Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-12

| Esssgs2sN
ness either English made or after English
usually in livery. Prices vary quite as much
| as patterns. A good plain, solid single
brougbam may be had for about e7O0. One.
with all the latest refnements complete with
team and harness, will be cheap at s2,5OO.
| The brougham's first cousin the coupe, though
not accounted ultra stylish. is decently fashion
able. 1t is solid and comfortable conveyance,
much affected by the conservative folk who
content themselves with a single carriage. 1t
| ranks about with the cabriolet. The latter
| especially those styled full sweep" There
| are more than dozen patterns--and half a
| hundred prices. Doubls ones admit the use
of lighter horses than the other coaches here
set doWn-particuiariy II the team is cross
| matched
PBAEToNs AND CARTS.
There are phaetons galore-single, double,
| tops. with canopies, without the basket, the
pony, the Stanhope, the Iseleim. The favor
lite style for ladies' driving is the spider,
| which has a seat behind for the groom. 1t
| divides honors about equally with the lady g
Victoria To make the Stanhope you have but
| to put board over the front seat of a T-cart
| Otherwise their lines the same. Every
thing goes to phaeton, from ponies not up to
| your waist to coach horses of the latest and
! largest development. All sorts of colors appear
| on them, but to the swell coach they are the
parrot Of vehicles. Yellow bodies are some-
times perched on red wheels. Always there is
some dash of color ont of the common.
The T-cart, the village cart, the shooting
cart. the dog cart, even the blackboard, are
all immensely swagger If you have other and
more conventional carriages. Unless. indeed,
you are single man to whom such things
legitlmately pertains Even then you will
stand better If you are known also to keep a
brougham and a saddle horse. II such an
Enlistment is all that a family can afford, IL
had better. from a fashionable standpoint.
keep no carriage at ALL unless, indeed, the
family hath a suburban environment Then
any sort of trap. provided it be spick and span,
adds wonderfully to the tone Of the establish
ment.
The cheapest of the lot-the blackboard in
natural chartered oak-costs little over $780,
The costliest of ala shaking cart, with rose
wood panels, finished and fitted as fine as a
fiddle. comes near thousand. Natural wood
vehicles are cushioned with wOod-brown cor
duroy and driven with russell harness, SO the
entire outfit Is a harmony in brain.
BREAKS
Hospitable country residents much affect the
break, either sociable or four seated 1t has
stout wheels coupled rather close, "a long. nearly
straight body, with tongue and whiffietrees for
four-In-hand driving. In the sociable back Of
the driver the seats run lengthwise down each
side. Much more stylish and comfortable is
the regular break, with four high crosswise
seats, each long enough for three. The best
American break harness costs $500 the set of
four. A useful but not fine rig can be got for
about $3.50. IL there is any pretense of style
the horse must be locked. Wheelers should
stand hand higher than the leaders They
may be cross-matched. but must be of the same
size. 1t is well to have leaders match in color
as well as shape. A break of the best quality
costs 81 900 to $500. Anything lower will put
1t outside fashions pail.
ENGLISH COACHING.
The flowers of the road are the coaches They
are not kept in stock but built to order and
decorated according to individual caprice.
Consequently the coaching parade is process
sion of rainbows. Coaching as everybody
knows, is entirely Engish-the effort of lords
and gentlemen to keep alive the traditions and
glories of the old time Royal Mail or Yellow
Warder. The mail coach of last century was
painted all sorts of colors so to be readily
distinguished from its rivals. The gayest of it.
though. would pale its Intellectual tints before
the coach of today. For it hath wheels blue or
red or yellow. with gay contrasting body above
and over that came panels in still another hue
1t Is roomy and well cushioned inside; but for
all that nobody sits there. The glory of the
coach, of coaching. is the box seat
where the gentleman owner sits high with the
guest of honor beside him. There is room for
four to SIX more on top. The general outline
Is very like the ancient models, but never a
coach then saw such glary Of paint and polish,
plate glass and silver trimmings. The cost is
just $4,000. Harness of the best English
make Is eight hundred more. Horses may rep
resent two to ten thousand in value They are
very perfectly matched as to size, shape and
gait. CrOss-matching in color is the rule.
which. however. has many exceptions II the
wheelers are dark the leaders will usually be
light. and vice versa
What wonder then that a coaching party il
the SWEETEST of swell functions or that to sit
on the box or miss that distinction is q cause
OF envy, malice and all Observation-Disclosures New
port perhaps sees more of coaching and coach
people than any other bit Of America Great
early racing occasions close about New York
often bring out a fine display. 1t was espe-
cially featur- of Jerome Park and no doubt
Will be of Yves leicester as we'll
CARRIAGE EVOLUTION
Speaking generally the fashionable carriage
Is at once a survival FROM the antique and an
evolution of the fttest Long before steel
springs were dreamed of coaches were
hung upon stout leather straps to lessen the
Joitlng over the stony streets. Only royal and
prlnceIy personages used them. and they only
upon occasions of state. So they we're built on
ornamental rather than durable lines
Ihey were carved, curved. glded into
a heavy georgeousnees that accorded
well with the eight great FLANDERS
mares that was their necessary complement
When steam, steel and invention began to
make Carriages cheap for awhile they made
them commonplace we'll. The wedding of
old forms with new construction has produced
the happiest results. The spring reyiyes the
grace OF the old hanging coach along with
elastic possibilities Of ease that that good We
hicle never dreamed of. So too, with other
things. In wheels, as i'll all else, we are lucky
heirs to all the ages" NJ C. w.