q._ What kind of a Person?
_A._ A Genteel Man, Sir--an extremely Genteel Man, Sir; for I think he
was Taller and Thinner than You!!!
[18] “Those who regard Health will not frequent crowded rooms and
assemblies. When I was at Bath, about to publish an Essay on the
effects of _Noxious Air_, one of my brethren waggishly said, ‘Let
them alone, Doctor; for how else will 26 Physicians be able to exist
here?’”--_Dr. Adair on Diet, &c._ 8vo. p. 93. 1812.
[19] “To what an unfortunate change the present fashions are conforming
Mankind! The Country-houses of our Nobility and Gentry are empty in
July. Thus the Spring months, the season of Joy throughout creation,
pass unobserved by the affluent and gay. The souls of human beings,
in this Age of Art, would seem to wish the Sun to be darkened; they
find no pleasure but in the light of a Lamp.--I feel for the rising
generation, when I consider the effects of these overgrown follies upon
Inexperienced minds.”--_Dr. Trotter on the Nervous Temperament_, 8vo.
p. 245. 1807.
[20] “There is an ordinary trick at common Inns of Stealing the Horse’s
Oats, where, although the Masters be in good condition and honest, yet
their Servants rob one another of the Oats committed to their charge,
and then make a piece of Gallantry and Jest of it.”--_Sollysell’s
Compleat Horseman_, fol. p. 108. 1717.
[21] It should have been within _Five Miles_!
[22] The best Map we have seen of this Ground, as it was in 1805, _i.
e._ just before the _Improvements_, as it is the fashion to call the
_Piles of Bricks and Mortar_ which now stand where we used to walk and
enjoy the Fresh Air, was published by Bowles and Carver, in St. Paul’s
Churchyard, where it may still be had, and is entitled “A Map of London
and its Environs, Three Miles round St. Paul’s, in 1805.”
[23] Bolts and Nuts are the machinery by which the Timber and Iron work
is fixed together.
[24] To tell the Reader exactly what class of persons was meant to
be designated by the word _Gentleman_, in the year 1757, would be as
difficult a task as to define it now. The last time we heard it, was
on visiting a Stable to look at a Horse, when, on inquiring for the
Coachman, his Stable Keeper replied, “He is just stepped to the Public
House along with another Gentleman.”
The following is the Negro’s definition of a _Gentleman_:--“_Massa make
de black Man workee--make de Horse workee--make de Ox workee--make
every ting workee, only de Hog: he, de Hog, no workee; he eat, he
drink, he walk about, he go to sleep when he please, he liff like a_
GENTLEMAN.”--_European Mag._ January, 1811, p. 17.
I have never forgotten Sir Richard Steele’s Observation, which struck
my mind with happy force in my boyish days:--“_A Christian_ and a
_Gentleman_ are become inconsistent Appellations of the same person.
You cannot expect Eternal Life, if you do not _forgive_ Injuries: the
Weak and the Wicked will do their utmost to make your Mortal Life
uncomfortable, if you are not ready to commit a _Murder_ in Resentment
for _an Affront_.”--_From No. 20 of the Guardian._
_Sir Richard_ has very properly applied to the _Duellist_ what _Dr.
South_ has said of the Liar: “_He is a Coward to Man_, and a _Bravo to_
GOD!”
The most ridiculous circumstance respecting _Duelling_, is, that
the Man who has suffered the Injury must submit himself to the same
Peril with him who inflicted it, so that the Punishment is entirely
accidental, and as likely to fall upon the Innocent as the Guilty.
[25] So called by “The Oracle,” from the furious sacrifice of the
comfort of the Interior of our Modern Houses to the paltry plaister
patchwork of (what the Vulgar pronounce) “a pretty Elevation.”
Aye!--pretty may be for part of a Palace--but as inconvenient as it is
impertinent for a Private Dwelling.
[26] “The longer his Taile be, hee shall the better defend himself
therewith in summer season from the flies; and therefore _Cameranus_
doth not a little marvel at those which use to curtail their
Horses.”--_Blundevill on Horses_, 1609. p. 13.
[27] The attentive and obliging Surveyor to the Board of Hackney
Coaches in Essex Street, Strand.
_The Hackney Coach Office_ is open from 10 till 3 o’Clock every day;
and no person belonging to the Office is allowed to make any demand
or charge for Expenses, or to receive any Fee or Gratuity, under any
pretence whatever.
[28] “In _Paris_, Hackney Coaches are hired either by the _course_ (_à
la course_), i. e. as often as the vehicle is stopped, or by the _hour_
(_à l’heure_). The fare is 30 sous (1_s._ 3_d._) per course, whether it
be a quarter of a Mile or three Miles; or two francs (1_s._ 8_d._) for
the first hour, and 30 sous (1_s._ 3_d._) per hour afterwards.
“From midnight to 6 o’clock in the morning, the fare is doubled.
“These coaches are not obliged to carry more than four persons and a
child, nor to take any heavy luggage.
“If the Coach be hired by Time, the first hour must be paid for,
whether it is entirely occupied or not; but it is not necessary to pay
for more of the second, or of any succeeding hour, than has actually
elapsed.
“If a coach is engaged to go to the Theatres, or to any place of public
amusement, it is customary to pay the coachman at the time of starting,
in order to avoid delay at alighting.”--_Planta’s Picture of Paris_,
16mo. 1825, p. 408.
INDEX TO PART II.
Abusive Language, 321
Accidents, 81
Adviser, an experienced, is to be consulted in purchasing a Carriage, 118
Agreement, form of, 21
---- articles of, 56
Articles left in a Hackney Coach, 322
Axle-trees, 93, 99
Back-Light of a Coach, 70
Beggars’ dogs, 89
Box Coats, 133
Blundevill on Horses, 278
Braces, the main, 116
Buonaparte’s Travelling Chariot, 127
Burke, Right Hon. Edmund, 163
Cabriolets, 317
Carriage, private, its expense compared with the hiring of Hackney
Coaches, 286-291
Carriages and Chariots, criterion for the price of, 5
----, care of, 201-204
----, travelling, 123
----, length of, 109
Cary, Mr., plan of a new map, 293
Character of servants, 145
Chariot, construction of a, 65
Cheapest mode of keeping a Carriage, 33
Clock, advantages of a good, 155
Clover for horses, 253
Coach, when to call a, 312
----, how to call a, 313
Coach box, 135
Coachmaking art of, 59
Coachman, a skilful, 143
----’s livery, 26-31
----, how to give orders to, 146
----, punctuality essential in, 151
Coat, coachman’s, 134
----, how to give a horse a fine, 246
Colds of horses, 261-266
Collinge’s axles, 94
Contracts for building Carriages, 53
Cook’s Life Preserver for Carriages, 77
Country houses vacant until July, 139
Cracked heels, remedy for, 265
Cushions, seat, 72
Dashing Iron, the, 17
Dickey Coach box, 79
Directions for buying and keeping of an equipage, 1
---- as to who should examine the linch-pins, 17
Directory, Quaife’s Hackney Coach, 323
Diuretic balls for swelled heels, 265
Dogs, tax on, should be duly enforced, 88
Doors of Carriages, 209
Driving, on, 184-191
Dry coat, importance of a, 134
Ducrow’s theatrical stud, 219
Duelling, 228
Durability of vehicles, 8
Duties, assessed, on men servants, carriages, and horses, 131
Elbows of a Carriage, of the, 67
Embrocation, anti-rheumatic, 135
Environs of town, expedition to dinner in the, 157
Equestrian statue of Charles I., 219
Evening parties, 136
Examination of a second-hand Carriage, 114
Exercising of horses, 243
Expense of keeping a Carriage, 3
---- ---- keeping a Horse, 11
Extortion, 321
Extra charges made by a coach-builder for all additions, 61
Fares, Hackney Coach, 292-318
Fifteen good points of a coachman, 165-169
Fires, how to manage horses in case of, 272
Foresight of a physician, 137
Form of a Carriage highly important, 65
Genteel man described, a, 135
Gentleman, defined by a negro, 227
Glass coaches, 49
Glasses, coach, 69
Gomersal’s personification of Buonaparte, 219
Granite Pavement, 101
Grass, on sending horses to, 257
Grooming and dressing of horses, 245
Gruel for horses, 239
Guineas not obsolete in accounts, 7
Hackney coaches, choice of, 314
---- ----, origin of, 303
Hackney coachmen, 296, 314
----man’s charge for jobbing a saddle-horse, 14
Hammercloth, 204
Hanway’s Travels, 226
Harness, 119
----, second-hand, 121
Hard-Driving, 185
Hats with gold band, 30
Hay, how to select, 253
Holsters, pistol, to the dickey-box, 123
Horses, choice of, 225
----, hints to purchasers of, 223
----, to preserve the health of, 238-244
----, food and provender of, 249-256
----, of a hackney coach, 305, 306
----, age recommended for carriage, 21
Horse, expense of a saddle, 11
---- balls, 262
----dealers, 45
Horsemen, advice to, 273
Hostler, derivation of the word, 47
Hours, early, 139
Hydrophobia, 83-92
Imperials, 124
Inside handles to Carriages, 77
Inventory, important, 201
Job, to, or hire a Carriage, 54
Jobbing Horses, 44
Knee-boot to Coach box, 135
Lamps, circular, 106
Landau, or Landaulet, 52
Leather, condition of the, 121
Lining of a Coach, its best colour, 71
Letter requiring an immediate answer, when useful, 154
Livery, 26-31
---- stables, 15
Locks to the doors of a Carriage, 76
Luggage, heavy, 322
Macadamised streets truly beneficial, 99-101
Map of London, 172
Markham’s way to wealth, 277
Master, the good, 133
Matching of a horse, 23
Midnight meetings, 138
---- conversation, 141
New road from Paddington to Islington, 173
Newcastle, Duke of, his directions for the management of horses, 230, 246
Nuisances, public, 83-92
Oil, 107
Oil-skin covers, 125
Old Carriages and Chariot, selling of, 62
One-horse Carts the cause of accidents, 187
Open Carriages, 39
Ornaments of Carriages, 104
Paint, spare, 210
Perambulator for measuring distances, 298
Pembroke, Earl of, 251
Plated furniture, of, 105
Posting in Ireland, rates of, 42
Presents to servants, how rendered advantageous to the donor, 25
Price of new Carriages, of various denominations, 16
Profits of a Hackney Coachman, 305
Provender for horses, 255
Proverb, useful old, 46
Punctuality indispensable in a Coachman, 151
Quaife, Mr., Surveyor to the Board of Hackney Coaches, 296
Rattling of the Coach, 205
Reason for Coachmen not liking Collinge’s axle-trees, 96
Regent’s Park, the, 174
Repairs of Carriages, 212
Roads, the commissioners of the, 178
Rochefort, Monsieur R. de, 250
Rough-shodding in frosts, 28
Royal anecdote, 6
Safety braces, 126
Screwing the bolts, 204
Shades, green silk spring sun, 73
Shafts for a single horse _occasionally_ applied to a Chariot, 20
Shakspeare, quotations from, 26
Shoeing, 159
Soft water preferable for a horse’s drink, 252
Spikes to fix on the hind standards, 82
Sleep disturbed by workmen purposely noisy at an early hour, 87
Sorbière’s description of London, 172
Springs of Carriages, how best constructed, 108
----, cording of, 126
Stable, the, 266
Stands, Hackney Coach, 188
State Coach of George III., 4
Steps of a Carriage, 210
Strangers behind a Carriage dangerous, 82
Straw-yard, 11
Street Act of the Metropolis, 86
Streets, care of Carriage in the public, 191
Street-keepers, 83
Stuffing of a Carriage preposterous, 69
Swift, Dean, quotation from, 164
Symmetry of the Horse, true, 219
Time, best, to bring out a new Carriage, 60
Tires of the wheels should be watched, 102
Tom Thrifty’s maxim, 153
Tools, a Coachman’s, 170
Trunk covers, 124
Turnpikes, 31
Valetudinarians, kind of springs for Carriages most beneficial to, 169
Value of well-matched Coach-horses, 23
Varnished panels, 207
Varnish, how to remedy cracks in the, 208
Visits, paying of, 171
Vulgar Tongue, Francis Grose’s Dictionary of the, 48
Under-springs, 217
Wager, Duke of Queensberry’s, 221
Wages, 25
Washing and cleaning the Carriage and harness, 203
Wax candles, 106
Wheels, of, 99
Wheels, tiring of, 17
Wicks, lamps with two flat, 107
Winch for the axle-trees, by whom best kept, 95
Yellow Chrome, the best colour for a Chariot, 73
Zinc, ointment for sore heels, 264
THE END.
J. MOYES, TOOK’S COURT, CHANCERY LANE.
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