The history of Coaches has been given in the body of the work. The following observations on the present taste in coach-making, are communicated by an eminent Manufacturer.
During the last twenty years, the improvements on coaches, landaus, chariots, &c. have been directed to the object of accelerating their speed in travelling, by diminishing their weight, and rendering their draught more easy.
It may be doubted whether the advantages acquired in this respect are not counterbalanced by the contraction of space in the inside, and by the want of magnificence on the outside, which carriages formerly possessed; at the same time it is acknowledged in all foreign countries, that, in point of neatness, easy draught, and elegance, the coaches, &c. of Britain far surpass all others.
The only late novelty deserving notice from its ingenuity or convenience, is the improved axle, made by Callinger and others, in which, by means of a broad groove in the axle, and a corresponding one in the box or bush, fitted to each other with extraordinary accuracy, and secured at the (out-head) or outer end by a double screw, the oil is retained during a journey of 500 miles or upwards, without the trouble or necessity of stopping to grease the wheels.
At present many of our young men of fortune plume themselves no less on their knowledge of the structure than on their proficiency in the art of driving these vehicles; and the *Whip, or Four-in-hand Club*, deserves to be mentioned here, as highly characteristic of the wealth and eccentricity of the British capital.
This association, consisting of above fifty members, who are each provided with an elegant coach, and four horses of the highest breed and price, harnessed and attached to it in the most expensive manner, together with one or two spare horses, and a full retinue of servants elegantly dressed, meets at stated periods; and each member, in the exact costume of a London coachman, drives his own carriage to a short distance from town, going or returning through the Parks, or most frequented streets and squares. The enormous expense incurred by every member of this showy establishment, if it was confined to itself, would be less to be deplored than it is. But the example of so many youths of high rank and great fortune has, as might be expected, diffused itself widely; and in the two Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, among those unable to rival the Whip-Club in splendid extravagance, the spirit of coach-driving displays itself in the endless and absurd variety of two-wheeled vehicles, in the structure and denominations of which, each candidate for charioteering fame strives to surpass his rival, till invention seems nearly exhausted. We have seen a vehicle called a *suicide*, from the extreme danger of driving it; and there are some aspiring youths, who have far eclipsed all their competitors, by driving through the most crowded streets in very high carriages, drawn by two horses, the one before the other, supported on one narrow wheel!
Notwithstanding the number and variety of carriages used in Great Britain, there are not many workmen employed, properly speaking, under the name of coach-makers. We have heard, and we believe on good authority, that their number does not exceed 3000 in the whole island. The various component parts of carriages are made by workmen bearing other denominations, such as wheelers, spring-makers, platers, lace-workers, &c. whose labours the coach-maker collects and combines for his own purpose.
It is merely doing justice to this employment to state, that those engaged in the operative part of it have been no less remarkable for the decency and sobriety of their department, than those at the head of it have always been for great mechanical ingenuity.