The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1879-10-29
WHOLE NO. l477.
LONDON LETTER.
tFrom our Regular Correspondent
LoSpoS. Oct. %. 1879.

i LONDON, Oct. %, 1879
| Although the leaves hanging thick
ly upon the trees and hedges afford
little apparent evidence that autumn
has set in, the arrival of October pre-
sages that the fox-hunting season is
at hand The many votaries Of that
time bonored English sport are bnsily
engaged 10 preparing their studs of
hunters for an early appearance at
the eovert-side but it seems too Of
ten to escape attention that, in order
TO take part in days fox-hunting, it
is necessary not only to have per-
feet hunter, in good condition, with
the right bit 10 his mouth and well
fitting saddle upon bis back, to await
his owner at the meet, bat also that
distances varying between half a d0z
en- and a score of miles have first to
be traversed, either upon wheels or
upon a covert hack. Eastidi0us and
wealthy sportsmen, of whom there
are more by ten to one in England
than in any other country, have q
natural desire to arrive in unsoiled
and faultless trim upon the scene of
action, and TO mount their hunters in
boots and breeches unbespsttered by
dirt. For this reason it is becoming
more and more the fashion to go to
the covert upon wheels, and, in ad-
ditioD, the fatigue of being in the
saddle for many hours is such as to
incline mea who have passed their
fortieth birthday to avoid, if they can,
the necessity of also gslloping to the
meet, upon q cold and forbidding
morning. and along muddy lanes
and bridle-paihs, mounted on hack.
Old sportsmen, like the late Lord
Cardigan, have Labit Of repairing
to the trystiEg place in their snug
broughams, with for robe over their
knees, and with the mornings news
papers to regale them by the way.
The majority Of the red.costs seen at
the covert side, however, are young
men, who think il uamanly to employ
a Close carriage in preference TO a
gig, q victoria or dog cart. When,
as is often toe case at present, the
party is augmented by the presence
Of ladies', it is not uncommon for their
host to drive them in bis drag or mail
pt9ton, while there is an endless ar
ray of other machines, such as chars
a-bancs, wsgonettes, double dog carts,
sociables, and shsudry dans, which
are pressed into service hen the
reins are entrusted 10 coaehman 10
livery. English veh.c Of all de-
scriptions are still bail. 8ith the
heavy wheels aDd substantial under
carriage which hare always 3 en- in
fashion smoag them, q 3 hough
there hes long been lrO9iug ten-
dency to diminish the weight and
bulk of their pleasure carriages it Is
generally admitted that in THE re-
spect much improvement has still to
be made
There is little prospect of soon see
ing the builders of London barouches,
clarences, broughams, and lanGaas
abandoning their admiration for So
lidity, which in England is always
regarded as typical of responsibility
But as regards carriages to be used
il the country, many highly commen-
dable 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 conve-
niences more and more patent. Al
ready buggies built with the slender
hickory spokes and light under car
rage which have for a 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 the BOis
de Bouiogne and the Bois de Yincen-
nes. A writer in an American peri
odieal, called "Wsllace's MORhiy,r
reeounts that, having expressed to an
English sporting authority bis aston
ishment that light buggies had no;
superseded the more ponderons dog
carts and gigs of England, be was
met by the natural rejoinder: "If l
were to go flying by every other car
risge in one of your American finn
sizes every one would remark, there
goes butcher -" II is as q vehicle /
adapted for conveying :wo or four
hunting men 10 covert that the Aneri- /
can buggy surpasses al rivals; and,
moreover, it has the advsntsge-no
light one in the eyes of all true sports
men-that it imposes comparatively
little toll upon the horse or horses
dragging it. Every observaDt spec
tstor who has sat behind q couple of
horses harnessed 70 an ordinary Eng
lish mail phe.on with four passen-
gers on board, and examined the con-
dition and appearance Of the quad
rupeds when they have trsversed a
dozen or fourteen miles along coun-
try roads in December, will confess
that the steel is pretty well taken out
OF them. If, on the other hand, be
happens to be staying with friend
who drives him and two other PAS
5engers to the meet over ike dis.
tanee in double American buggy,
there is little risk 10 predicting what
his opinion would be. To begin
with, the distance will be covered 10
much less time; secondly, the vehicle
will glide along ss 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 rug.
ged and uneven roads, such as abound
in the United States, the buggy, in
the Duke of WelIington's famous
phrase, ''csn go anywhere and do
anything" while the heavy English
csrrige, whatever It's description,
v ould fare no better than the state
coach IN which General Braddock Sc,
out, century aud 8 quarter since, to
traverse the whole breadth Of Vir-
ginis, snd to fight the French, aided
BY their lightfoo;ed allies the Red
Indians. But, except on the ground /
that whatever is English is best" /.
what necessity can there be for We
hicle to weigh six or seven h1ndred
pounds when it is TO be employed By (
o luxurious owner who wants 10 COW |
er his twelve miles with comfort TO