San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-05-05
CARRIAGES FOR ROYALTY.
Some of the State Coaches Used
by European Sovereigns.

Some OF the State Coaches Used
by European Sovereigns.
Few persons have any idea of
the enormous sums of money Law
ished on the state coaches and so.
called dress carriages of European
royalty.
The recent importation of a gen
uine Lord Mayors coach direct
from London by Manager Frank
Hall for use in conjunction with
the winter circus has given Chicago.
ians some idea of what such We.
hicles are like.
This coach, to be seen any day
on the streets, originally cost its
owner a matter of $4,000.
Queed Victoria's principal state
carriage represents a value of no
less than $50, oco.
The paintings on the different
panels are by the great artist Cy-
priani, and dated back to 1861,
when the carriage was built.
1t weighs four tons. The Queen
has however, never used the We
hicle since 1861, preferring instead
mere $1,000 coach, deliberately
gilded, but of modern manufacture
which does not, however, have
the disadvantage of making her
majesty seasick, as did the older
of the two carriages.
The dress or state carriage of
the Prince of Wales is valued at
about SIS, Its arched roof is
surmounted by a gilded coronet,
and it represents the acme of mod
ern comfort and old time splendor.
The Prince and Princess are &C
customed to use this vehicle when
proceeding from Marlborough
house or Buckingham palace in
variably preceded and followed on
such occasions by an escort of
horse guards.
Coaches were for many years
used only on state occasions, and
for purposes of pomp; when a gor-
geous show was made by their
hangings and trappings, and by
pair of horses to draw them.
At first they were open at the
top, but in time canopy was adj
ded AS glass windows were not
thought of for carriages until many
years after their Introduction, they
were long closed up with shutters.
Indeed, they were almost as bad
as some of the provincial hansoms
of today, and little less bad than
the Chicago hack. The London
coaches were built very narrow, so
that they might be able to run
along the miserable streets.
Apropos of royal carriages, it
has often been a source of surprise
to many who have witnessed the
graceful and easy manner in which
the aged and corpulent Queen of
Great Britain and Empress of
India acknowledges the salutations
Of her royal subjects upon those
now rare occasions on which she
makes use of her stage coach.
Comparisons between the stately
inclination of Queen Victoria's
head and shoulders and the bow
made with appearance of greater
effort on the part of her daughters
and granddaughters, are a contin-
ual theme with the British EN-
press.
Even the young Duchess of
York is set down as making a far
less majestic bow than her hus-
bands grandmother.
The secret of this is that her
majesty's carriage is fitted with
one of those "bowing machines, "
which as long as the vehicle con-
tinues in motion, causes the seat
to oscillate with an up and down
motion at almost right angles to
the floor.
The power necessary to accom-.
plish this is supplied by rod con
nected with the axle of the carri-
age, and thus the royal lady is en-
abled to spare herself the fatigue
of bowling at the expense of her
own muscles
Nor is Queen Victoria the only
sovereign who makes use of this
ingenious device, for the carriage
of the Empress of Austria is fitted
with bawing machine constructed
on the same lines.
The Empress and Kings of Eu-
rope do not deign to avail them
selves of mechanical assistance in
the making of their salutations,
which may possibly account for
their often unconcealed shortness
of temper and peevish frame of