Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1886-09-30
THE BEACH WAGON.


,yehicle That Is Eplinently Respectable With
out Being the Least Fashionable.
The beach wagon is perhaps, the most
;ronortant of those compromise carriages
,rbich enable one horse to do with more
~ less success the work of pair. 1t is
sriuently respectable without being the
last fashionable and no man was ever
aither proud or ashamed to own vehicle
81 this kind. 1t has, moreover escaped
Sagradation, for it does not occur at
I;verv-stables and though in continual
,ss at railroad stations, it is as private
non public conveyance. No sight is
more familiar to summer travellers than
hat of the beach wagon anchored at a
,sfe distance from the locomotive, over
5owing with children, and yet reserving q
EAT for paterfamilias, who will presently
climb 70 his place, and awaken the faith
mi Dobbin from that drowsy state which
This carriage never fails to produce in
him. The fact seems to be that the So
lection of beach wagon implies a certain
amount of good taste and responsibility.
It's owner may be dull, commonplace, and
narrowminded, but it is almost impossible
tbat he should be vulgar. The chief rea-
.on is that this carriage, though solid,
comfortable conveyance, is absolutely
incapable of ornament. All new beach
rayons look alike, and even when the
varnish comes off their appearance is very
little altered. They are invariably paint
cd in sad colors, their fore and hind axles
seen a days journey apart, and the gen
eral effect is that of family lounging
Mace on wheels. 1t is plain that il such
vehicle the most aesthetic or ambitions
nerson would find little opportunity to
crafty tire love of beauty, much less of
display
Another characteristic that helps to
save the beach wagon from falling into
the bottomless pit of vulgarity is its ex
ceeding honesty, 1t never pretends to
be anything else than it really is. 1t does
not shut up like jack knife or assume a
canopy top. Nor can it by any arrange
ment of cranks or levers, be made to
swallow its back seat, after the manner of
some carryalls. The beach wagon has
great quality-it is an immense econo-
uizer: fine clothes go for nothing in it,
and hence it is detested by many women,
butpaterfamilias knows that he will save
its cost over and over again in the price
of his daughters dresses, Besides when
he goes out for drive on Saturday after
noon or Sundays in the beach wagon he
can wear his straw hat and an old coat,
whereas If the vehicle was a more elegant
one he would feel more compelled to put
on his churchgoing clothes, which, to
person of moderate income and quiet
tastes, is always a source of irritation,
II is however, from the political point of
view that the beach wagon becomes inn
portant. 1t is prominently family
carriage. and for that reason a strong
guarantee of STABILITY is government.
Ii was long ago observed that revolution
arv movements are commonly headed by
bachelors and by childless men. The
father of a family who drives out in a
beach wagon. with his wife's parasol
knocking off his hat at regular intervals,
and the children clamoring for the reins,
digging their elbows into his side or
pinching his arm-this man has no OPP
portunity to brood or treason, stratagem,
and spells. How different his situation
from that of the anarchists, actual or po-
tantial in a narrow trotting wagon, who
either has no wife or children or else
,elfshly leaves them ut home, and drives
turlouSly up ana GOWN tue mtiS SIouhu,
full of wild thoughts and nihilistic
whisky.
And yet it must be admitted that even
the honest comfortable conservative beach
wagon leaves something nay much-to
be desired. Upon the artistic side it is
wofully defective. There is nothing joy
Gus or graceful in its construction. Its
merits great though they be, are those of
the baby carriage and the invalids arm
chair 1t does not foster that heroic
spirit upon which the glory of nations
and individuals is founded. Nor Is 1t
possible to conceive race of painters,
poet, or orators cradeled in its too easy
seats 1t does nothing to develop the
noble animal who draws it. Mere size is
the only requisite of the beach wagon
horse; beauty and speed if he had them
would 90 for nothing. His lot is apt to
be a hard one, and when he is compelled
to haul four heavy men to the station in
haste to catch an early train, the beach
wagon Turnout is hideous sight. Its
true Office is that of a travelling nursery,
and when so employed it constitutes one
of the most useful and conservative in
SttuuOns of our country.