Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1879-10-22
[Fiom Our Regular Correspondent
London Letter.
LONDON, Oct. 9th, 1879.

1
apparent evidence that autumn has set in,
the arrival of October presages that the
fox-hunting season is at hand. The many
votaries of that tilne-honored English
sport are busily engaged in preparing
their studs of hunters for an early APP
pearance at the covert side; but it seems
too often to escape attention that, in order
to take part in days fox-hunting, it is
necessary not only to have perfect hunt
er, in good condition, with the right bit in
his mouth and well fitting saddle upon
his back, to await his owner at the meet,
but also that distances varying between
half dozen and Il score of miles have first
to be traversed, either upon wheels or
upon covert back. Fastidious and
wealthy sportsmen, of whom there are
more by ten to one in England than in
any other country, have Il natural desire
TO arrive in unsoiled and faultless trim
upon the scene of action, and to mount
| their hunters in boots and breeches unbe-
spattered by dirt. For this reason it is
becoming more and more the fashion to
go 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 birthday to
avoid, if they can, the necessity of also
gallopng to the meet, upon cold and
forbidding morning, and along muddy
lanes and bride paths, mounted on II hack.
Old sportsmen, like the late Lord Cardi-
gan, have q habit of repairing to their
trysting place in their snug broughams
with a fur robe over their.knees and with
the mornings newspapers to regale them
by the way. The majority of the red
coats seen at the covert-side, however, are
young men, who think it unmany to en-
ploy close carriage in preference to "a
gig, u victoria or dog cart. When, as is
often the case, at present the party is aug
mented by the presence of ladies, it is not
uncommon for their host to drive them in
his drag or mail phaeton, while there is
an endless array of other machines, such
rs chars-a ,blncs, wagonettes, double dog
carts socables and shandrydans, which are
| pressed into service when the reins are
entrusted to II coachman in livery. Eng
fish vehicles of all descriptions are still
built with the heavy wheels and substan-
tial under carriage which have always
been in fashion among them, and although
there has long been IL growing tendency
to diminish the weight aud bulk of their
pleasure carriages it is generally admitted
that in this respect much improvement
has still 10 be made.
There is little prospect of soon seeing
the builders of London barouches, clar-
ences, broughams and landans abandoning
their admiration for solidity, which in
England is always regarded us typical of
respectability. 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 expert
ence of the American buggy will make its
advantages and conveniences more and
more potent. Already buggies built with
the slender hickory spokes and light
under-carriage 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 the Bots de Boulogne
and the Bots de Yincennes. A writer in
IN American periodical, called IFdlldce'S
Monthly, recounts that, having expressed
to an English sporting authority his aston
ishment that light baggies had not super
cedel the more ponderous dog-carts and
gigs Of England, lie was met by the
natural rejoinder, /" If l were to 90 flying
by every other carriage in one of your
American flimses every one would re-
mark, There goes Il butcher!'" 1t is as
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 iC. Every observant
spectator who has sat behind couple of
horses harnessed to an ordinary English
mail phaeton with four passengers on
Lo,,I and ov,p,inad thu oond;,;o, ,,l
appearance of the quadrupeds when they
have traversed It dozen or fourteen miles
along country roads in December, will
confess that the steel is pretty we'll taken
out of them. If, on the other hand, he
happens to be staying with friend who
drives him aud two other passengers to
the meet over II 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 Il 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 rs abound in the United States,
the buggy, in the Duke of Wellington's
famous phrase, " can 60 anywhere and do
anythng;" while the heavy English car
riage, whatever its description, would fare
no better than the state coach in which
General Braddock set out, a century and Il
quarter since, to traverse the whole
breadth of Virginia, and TO- fight the
French, aided by their light-footcd allies,
the red Indians. But, except on the ground
that q" whatever is English is best" what
necessity can there be for vehicle to
weigh six or seven hundred pounds when
it is to be employed by luxurious owner
who wants to cover his twelve miles with
comfort to himself and his horses in IN
hour, and when. simultaneously, it is PCS
4.