Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-10-31
WASHINGTON'S COACH.
The Staunch Old Vehicle That
the Visiting Foreigners Will
SprIItiniZe

ScrutiniZe.
Benjamin Richardson, the eccentric
New York gentleman who owns the
carrisge in which Washington made his
tour OF the Southern States in 1871, has
written to the foreign visitors to the
Yorktown celebration inviting them to
inspect the antique vehicle and the in.
vitation has been excepted. The old
chariot was exhibited at the Centennial
Exhibition, but il now occupies con-
spicuous position in the lobby OF Wood s
Museum.
This is the only one OF Washington 5
carriasi s inexistence and it isunquestlon'
ably the most wonderfully constructed
piece OF road machinery OF the kind ex-
tant. The Ark" as its facetious
custodians at the Centennial were
pleased to call it, was built in 1879 by
John White, OF this city, who regarded
il as his masterpiece and felt as proud OF
his work as the builder OF the famous
lone boss shay" did Of his. When full.
rigyed and loaded with iour inside
passengers, a driver on the bow and a
fOOtman perched on the poop deck,
THE Ark" weighed nearly four thOus
and pounds: but it vas made of such
excellent material that in numbering
over two thousand miles OF rough
country roads in the South not screw
or bolt was started. Even now, after
the lapse of nearly century, the old
chariot is in good state OF preservation
and it would stand rs much rough travel
as carriage built twenty years ago.
The woodwork OF the vehicle ls oak
The axlss, wheels, whitlletree-bar and
fifth wheel do not differ from those parts
of the carriages OF the present day, eX'
Cept that in Mr.. Whites masterpiece
they are OF monster size. The wheels
are but little heavier than those now IN
use, but their circumference is much
greater. That "the Ark" was built to
last is proven by the fact that every bit
covered dashboard TO the tOotman's
stand in the rear, is heavily bound with
iron and strongly riveted. The wood
work in the bodies of ordinary barouches
is quarter-inch ash or poplar, but no
such light stuff was used in building
this rolling relic of the past century, and
the Generals "hefuest boss might
thunder his heels against the dashboard
Tor a week without daTagingi in the
least. Instead of the cloth lining OF
the carriage known to the present genera
ton Washington family vehicle is
lined inside with black pebbled clliskin,
and green painted oak slab blinds,
nearly as large as those OF an ordinary
dwelling house, allow light and air to
enter the CavernOus depths OF the coach
when it is in motion. The body OF the
carriage swings by leather straps from
four old-fashioned upright springs,
which are brached and bolted in score
OF places. From the top OF the coach TO
the ground the distance is eight feet six
inches and the cavity is large enough to
contain couple OF hogsheads. The
front of the carriage is decorated with
two lamps, each OF which contains the
mouldy stub of a tallow candle, and the
pleasant Young historian who tells the
patrons of the Museum all about the
curiosities on exhibition there kindly
informed a reporter Yesterday that those
nubbins were placed in the lamp sockets
by "Gincral Washinton hlsseli."