Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1881-08-31
In a Coaching Club Stable

| In Coaching Club Stable.
1t is only u part of the pleasure of
coaching that the public see when a
shining drag dashes up the avenue, the
ladies and gentlemen on its top all aglow
with excitement, fresh air, and sun
shine. The canter through the park,
the brief trip into the country, are the
reward of the gentleman who has spent
a deal of his money, and deal more Of
his patience, in bringing together the
horses, the coach, the harness, and the
servants. But there goes out with every
coaching party company of elegant
gentlemen, faultless in attire, solemnly
decorous in department, beyond criti-
cism in dignity of bearing, whose pres
ence is as necessary to the enjoyment of
drive as the horses or the coach are to
its accomplishment. These are not the
gentlemen who have been invited to
occupy the front seats indeed, they are
far more gorgeous in appearance, more
oppressively dignifed, than any of the
merry party on the front of the coach.
They are the guard and the footmen,
without whose services coach could
not safely be taken out They are not
merely for show, these gorgeous Great
ures. The horn is necessary to warn
other drivers of the drag's approach;
for it is not easy for so ponderous a
vehicle to turn out of the beaten track,
or to give even half of the road. The
footmen, generally kept inside the
coach, are the keepers of one of the
most important parts of the turnout
the big iron clamp that must be fas-
tened against one of the hind wheels
whenever the coach is going down a
steep hill. 1t takes a guard and at least
three footmen to bring out drag in
proper English style. Then there is
always an extra servant or two along to
look after the luggage.
The guard and the foOtmen have a
lively time of it when the coach is on
the road. The horn must be blown at
brief intervals, and if the road happens
to be rough, the guard is in great dam
ger of losing a few pieces from his
front teeth. There is at least one guard
in New York who has had the end of
the horn jolted against his mouth so
often that he has scarcely anything left
to bite with. And it is not as easy work
as it looks, blowing the coachman's
horn. 1t takes an immense amount of
wind, and the guard often reaches home
well tired out. The footmen, too, are
kept continually springing in and out !;
for at the slightest alarm the footman's
place is at the leaders heads, and there
he must be, no matter how fast the
coach is going. So the guard and the
footmen are not so much to be envied
when the coach is on its journey.
1t is when the coach reaches home
that these gentlemen of top-boots and
rosettes really begin to enjoy existence.
When it is put away in its elegant
storeroom, and the horses are stabbed,
they are in their proper sphere. The
stable is no ordinary stable, it must be
understood. Its fittings in every way
correspond with those of the elegant
residence to which it is attached. Its
floors are clean, it is well aired and
lighted, and the horses in it's stalls even
understand the dignity of their position.
The stable once reached, the guard is
no longer servant, but king. Stable
men and stable-boys treat him with def
erence, and the footmen are glad to
curry his favor, for what can he not do
for them? First and foremost, he can
teach them to blow that wonderful
horn, so that some day they may reach
the dignifed position he now holds.
And there are the whips to be mended,
and no one knows the proper knots hall
so well as the guard. The whip is a
constant source of trouble. 1t is long
Thong. little thicker than twine, but
very strong, and fastened to long
wooden handle. 1t would be difficult
to do more than ickle horses sides
with it. The coach is so high and the
whip so long that it is constantly catch
ling in limbs of trees, and winding itseli
around telegraph wires. American
coachmen have learned to let go the
handle when the lash catches, for nei
ther the thong nor the telegraph wirt
will break. One of the prominent mem
bers of club narrowly escaped seri
Gus accident last season by holding OIL
to his whip handle. The lash caught
telegraph wire, and he would havt
been thrown to the ground, but one o.
the footmen, ever on the alert for dan
ger. sprang out and caught him.
In return for his instructions and hi
gracious smiles, the guard expects ant
: receives all sorts of attentions. Th'
stable-boys are proud to black his boots
/ Even the dog-and what stable has no
, its dog ?-looks up to him with admira
ton. The artist has well pictured tn
interior of a coaching stable; and h
, has not forgotten a characteristic like
ness of the aristocrat standing in tn
: background-as great man in his wa
, as the owner of the coach and the horse
g and all the hveries.
t The Closing of Flowers.