The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-08
ENGLISH OFFICERS |. CONDUCT FAMOUS :. INN NEAR LONDON
"The Cheuuers~ Was Al ways Stopping Place of Alfred Vanderbilt on
 His Coaching Trips
.NNr MORTON LANE

rondon January S-(Special.)-o sunshiny day, crisp day thls "in when I was motoring along the roau
 from London to Brighton, we pulieu up
 in front of ",rhe Chequers hotel, Wnich stands on the cross roads af Horley,
 se afss <rom London andN about 23
 miles from Brighton. Suddenly my
 nind worked backward; instead or
 haine in a little swift and silent two
 seater." was perched high on the
 t.ov eeat of big red-an- green 1our-
 horse coach. Beside me, hololng tne
 reins over the backs Of four splehu,u
 greys sat tall, slim man Tn hsn'-
 colored driving coat, with reu sei
 inn, surrounded by green leaves m ms
 hr++onhole and wearing tall hght
 hat. h;n he e,;,vad the off-ear of his near-siue ! ruhee,er. A coaching horn sounoeo
 merrv note: there was jingling or harness a crunching of hoofs, srlno- ing of brakes, and Alfred Gwynne
 Wanderhilt dropped his ribbons turned
 a ana said Halfway We'll have t,,ncb now" With much merriment the na assengers on the Vanderbilt coach srv;vid,, alighted and went within the hospitabIe doors of the inn
 How long ago it seems. That gal
 lant American gentleman has vanisneo forever. The Huns saw to that when l they sank the Lusitania. NO longer do the villagers along the Brighton l road rush out to wave welcome as
 tha vanderbi]t coach rattles and jingles Inv The young American multi-milhon- l .yra who came over from the United States and restored to the old coacnins Eroads of England some of their oio | snirit of romance lies deep in the ped of the ocean.
 During the transition period between the time that people went to Brishton hv train and the commencement or the motoring development. this peautirul old in fell upon grievous times It was
 simply a, loafing place for country
 vokels. who sat in it's cosy bar in win II ter ar lounged under it's vine-clad
 porches in summer, sipping theii "small beer" and smoking their pipes
 But things looked up from the day few years before the war when Alfred Vanderbilt turned his team into th' inns gates and informed mine hos that he wished to make a custom o' milling u phis coach for lunch a The Cheouers'' on each days journey t' and from London.
 .aThe Chequers" at once became ; place thatfashionable coaching foll l could never pass Alfred Vanderoli kent a change of horses in it's big ol' SfaDleS anu, W ith ltS tCSoA hAAo II jty a good old-fashioned table wa maintained and the glories of coachin II days nthe regency were more or les Il restored.
 il Then came the war, and instead o N jingling harness. there was the thud 0 Il motor lorries and the tramp of soldier | and the dull heavy sound of guns an II ammunition being drawn along the ol H road to the sea- People no longer mo II tored to Brighton On pleasure. Gaso K line was scarce and coast towns wer ll black as ink after surdown.
 M The ncame the afmistice. Numerou II aemobilized men began to look fc III .jobs." And that is the beginning ( HI another chapter in the history of 'Th MI Chequers."
 MI Three young officers one day foun HI themselves released from military duti' MI and possessed of small amount of cap HI tai good health. plenty of energy ar |II nothing to do, Office work they iooks MI upor with adherence. Service in Franc MI had made them shirk the conventional MI ties and restraints of city life. They ha MI all "ioined up. while they were at HI university at the beginning of the VI HI and they hadn't a t"profession Tn HI which they could relapse when the III fighting days were over. They each h' HI little capital. one little more tn' HI the other two. He also had an automohl Yl tha. had seen service in, France, D