The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-31

own houses. and they were as n matter Of fact
but they had a very trying time. and the house
bears evidence Of passing bullets. Some OF
the ladies tonly three. with about half o dozen
childrenl have had several narrow escapes.
One lady, for instance, had just entered her
bedroom. as the shots had been entering the
drawing room, when n bullet came through the
roof and lodged In the floor only a foot in front
Of her. She was very brave, and at once bent
down to pick 1t up, but it was still too hot to
hold.
I'VE arc now anxiously awaiting the Amer
lean troops, which are expected this week.
when most probably the Spanish Governor will
give In, but not before, and he will not in any
case hand over the place to a lot of rebels. Last
Thursday, Friday. and Saturday ! enjoyed my
self immensely shipping n lot OF our cash here
on board the British man-of-war lmmortalit9
for safe custody. 1t was most interesting. 1
was shown all over the ship. in the coming
tower and everywhere. Her Captain is q regu-
lar old English bulldog. and won't stand any
humbug. and simply adored by his men he has
practically taken over the charge OF the English
Consulate"
In Germany the bicycle, and in England the
street car. have at last received legal def
nitions. 1 believe the bicycle Is still underlined
in English law, but in Germany the existence
Of a bridge where toll IS charged on everything
that passes over it demanded that the question
should be settled at once. And now the impost
Is paid for the German cycle under tho de-
s~cription of small cattle. with driver or at
tcndant." This result seems to have been
arrived at easily. But to settle what a tram
car really is has been a long and expensive
matter in England. Here. too, 1t was n ques-
ton Of paying bridge toll. BY an act of Parlia-
ment, passed in tho seventh year Of George
Ill. for Every coach, chariot, Berlin chaise.
chair, or calash. drawn by more than two
horses. the sum OF sixpence" had to be paid
to cross the Stonehouse Bridge, in the county
Of Devon; while, For every wagon. vain.
dray. car. cart. or sledge, or other carriage.
drawn by three or four horses or oxen" only
fourpence had to be paid.
Now. under which heading did a street car
Gomez The company denied that a street car
was a coach. chariot, &C.. and that though 1t
was not a wagon. vain, dray. or any other ve-
hicle mentioned in the second list, it certainly
came under the heading Of other carriage"
and so need only pay fourpence.
Coach" or other carriage2" was the Ques-
ton asked through all the inferior courts. And
at last it came before the Lord Chancellor and
the House Of Lords. With a display Of deep
| erudition the Lords settled that a street car was
q coach. The Lord Chancellor argued thus:
He admitted that the Legislators Of George Ills
days had not contemplated such a thing as a
tram. Still. he thought coach was the only
word in the lists which could include tram
car"
Il think" said he. that in the period when
this statute was passed, and. indeed. long boz
fore it, the word coach was q general word
applicable to various kinds Of vehicles varying
both In shape and capacity Of carriage. So
Shakespeare says:
Thou shin'st in every tear that I do weep;
No drop but as a coach doth carry thee.
And also:
but come. I'll tell thee all my whole device
When I am in my coach, which stays for US
At the park gate.
"And in Carey's play. 'Crononhotonthologos.'
published not many years before the date In
question-viz.. in ~1734-occurs this passage:
Go call a coach, and let a coach DO called.
And let the man who calleth 1t be the caller,
And in his calling lot him nothing call.
But Coachl Coach! Coach! o for q coach. ye godsl
The use OF the words 'coach-house,' coach
man. and 'coachbuilder.' which OF course
are not appropriated to any particular classes
of vehicle. leads to the same conclusion
that coach is a general name. which
certainly would comprehend a tramcar. and,
therefore. makei it primarily the subject ofsome
toll. But the question still remains. What Is
the particular toll. where the Legislature has
divided INTO uluerent classes DOtn the Tolls and
the vehicles? 1 cannot say that 1 can regard
with complete confidence the conclusion at
which I have arrived; but I think that. for the
reasons 1 have given. a tramcar is acoach.
think q category which begins with coach
and apparently excludes the heavier vehicles
appropriated to the carrying of goods rather
than passengers is the one In which 1 must in
clude the tramcar. I think that q category
which begins with wagon and ends with
'sledge.' the intermediate words being 'wain.'
'dray,' car cart does appear to suggest the
carriage Of goods. and not Of passengers. as
being the genus of vehicle to which that partic-
ular toll is applicable"
So his Lordship voted for coach. and their
other Lordships agreed. though they admitted
that the case was not free from difficulty"
r q