Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-10-24
OuRLONDON LETTER.
Regular Correspondents.

are Justly EAlEuSG4 Ia ta-AAAA7 tAACAA cLtAAAo
Of hunters for an early appearance at the
eovert-side; but it seems too often to es-
cape attention that, in order to take part
IN a days fox-huntIng, it is necessary not
only to have a perfect hunter, in good con-
dition, with the right bit in his mouth,
and a well fitting saddle upon his back, TO
await his owner at the meet, but also that
distances varying between half a dozen
and a score of miles have first to be trav-
ersed, either upon wheels or upon a covert
hack. Fastidious and wealthy sportsmen,
Of whom there are more by ten to one in
England than in any other country, have
a natural desire to arrive in unSoiled and
faultleSs trim upon the scene of action,
and to mount their hunters in boots and
breeehes unbespattered by dirt. For this
reason it is becoming more and more the
fashion to 60 to covert upon wheels, and,
in addition, the fatigue of being in the
saddle for many hours is such as to incline
men who have passed their fortieth birth
day to avoid, if they can, the necessity of
also gallOping to the meet upon a cold and
forbidding morning and along muddy lanes
and bridle-paths mounted on a hack Old
sportsmen, like the late Lord Cardigan,
have habit of repairing to the trysting
place in their snug broughams with fur
robe over their knees, and with the morn
ing's newspaper to regale them by the way.
The majority of the red-coats seen at the
covert-side, however, are young men who
think it unmanly TO employ a close carriage
in preference to a gig. a victoria, OF dog
cart. When. as is often the case at pres
ent, the party is augmented by the pres
ence of ladies, 1t is not uncommon for their
host to drive them in his drag or mail phae-
ton, while there is an endless array Of 9TH
er machines, such as chars-a-baucs, wagon
cites, double dOgcarts, sociables and shan
drydans, which are pressed into service
when the reinS are entrusted to a coach
man in livery. English vehicles of all de-
scriptions are still built with the heavy
wheels and substantial under-carriage
which have always been in fashion among
them, aud although there has long been a
growing tendency TO diminish the weight
and bulk ofstheir pleasure carriages it is
generally admitted that in this respect
much improvement has still to be made.
There is little prospect of soon seeing the
builders Of london barOuches, clarences,
broughams, aud lsudaus abandoning their
admiration for solidity, which in England
is always regarded as typical Of respectful
ity. But as regards carriages to be used
in the country, many highly commendable
alterations in form and type are already
observable, and nothing is more certain
than that increasing experience of the
American buggy will make its advantages
and conveniences more and more patent.
Already buggies built with the slender
hickory spOkes and light under-carrage
which have for century been used by
Americans are beginning to make their way
into England, and may not unfrequently
be seen on the other side of the channel,
in Bois de Boulogne and the Bols de Vim
cennes. A writer in an American period
zeal, called Wallaee's Monthly" reeounts
that having expressed to an English sport
ing authority his astonishment that light
buggies had not superseded the more pom
derous dogcarts and gigs of England, he
was met by the natural rejOinder, eff I
were to go flying by every other carriage in
one of your American himsies every one
would remark, there goes butcherP" 1t
is as a vehicle adapted for conveying two
or four hunting men to covert that the
American buggy surpasses all rivals; and,
moreover, it has the advantage-no light
one in the eyes of all true sportsmen-that
it imposes comparatively little toll upon
the horse or horses dragging it. Every OBJ
servant spectator who has sat behind
couple of horses harnessed to an ordinary
English mail phaeton with four passengers
on board, and examined the condition and
appearance of the guadrupeds when they
have traversed a dozen or fourteen miles
along country roads in December will con-
fess that the steel is pretty well taken out
of them. If, on the other hand, he hap
pens to be staying with q friend who drives
him and two other passengers to the meet
over a like distance in. double American
buggy, there is little risk in predicting
what his opinion would be. To begin with,
the distance will be covered in much less
time; secondly, the vehicle will glide along
as smoothly as a ship upon an even keel;
and, thirdly, the horses will be scarcely
less fresh at the end of their Journey than
when they left their stable. Upon the
rugged and uneven roads, such as abound
in the United States, the buggy, in the
Duke of Wellington's famous phase ''can
20 anywhere and do anything" while the
heavy English carriage, whatever its de-
scription, would fare no better than the
state coach in which General Braddock set
out, century and quarter since, to Urav-
erse the whole breadth of Virginia, and to
fight the French, aided by their light-foOt
ed allies the Red Indians. But, except on
the ground that ''whatever is English is
best what necessity can there be for a
vehicle to weigh six or seven hundred
pounds when it is to be employed by a
luxurious owner who wants to cover his
twelve miles with comfort to himself and
his horses in an hour, and when, stimuli
taneously, it is possible for him to have an
American buggy, weighing from three to
four hundred pounds, with head to be
attached or left at home as occasion de-
mands. and which imposes upon the ami
NAL or animals dragging it far less oner-
GUS strain? In order that those fox hunt
ers who desire to go to covert in buggy
imported from New York, Philadelphia or
New England may use their novel vehicle
to the best advantage, it is desirable that
they should also import American road
sters and drive them in swaf1es without
blinkers or bearing reins, and in American
harness. In an article lately published in
New York the question has been raised,
.'Can American roadsters be introduced
abroadT' The writer affirms that nowhere
in the world can as many ''fine eye-hlling
driving horses" be seen as in Hyde Park
and nowhere horses more destitute Of good
and graceful action. He adds that Eng
lishmen have no wish to do their mile in
two minutes twenty seconds, but that new
ertheless, there would be an illimitable de-
mand in England for what are called in
the United States "three minute trOtters.
The use of the horse in England for
pleasure driving is said i'll the same article
to be ''an afterthought," and in harness
their horses are represented as s'breakiug
into ponderous canter when urged to a
faster gait" Upon the race course and for
following the hounds there are no such
horses as the English, but, on the other
hand, the Central Park in New York far
surpasses Hyde Park sin the elegance and
grace of its driving teams" Even the fin
est London carriage horses are alleged to
be hunters which haYe fallen from their
high estate, and the production of the driv
ing horse is practically an accident. The
time may perhaps be net far distant when
every country house in England will have
its American buggy drawn by American
trotters without blinkers, bearing reins or
massive curb chains, and filling those who
use it with astonishment that they should
so long have been ignorant Of its manifold
advantages. When that day comes fox
hunters, whether young or old, will have
an additional enjoyment IN store for them
while preparing to put IN an appearance at
''the first meet of the season"
London, Oct. 9Th, 1879.
Teal Teal Tea! Tea! A fresh stock of
new crop Japan, Young Hyson, Gunpow-
der and Black, at old prices. Remember