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A PRACTICAL TREATISE

COACH-BUILDING.

GENERAL HISTORY.

The progress of the art of coach-making, like the progress of most inventions and discoveries, has been rather slow, we may say remarkably slow; sometimes it made a sudden start, but a reaction in the other direction generally settled it before much advance had been made; but seeing that the early portions of the Old Testament contain references to wheel carriages, it does seem rather strange that perfection should take so long to arrive at. This may be partly accounted for by the fact that the nations of the earth were always at war with one another, and consequently had no time to foster inventive power. And this has unfortunately been the case until comparatively recent times.

The first land carriages were doubtless very primitive contrivances. Though the "chariot" and the "waggon" are mentioned in Genesis, no description is given of their construction. Joseph rode in the second chariot of Pharaoh as a mark of great honour and dignity. "Waggons" were dispatched from the court of Egypt to convey thither the wives and little ones of the family of Jacob. From this, as well as the fact of the brethren of Joseph bearing their corn away on asses, we may infer that wheel carriages, even of the most simple construction, were not in general use at this time. It is very probable that the common vehicle of the period was an embryo sledge, drawn by man or beast along the ground.

The Bible and the hieroglyphics on the various ruins of ancient Egypt furnish us with the earliest authentic records. In the case of Egypt this is particularly valuable to us, because of the great degree of culture arrived at in the civilised arts. In fact it is the chief country of which we have any record of the progress of these arts, and though not actually established, it is extremely probable that to the Egyptians we owe the invention, or at least the introduction of the wheel. These people were early engaged in the erection of large buildings and monuments, of which the pyramids and sphinxes are such striking examples; and in order to convey the enormous blocks of stone and granite to their ultimate destination, the roller would be the first thing to suggest itself as a means of facilitating transit. The next step would be the formation of a truck, to which these rollers could be attached, and on which could be placed the materials to be moved. Progression with a contrivance of this kind would necessarily be rather slow, but it would soon become apparent that if a larger roller were used the motion could be accelerated. The next improvement would be an endeavour to lighten the rollers by sawing them into thick slices, and connecting them by a horizontal roller of smaller dimensions, giving a rude representation of a wheel and axle. The agricultural carts used by the peasantry of Chili, in South America, were made in this fashion until very recently. The further lightening of these cars would follow almost as a matter of course, by cutting the slices of the trunk to form the wheel, thinner, and further by cutting away portions of this slice, forming spokes. The wheel having arrived at this stage of perfection, the axle would call for a little attention. Up till the present, they would be fixed firmly to the wheels and revolve with them. This arrangement would cause great inconvenience in turning, for one wheel would revolve more rapidly than the other, by reason of the circle described by one wheel in turning round being greater than that of the other, and the vehicle would be liable to overturn. The next step was to arrange that the wheels could revolve independently of the axle. This being done, we have the wheel, in its principles, the same as at present.

The paintings and sculptures upon the walls of the temples and tombs of Egypt show that wheeled carriages were in use in that country at an early period . In the Bible they are usually translated "chariot." They are of great interest to us, as they formed the chief means of conveying man for 2,000 years before Christ, and were more or less the type of all the other vehicles of the ancient world. We find certain words used in describing them, both by Homer, who lived 1,000 years B.C., and by Moses, who lived at least 500 years earlier; and these words are the technical terms in use at the present day, such as axles, wheels, naves, tyres, spokes, &c. It is reasonable to infer from this, that the art to which these terms apply must have existed prior to the writers' description; so that any doubt as to the correctness of the Egyptian sculptures must be dispelled by the references of the above authors. In the fifth book of the Iliad "The awful Juno led out the golden-bitted horses, whilst Hebe fitted the whirling wheels on the iron axle of the swift chariot. The wheels had each eight brazen spokes, the felloes were of gold, secured with brazen tyres all round, admirable to the sight. The seat was of gold hung by silver cords, the beam or pole was of silver, at the end of which were hung the golden yoke and the golden reins."

The car was greatly used by the Romans, being adopted from the one used by the Etrurians , a neighbouring country on the Italian peninsula. These latter people were traditionally the first to place a hood or awning over the open two-wheeled car, and they showed great taste in decorating their vehicles in the manner familiar to us by the remains of their pottery. A very fine copy of one of the Roman cars is in the museum at South Kensington, cast from the original in the Vatican.

Herodotus mentions that the Scythians used a vehicle which consisted of a rough platform upon wheels, on which was placed a covering like a beehive, composed of basket work and covered with skins. When they pitched anywhere these huts were taken off, and served them as dwellings in lieu of tents. Fig. 4 shows one of their chariots.

The war chariots used by the Persians were much larger than those used by contemporary nations. The idea seems to have been to form a sort of turret on the car to protect the warriors in action. These vehicles were provided with curved blades, like scythes, which projected from the axletrees, for the purpose of maiming the enemy as they drove through them.

Sir William Gell, in his work on Pompeii, which was destroyed A.D. 79, mentions that three wheels had been dug out of the ruins in his day, very much like our modern wheels--a little dished, and 4 feet 3 inches high, with ten spokes rather thicker at each end than in the middle. He also gives an illustration of a cart used for the conveyance of wine in a large skin or leather bag; it is a four-wheeled cart, with an arch in the centre for the front wheel to turn under. The pole appears to end in a fork, and to be attached to the axle bed.

On the decline of the Roman power, many of the arts of civilisation which they had been instrumental in forwarding fell into disuse. The skilled artisans died and left no successors, there being no demand for them. This will account for no mention being made of carriages or chariots for some centuries. Of course there were various primitive contrivances in use to which the name of cart was given, but the great and wealthy moved about the cities or travelled on horseback, or if they were incapable of this, they used litters carried by men or horses. The great bar to the general adoption of wheeled carriages was undoubtedly the very bad state of the roads.

The English were not long before they adopted this new innovation. In an early English poem called the "Squyr of Low Degree," supposed to be before the time of Chaucer, the father of the Princess of Hungary thus makes promise:--

The pomelles were doubtless the handles to the rods affixed towards the roof of the "chariette," and were for the purpose of holding by when deep ruts or obstacles in the roads caused an unusual jerk in the vehicle.

The first coach made in England was for the Earl of Rutland, in 1555, and Walter Rippon was the builder. He afterwards made one for Queen Mary. Stow's "Summerie of the English Chronicle" is the authority upon which this statement is made.

In a postscript to the life of Thomas Parr, written by Taylor, the Water Poet , we find the following note: "He was eighty-one years old before there was any coach in England ; for the first ever seen here was brought out of the Netherlands by one William Boonen, a Dutchman, who gave a coach to Queen Elizabeth, for she had been seven years a queen before she had any coach; since when they have increased with a mischief, and ruined all the best housekeeping, to the undoing of the watermen, by the multitudes of Hackney coaches. But they never swarmed so much to pester the streets as they do now till the year 1605; and then was the gunpowder treason hatched, and at that time did the coaches breed and multiply." Taylor is to be thanked, not only for his information, but for his capital though unconscious burlesque upon those fancied philosophers who talk of cause and effect, where events, because they happen in sequence, are made to depend one on the other, when the fact of their being two things apart makes them independent existences.

We have not space to dwell upon these old specimens at length. Queen Elizabeth's coach is called by an old author "a moving temple." It had doors all round, so that when the people desired, and the virgin queen was agreeable, they might feast their eyes on the beauty of its trimming or linings.

The following entry in Sir William Dugdale's diary may be interesting: "1681. Payd to Mr. Meares, a coachmaker in St. Martin's Lane, for a little chariot w^ I then sent into the country, ?23 13s. 0d., and for a cover of canvas ?01 00s. 00d.: also for harness for two horses ?04 00s. 00d."

The opposition on the part of the watermen to the introduction of coaches assumed rather serious proportions, more especially as the populace sided with them; to such a height did the antagonism run that a movement was made to introduce a Bill into Parliament to prevent the increase of coaches; the apology for its introduction being, that in war time it would be a matter of great difficulty to mount the troops if so many horses were monopolised for these coaches. Luckily, however, it came to nothing, and the antipathy gradually died out.

Coaches and vehicles of all descriptions now became general, and in 1635 a patent was granted to Sir Saunders Duncombe for the introduction of sedans; their purpose being "to interfere with the too frequent use of coaches, to the hindrance of the carts and carriages employed in the necessary provision of the city and suburbs." A rivalry now sprung up between coach and sedan, and gave rise to a humorous tract, in which they hold a colloquy as to which should take precedence, a brewer's cart being appointed umpire.

The coaches at this period were fearfully and wonderfully made. There are several examples of them scattered about in the various museums. The people who used them at this time had no great ideas of them, for so formidable an affair was the undertaking of a journey reckoned, that even from Birmingham to London a departure was the signal for making a will, followed by a solemn farewell of wife, children, and household!

In the eighteenth century improvements were made in the construction of coaches, but they were still heavy lumbering contrivances, so that little or no progress was made in the rate at which they travelled. Even so late as 1760 a journey from Edinburgh to London occupied eighteen days, a part of the roads being only accessible by pack horses. There is a very good specimen of the vehicle of the early part of the eighteenth century in the South Kensington Museum, belonging to the Earl of Darnley's family, and is well worthy of study as being one of the lightest examples known of this period.

In the Museum of South Kensington is also an excellent example of the fully developed coach of 1790. It is a very massive-looking affair, and belonged to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland; it looks very much like a faded edition of the City state coach now, though when new it doubtless had a very good appearance. It consists of a very large body, suspended from upright or whip springs by means of leather braces; the standing pillars slope outwards, making the sides longer at the roof than at the elbow line. The wheels are of good height, and the carriage part is very massively constructed, the upper part being finished off with scroll ironwork, and on this in the front the coachman's hammercloth is raised. The panels are painted with landscapes, &c., by Hamilton, R.A., and no doubt altogether it cost a deal of money.

Vehicles now began to assume that variety of shape and form of which we have in our own time so many specimens. There were Landaus, introduced from a town of that name in Germany; these were, like the coaches, only made to open in the centre of the roof just as they do now, but instead of the covering falling into a horizontal line it only fell back to an angle of 45 degrees, and this pattern was maintained for a number of years. Landaulets were chariots made to open. Generally speaking, the difference between a coach and a chariot was that the former had two seats for the accommodation of passengers, and the latter but one, and in appearance was like a coach cut in half. Then came phaetons, barouches, sociables, curricles, gigs, and whiskies, which, in their general form and attributes, were similar to the vehicles of the present day which bear these names. In those days fast driving was all the "go," and young men vied with each other in driving the loftiest and most dangerous gigs and phaetons. Contemporary literature teemed with romantic tales of spills and hairbreadth 'scapes from these vehicles, and yet dilated on the fearful pleasure there was in driving them.

The larger wheeled vehicles were hung upon framed carriages, with whip springs behind and elbow springs in front, like the gentlemen's cabriolets of the present day. When drawn by two horses they were called curricles, or by one horse, chaises. There was a little variation in the shape of the body, viz. the full curricle pattern and the half curricle, with or without a boot, similar to a Tilbury or a gig body. The wheels were 4 feet 3 inches to 5 feet in height. Lancewood was then used for shafts.

It is at the beginning of the nineteenth century that real progress is to be found in coaches and other carriages. In 1804, Mr. Obadiah Elliott, a coachmaker of Lambeth, patented a plan for hanging vehicles upon elliptic springs, thus doing away with the heavy perch, as the longitudinal timber or iron connecting the hind-carriage with the fore carriage is called. Perches are still used, but are chiefly confined to coaches proper, or those hung upon C springs. Elliott also considerably lightened the carriage part of the vehicles he turned out. This was the first step to a grand revolution in the manufacture of carriages, which was to affect every variety of vehicle, great or small. Elliott's enterprise was rewarded by the gold medal of the Society of Arts, and by his business becoming a very prosperous one, for the public were not slow in discovering the advantages arising from great lightness in vehicles.

A print, published in 1816, shows a landaulet hung on elliptic springs, four in number, with a square boot framed to the body, and the driving seat supported on ironwork high above the boot. Behind there is a footboard supported on the pump-handles. The distance between the axletrees is very short, only 6 feet 6 inches from centre to centre. The body is rather small, and the wheels are 3 feet 8 inches and 4 feet 8 inches high respectively, and the bottom of the body is 3 feet 6 inches above the ground. The span or opening of the springs is 10 inches.

In 1814 there were 23,400 four-wheeled vehicles paying duty to Government, 27,300 two-wheeled, and 18,500 tax-carts in Great Britain, showing a total of 69,200 vehicles. The later returns will show how much a reduction in the duties and the use of elliptic springs have promoted the increase of vehicles of all kinds.

A vehicle much in fashion at this period was the curricle, which had been in use for some time in Italy, where it was suspended from leather braces. Springs were added by the French, and, on its being introduced here, the English altered the shape, giving the back a graceful ogee curve, improved the hood, and added a spring bar across the horses' backs. It was a vehicle of easy draught, and could be driven at great speed. Unfortunately it was rather dangerous if the horse shied or stumbled, and this tended to reduce the demand for it, and it was gradually superseded by the cabriolet, though Charles Dickens used one as soon as he could afford it, and Count D'Orsay had one made as late as 1836.

The vehicle called the briska, or britchka, was introduced about 1818 from Austria. It was hung both upon C springs and elliptic springs, and was made in various sizes for different requirements. It was nearly straight along the bottom. The hind panel was ogee shaped, and the front terminated in a square boot. There was a rumble behind, and the back seat was fitted with a hood which could be raised or lowered at pleasure, and the knees were covered by a folding knee flap. This was an inconvenient vehicle for our climate, as only half the number could be sheltered in wet weather that could be accommodated in dry. It was very fashionable for a time, but died out about 1840.

The "Stanhope" takes its name from being first built to the order and under the superintendence of the Hon. Fitzroy Stanhope, by Tilbury, the builder of the vehicle bearing that name. It was shaped like the old ribbed gig, but was hung upon four springs, two of which were bolted between the shaft and axle, and the other two crossways, parallel to the axle at either end of the body, and shackled to the side springs. Stanhopes are an easy kind of vehicle, and do not rock so much as other gigs behind a rough-trotting horse. At the same time they are rather heavy, owing to the large amount of iron plating used to strengthen the shafts, &c.

The "Tilbury" was very much like the Stanhope, but had no boot, and like it was heavily plated with iron. It was hung by two elbow springs in front, with leather braces to the shafts or front cross bar, and behind by two elbow springs passing from beneath the seat to a cross spring raised to the level of the back rail of the body by three straight irons from the hind part of the cross bar. Later, two more springs were added between the axletree and the shafts, by scroll irons. The Tilbury was a very good-looking and durable vehicle, but its weight took away the public favour, and it went out of fashion about 1850. It was, however, adopted with great success by Italy and other continental countries, where the roads are bad, and solidity of construction is the first consideration.

Dog-carts and Tandem-carts are too well known to need description. The former were so called from their being used for the conveyance of sporting dogs, such as greyhounds or pointers, and the slats or louvre arrangement of the sides was for the purpose of admitting air to the animals; though scarcely ever used for this purpose now, the original plan has been pretty closely adhered to, except that the boot is considerably reduced and made to harmonise more with the other parts.

Some of the greatest improvements in the shape and style of various vehicles were effected by a celebrated maker named Samuel Hobson, who remodelled and improved pretty nearly every vehicle which came under his hands. He particularly directed his attention to the true proportion of parts, and artistic form of carriages. He lowered the bodies, and lengthened the under or "carriage" part. The curves and sweeps also received due attention. In fact, he carefully studied those "trifles" on which depended the success of the production as a work of art. Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, the other coachmakers soon showed their sense by copying his best ideas, though, to give these other coachmakers their due, they greatly assisted Mr. Hobson with suggestions for improvements, and as a reward availed themselves of his superior talent for working on these ideas.

As our interior trade and manufactures increased, the custom arose of sending commercial travellers throughout England to call attention to the various goods, and it was found very convenient to send these travellers in light vehicles which could convey samples of the various articles. This led to a very great increase in the number of gigs; and about 1830 one coach factory of London supplied several hundreds of these vehicles to travellers at annual rentals. And though on the introduction of the railway system long journeys by road were unnecessary, these gigs were found of great use in town and suburban journeys, and in London they may be seen by hundreds daily, and they are scarcely used by any one else but commercial travellers. They are too familiar to need detailed description.

In 1810 a duty was levied by Government upon vehicles for sale. It was repealed in 1825, but the returns give the number of vehicles built for private use in 1814 as 3,636, and in 1824 as 5,143, whilst the number of carriages in use in 1824 had grown to 25,000 four-wheeled, and 36,000 two-wheeled, besides 15,000 tax-carts; an increase since 1814 of 20,000 vehicles.

A carriage had been introduced from Germany, called a droitska or droskey--an open carriage with a hood, on a perch, and suspended from C springs. The peculiarity was, that the body was hung very near the perch, so that the seat was only 12 inches above the hind axletree, and the place for the legs was on either side of the perch. The chief merits of this vehicle consisted in its lightness as compared with barouches and briskas, and its shortness.

The cab phaeton was invented by Mr. Davies, of Albany Street, about 1835; it consisted of a cab body with a hood, hung upon four elliptic springs, and a low driving seat and dasher, for one horse. It met with great success and was soon in general use. It was introduced on the continent, where it became known under the name of "Milord," and became the common hack carriage, after which it went out of fashion with the upper circles. It has, however, been recently revived under the name of "Victoria." The Prince of Wales and Baron Rothschild set the fashion by using Victorias about 1869, and it really is a very elegant and useful vehicle.

In 1839 the first Brougham was built by Mr. Robinson, of Mount Street, for Lord Brougham, since when this has become the most common and the most fashionable vehicle in use. The size of the first brougham was in its chief dimensions similar to those now manufactured; it was hung on elliptic springs in front, and five springs behind. Coachmakers seemed to have lavished the greatest care and attention on these vehicles, in order to turn out the lightest, and at the same time the most artistic contrivance, and great success has attended their efforts.

A glance at public carriages may not be out of place. Hackney coaches were first used in England in 1605. These were similar to the coaches used by fashionable people, but they did not ply for hire in the streets, but remained at the hiring yards until they were wanted. Their number soon increased, owing to there being a greater number of persons who wished to hire than could afford to keep a conveyance of their own. In 1635 the number was limited to fifty, but in spite of the opposition of the King they continued to increase in number, and in 1640 there were 300 in London. In Paris they were introduced by Nicholas Sauvage, who lived in a street at the sign of St. Fiacre, and from this circumstance hackney carriages are called "fiacres" in France. In 1772 the hire of a fiacre in Paris was one shilling for the first hour and tenpence for the second. There were 400 hackney coaches in London in 1662, and the Government then levied a yearly duty of ?5 each upon them. In spite of this their number had in 1694 increased to 700, a substantial proof of their usefulness.

In 1703 a stage coach performed the journey from London to Portsmouth, when the roads were good, in fourteen hours. From this time there was a gradual increase in the number and destinations of stage coaches.

In 1755 stage coaches are described as being covered with dull black leather, studded with broad-headed nails by way of ornament, and oval windows in the quarters, with the frames painted red. On the panels the destination of the coach was displayed in bold characters. The roof rose in a high curve with a rail round it. The coachman and guard sat in front upon a high narrow boot, sometimes garnished with a hammercloth ornamented with a deep fringe. Behind was an immense basket supported by iron bars, in which passengers were carried at a cheaper rate than in other parts of the vehicle. The wheels were painted red. The coach was usually drawn by three horses, on the first of which a postillion rode, dressed in green and gold, and with a cocked hat. This machine groaned and creaked as it went along, with every tug the horses gave, though the ordinary speed was somewhere about four miles an hour.

One hundred years ago news and letters travelled very slowly, the post-boys to whom the letter bags were intrusted progressing at the rate of three and a half miles an hour! In 1784 a proposal was laid before Government by Mr. John Palmer, the originator of mail coaches, to run quicker vehicles, though at much dearer rates of postage. This scheme was at first opposed by Parliament, but after a struggle of some two years, Palmer's coaches were adopted for the conveyance of the mails, though the rate at which these travelled was only six miles an hour for a long time after their introduction.

A great impetus was given to the production of better forms of stage coaches by gentlemen taking to drive them as an amusement, and two clubs were soon formed of noblemen and gentlemen who took an interest in four-in-hand driving and in vehicles in general. Several clubs of this kind are now flourishing to encourage manly sport, and with the capacity to promote improvements in the form of the "drag," as it is now called.

It is to an architect that we owe the invention of the Hansom cab. The safety consisted in the arrangement of the framework at the nearest part to the ground, so as to prevent an upset if the cab tilted up or down. The inventor was Mr. Hansom, the architect of the Birmingham Town Hall. Numberless improvements have been made on this idea, but the leading principles are the same.

In 1829 the first omnibus was started in London by Mr. Shillibeer, who some time previously had been a coachmaker in Paris. It was drawn by three horses, and carried twenty-two passengers, all inside. The fare was a shilling from the "Yorkshire Stingo," in Marylebone Road, to the Bank. This vehicle was found too large for the streets of London, so a smaller one was started, drawn by two horses and carrying twelve passengers inside. In 1849 an outside seat was added along the centre of the roof, and by 1857 the omnibus had become pretty nearly the same form as we now know it. Our present omnibus is probably the lightest vehicle of its kind for carrying such a large number of passengers. Its average weight is about 25 cwt. The London General Omnibus Company have, on an average, 626 omnibuses running on week-days, and 6,935 horses to work them. They build their own vehicles, and each runs about sixty miles a day, at a speed of about six miles an hour, and nearly all are supplied with brake retarders, worked by the foot, which effect a great saving in the strain put upon the horses in stopping.

PREPARATION OF THE DESIGN AND SETTING OUT THE FULL-SIZED DRAUGHT.

In coach-building, as in building construction, the first thing to be done is to prepare a design of the vehicle proposed to be built according to the requirements of the customer. A scale of one inch to a foot is a very good one for the purpose, though the scale drawings are more often made to a scale of one and a half or two inches to a foot. These drawings , are prepared by specially trained draughtsmen, and it requires no mean skill to produce, on a small scale, a pictorial representation of the future vehicle, truly proportioned in all its parts, and a delicacy of touch in order that the parts may not look coarse. These drawings, if well made , give a very accurate picture of the carriage, and a purchaser is generally able from this to say what peculiar feature he requires, or where he thinks it should be altered; if he can do this it saves a great deal of trouble in the future, whilst the coach is being built.

For this work the draughtsman requires a drawing-board and T square, and two set squares; as he never has to prepare very large drawings, a board of imperial size will be amply sufficient, and the T square to have a corresponding length of blade. T squares are made of a variety of woods, but the most serviceable is one made of mahogany, with an ebony edge; the most important consideration being that the edge should be truly "shot" from end to end. The set squares should either be vulcanite or skeleton mahogany with ebony edges; the latter are preferable, as they work more cleanly than the vulcanite, which, unless kept very clean, are apt to make black smears across the drawing. In order to fasten the paper down to the drawing board, drawing pins will be required; they are simple pins of iron or steel, with a large flat brass head; four is the number required for each sheet of paper, one at each corner. A very much better way to fix the paper down is to "strain" it to the board. It is done in the following way:--The sheet of paper to be fastened down is thoroughly well wetted, by means of a sponge or large flat brush, on one side ; it should then be left for five or ten minutes for the water to well soak into the pores of the paper; when this is done, the paper will be quite limp. Now take a perfectly clean straight edge, or the back edge of the T square, and turn up one of the edges of the paper 1/4 or 1/2 an inch against it; along this edge run a brush charged with glue from the glue pot, or a piece of ordinary glue dipped into boiling water and rubbed along the edge will do just as well, and when you think there is enough sticky matter to promote adhesion between the paper and the board, turn the edge of the paper back on the board , and quickly rub it with the tips of the fingers until it goes down flat all along without any air bubbles: do this to all four edges of the paper, and place in a perfectly flat position to dry; and if the operation has been carefully conducted the paper will be beautifully flat to draw upon, and there can be no fear of its shifting. When the drawing is finished, all that has to be done is to cut round the edges of the paper just inside the glued edge, and take it off. A little hot water will take off the glued strip, and take care to wash all the glue off at the same time, otherwise a smaller piece of paper might stick in some important part, and the drawing spoilt in order to detach it.

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