Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1879-09-05
On Wheels.

I
thirty or forty years. When | was a
boy family carriages, and, indeed, vehi-
cles OF every kind, except omnibusses
and Carts-I believe there has not been
much change in them-were very heavy
and unwieldy affairs, when compared
with those now in use. Not long ago |
saw at the Permanent Exhibition, in
Philadelphia, the carriage in which
General Washington used to ride. You
could not get President of the United
States to ride in such funny old coach
nowadays, and l doubt very much if
any one would take it as n gift if they
were obliged to use it. Yet it is far
better looking than some of the carriages
that were thought good enough for
kings and queens hundred years ago.
But we cannot go very far back in max
ing comparisons of carriages. Previous
to the sixteenth century there were many
hundreds of years when carriages were
scarcely known at all in Europe
In the old Roman days there had been
handsome chariots and wheeled vehicles
OF val ious kinds, but when Rome de-
cllned chariots and carriages disap-
peared, and people either walked or rode
on horseback, or were carried by men in
sedan-chairs and similar contrivances.
There was good reason for this change.
The old Romans made splendid roads,
but the nations that afterward ruled
Europe did not know how to make good
highways, or did not care about such
things, and were content to ride their
horses over such roads as they found.
Even in England, where we might sup
pose the people would have known
better, this was the case. The principal
highways were so bad and the mud was
sometimes so deep that even horsemen
found great difficulty in getting along.
SO they never thought of using wheeled
vehicles on these wretched thorough
fares. But when they began to make
good roads carriages followed, as a
matter of course.
The ancient Egyptians were better off
in some respects than these English
people, for they had chariots and carts,
although some of them were pretty
rough affairs. The carts were often
drawn by oxen and would hold two or
three people, though how comfortable
the people were | am not prepared to
say.
The Roman chariot was generally oc-
cul led by but one person, for the driver
had to stand up and keep his balance,
no matter how fast his horses were 60
ing, and he needed all the room there
was in his vehicle.
The chariot was almost always open
behind and quite low, so that it was
easy to get in or out of one, but it had no
springs, and if driven over any roads
but smooth and level ones the iolting
would be apt to shake person up very
much. Some of the Roman chariots had
two horses and some more, and when
they wei merely used for pleasure they
were frequently driven by ladies, who,
in those days, were better able to manage
pair of horses than most of our ladies.
However, it must be remembered that if
the horses became fractiCus and unruly,
it was easy for lady to step out of
Roman chariot and let the horses run
off and break their own necks if they
chose.
don't know how much horses cost in
those days, but | know that chariots
were rather eXpensive-at least in
Egypt, where handsome chariot would
sell for six hundred shekels, or about
three hundred dollars-the price of IL
goo buggy now.
When, after the long period | have
mentioned, during which wheels were
seldom seen on the highways of Europe,
carriages again made their appearance,
they were not used by the common peo-
pie. Only kings and persons of conse-
quence, or persons who were not able to
walk or ride on horseback, were ex-
pected to ride in them.
And yet they were very poor affairs,
not much better than the ancient chari-
OTIS, and certainly no easier to ride in.
| Hundreds of years before carriages were
in general use in England King John
used to travel about in heavy, two
wheeled affair, drawn by one horse, and
without springs, the driver on the horse
and the king riding backward. Some
times the king would take his helmet and
portions of his armor along and hang
them on the sides of his carriage, but
there was not much room for either
company or baggage.
Some of the royal personages of the
fourteenth century rode much more
comfortably, for they had ltters, borne
by horses instead of men, and the mo-
tion was probably very pleasant. We
all know that during the last two OF
three centuries, and almost within the
memory ofsome old people, sedan chairs,
in which two men carried person along
very easily and comfortably, were in
general use in England and other parts
of Europe, taking the place of the cabs OF
the present day. These sedans had their
advantages over some vehicles of our
time, for the men who carried them
never ran away, as some of our horses
do. But then we have an advantage
over the sedan riders, for our horses
never got drunk, as some of their bearers
used to do.
After ime we see that sedan-chairs
began to give way to something better
adapted to an extended trip, and in the
time of William and Mary we find one
horse cabs in use. But these were very
different from the cabs of the present
day, although they were an improve.
ment on most of the vehicles that We
have been considering. They were
made without springs, but the wheels
were not directly under the body of the
cab, and so much of the effect of thC
joting was lost. The motion of the
horse, who bore a great part of thu
weight of the vehicle, must have giveI
the cab something of the ease anC
"springiness of asedan-chair borne b,
men. In these cabs there was no sea
for the driver, who bestrode the horse
and if the shafts rubbed his legs, h.
probably thought it could not be helped
for no one had yet dreamed of making
cab with place for the driver to Sit
81. Nicholas.