Milford chronicle., 1895-03-01
ANCIENT COACHES.
Carriages OF Every style which FIJI Queen
Yictorih's Stables.

Yictoria's Stables.
When one Of her majesty's equerries ex-
amined a short time back the queens
( coachhouses, be found them inconvenient-
I ly filed with carriages which had long
since fallen into desuetude. was shown a
I low hung char-a-hanc for pair Of horses,
made under the special direction Of her
majesty and the prince consort In par
ticular the char-a-banc, which is lightly
rooted somewhat after the fashion Of the
American pleasure carriage known as a
''rockaway,n is fitted with handsome cur
tains Of light gray hue. Messrs. Hoopers'
father did not exactly understand the
fabric Of the curtains which he was to sup
ply. whereupon the prince smilingly in
formed him that the queen would supply
him with the information which he de
sired
Her majesty thereupon told him that the
stuff was Irish poplin, and it could be pro
cured only at a particular MERGERS at the
west end. She even condescended to cut
of a tab from her own dress, which hap
pened to be made Of the poplin in question,
and lent it to MIR. Hooper so that he might
match the pattern and the color. Itwas in
this char-a-banc that the queen aud the
prince consort were accustomed TO drive
accompanied by the members Of their rap
idly increasing young family and for the
convenience of the small royal folks the
vehicle was provided on both sides and al
many intervals Of its length with multi
plicity of steps, which artfully folded up
and could be taken down from all kinds of
unexpected places. Then I enjoyed a
glimpse Of a much more distantpast This
was a miniature double bodied coach or
'vis-a-vis, " probably made for Queen Char
lotte, consort of George III The 'vis-a-
visn was originally intended to be drawn
by hand, like the French "brouette, butt
was altered about 1916 so as to have pony
harnessed to it and was occasionally used
by her majesty when in delicate health
To the same period belongs plain town
landau specially prepared for the use of the
Gar Nicholas 7 of Russia and King Fred
ericS William Of Prussia on the occasion OF
their visit to Guildhall IN 1915 This Ian
dau was entirely repainted, vanished and
decorated in only 4s hours. also saw n
town chariot Of the type patronized some
so years ago not only by members of the
royal family, but by the nobility and gen
try Fashionable doctors frequently used
these high hung chariots which seem prac-
tically to have vanished at about the same
time that the black footm8n ceased to hang
on to the diclly strap of his employers !
equipage.
All these carriages, which have been pur- |
chased by Messrs Hooper, have obviously |
no intrinsic commercial value, except as
regards the materials, which are in most |
perfectly sound. Surely it will |
be matter for sincere regret if they were al |
lowed to decay since they are almost the |
last remaining relics of an age of locomo- /
tion which knew not railways. tt would /
be difficult to light, on this side the Tweed |
at least, on a postchaise of the old fash
ioned pattern-such chaise as the one in /
which Mr.. Alfred Jingle eloped with Mr.
Wardle's sister, and such as in real life was
so often utilized by young couples when
they had arrived at the conclusion that an
elopement to Gretna Green, there to be
Joined in matrimony by the hymeneal
blacksmith, was preferable to the prosaic
process Of asking the consent of papa and
mamma. Almost every one of the old stage
coaches, omnibuses and other hackney
carriages have disappeared, the shape and
general construction of private carriages
have been radically altered, and Messrs.
Hooper are to be congratulated on their
.iberality and public spirit in Offering to
lend these relics of royalty on wheels to the
national collection at South Kensington
through the medium Of the Coachmakers'
company George Augustus Sala.