Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-11-23
Wheeled Vehicles.

CARTS and chariots of rude construc-
ton have been used from very early times;
but carriages that can in any way be con-
sidered as the precursors of our present
elegant vehicles were not invented or
brought into use until the Middle Ages !; |
and for many years after the first intro
duction of coaches they were only used
by ladies', and by them only upon State
all kinds of carriages as efeminate ma
chimes, and scorned to be seen within
them Judges and lawyers rode the cir
cults, physicians visited their patients on
horseback and popes, bishops, and alb
bots ambled on quiet horses or mules. As
late as the reign of Francis L there were
only three coaches in Paris. One of these
belonged to the Queen, another to Diana
of Poitiers, and the third to Rene de
Laval, corpulent nobleman, who was
unable to ride on horseback.
Carriages met with great opposition at
their first introduction, and laws were
the year 1894, Philip the Fair, of France,
ury, in which the wives of citizens are
forbidden the use of carriages Beck
mann tells US that there is preserved in
the archieves Of the County of Mark, an
edict, in which the feudal nobility and
vassals are prohibited from using coaches
under pain of incufring the punishment
of felony. Duke John, of Brunswick,
published an order in 1888, roundly rating
his vassals for neglect of horsemanship,
and forbidding them to appear or travel in
coaches. A few years after this, the Eng
lish Parliament took up the discussion of
the subject, but on the 7th of November,
l. -
of coaches within this realm of England
was rejected.
Coaches were, for many years, used
only on State occasions, and for purposes
of pomp, when gorgeous show was
made by their hangings and trappings,
and by the number of horses which drew
them. At first they were open at the top,
but in course of time canopy was added.
As glass windows were not introduced
into carriages until many years after their
first introduction, they were long closed
up with shutters When Queen Elizabeth
visited Warwick in 1879, the bailiff is
said to have approached near to her coach,
and she caused "every part and side of
the coach to be opened that all her SUBJ
jects might behold her, which most gladly
they desired"
Coaches were built in the most substan-
SldI uudHutI Will DTOdu WueclS, Ill OTttcT "
make them suitable for the bad roads, and
the traces were usually made of rope. Sns-
pended carriages were not known before
the reign of Louis XIV, and the fearful
tumblings and tossings of the numbering,
springless carriages as they jolted over the
bad roads can be easier imagined than de-
scribed. The London coaches were built
very narrow, SO that they might be able to
run along the miserable streets but after
the fire they were widened. The first i'm
provement in carriages came from France,
and the Count de Grammont gained great
eclat at the Court of Charles II. by bring
ing over an elegant calash, which cost him
two thousand louis. He presented the
beautiful vehicle to the King, and the
Queen and Duchess of York rode in it for
the first time, to their own contentment
and the admiration of the whole Court.
Post-chaises were invented in 1864, but
were not so frequently used as post-horses.
In the last and present centuries they were
largely employed until the introduction of
railways. A post-chaise was close
bodied carriage on four wheels, made to
hold three people in the inside, all look
ing forward, and with glass front like
chariot. 1t was drawn by two horses
and driven by post-boy, who rode or
one of them. Occasionally, in by-roads
it was necessary to have four horses
The cost of posting was large, and per
sons often advertised for fellow -trayele
to share the expense.
In the days when George III. was King
and George ~ was Prince of Wales
fashionable men ran mad with the desire
to out-rival each other in the splendor o
the vehicles they drove, The phaeto1
and curricle were two of the chief favor
h11f fhn ut H,.cf n 30
unsightly object.
Many of the varieties of carriages still
remain in use, as the landau, barouche
britzschka chariot, and family coach, bu
the two latter have nearly died out by
reason of the superior convenience of tht
Brougham and Clarence. The oil,
chariot-and-four is altogether thin
of the past !; but it occasion
ally did great things in its day, a
when Lord Londonderry spoke in tn
House of Lords one night, and was tw,
hundred and fifty miles off, at his own doc
in Durham, ON the next night One of tn
oldest carriages constructed to accommo
date two persons was the Berlin, whicl
took its name from the city, and was in
vented by Philip de Chiese, Colonel an
Quartermaster in the service of Frederic
William, Elector of Brandenburg. TIL
; vis-a-vis was once very fashionable ca
riage, which held two persons, who ss
opposite each other. Carriages to hol
two or more were companionable, but D.
Darwin found that he lost much time b
being sociable, SO he built a carriage t
hold only one person, in order that l
might not be expected to ask any one to a
company him in his drives. He compose
his poetry in it as he went to his more di
tant patients, and his disappointed frient
called it "sulky."
Omnibuses were first brought into u:
at Paris in 1927, and two years afterwal
twelve omnibuses were started in Londo
byJ. Shillibeer, acoach-builder.- Temp
Bar.
Light in Japan.
III One of the most interesting movemen