Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-14
|COACH'S PAST RECALLED
BY GIFT TO SMITHSONIAN
Few Changes Made in General Structure
of Vehicle, Which Has Been Used
for 500 Years.

The close of the Revolution brought
independence to this country not only
in political but in industrial domains.
This was evident in the development Of
transport. The fine English coach was
not well adapted to the rough and
often precipitous roads of tn. United
In such States as Vermont, with her
Green Mountains. and in New Hamp-
shire, with her White Mountains, once
one colony. the demand grew for q We
hicle which would be as safe and COM
Portable as possible on the steepeSt and
rockiest grades. The coach developed
early in the last century by the Alb
bolts OF Concord met this want.
Body Swung From Straps.
An outstanding feature of the Con-
cord coach is that the drivers seat and
the rear boot are all part of the body.
The body itself rested upon two sets of
heavy cowhide straps, three or four of
these being arranged one on top of the
other, as is the case with some types
of steel springs. The straps were at
tached at each corner to stanchions or
spreaderS of steel.
These metal contrivances were not
springs exactly, but under heavy stress
they would yield enough to absorb the
shock of heavy jolting. The Concord
coach has residence in its gear and
strength and stability not present in
the English "tremble chariots," which
had straps, yet wobbled numerically.
One who studies the English sporting
prints cannot but be impressed by the
lack of brakes. The drivers of that
period thought it rather unsportsman-
like to resort to any such mechanical
substitute for their control of the reins.
THE Concord has a Ylnwnff1I1 Ho ND hire IPa
with lever 6 or z feet long, operating
on the rear wheels. The leverage given
by this device is enormous and in the
hand Of hardy mountain driver was
most effective. 1t was well adapted TO
mountain roads in New England, and
later was introduced into New York
State. In later types the long lever
brake was operated by pedal.
Oval Bodies in Early Coacl IS.
Early American coaches had oval
bodies, whereas the Concord type has
the rounded underpart, but an almost
square top. The roof is heavily braced,
so that it will easily bear the seats for
passengers as well as luggage. The
Concord has the folding steps of the
European models Inside there are
seats against the two ends, each ac-
commodating three persons. In the
seat which will take care of several
more. 1t will fold up at the ends and
when thrown back will permit passen-
gers to enter.
This old Concord has no glass paneS
in its doors, and windows evidently
never did. The openings were pro-
tected by curtains on the outside which
were rolled up when not needed to pro-
tect the passengers from the weather.
This arrangement indicates that this
antique of traffic is really of earlier
origin than 1925, the date assigned to
its building.
The fame of the Concord coaches
spread to England and they must have
been highly regarded, as the conserva-
tive builders there adopted several of
the features of the American model.
The design of the Cohcords was inn
proved year by year. The openings
were glazed, as was the case with the
so-called glass coaches" of Europe.
Dartmouth Concord Glazed.
In the museum Of Dartmouth Col
lege at Hanover, N. H., is a well pre-
served Concord, built in 1882, which
was arranged for glass, although the
panes have not been restored. It still
has the body undressing with leather
straps which are in such good condi-
ton that they give the necessary
springness. In its heyday the Dart
mouth Concord had elaborate pictures
painted on its body panels, but these
were covered by the coat of brown
placed there by its last owner before
1t came into the custody of the coll
lege.
Coaching days in the East were
doomed commercially with the coming
of the railroads, the first of which ap-
peared in 1928. BY 1880, so rapid was
the rise Of the new method Of travel,
the United States had 5000 miles Of
track.
The first railway trains were made
up of coaches. In the Grand Central
Terminal may be seen string of them.
complete coaches in every sense, even
to the socket whip just as they ap-
peared when drawn by the locomotive
Dewitt Clinton.
ElIiptical Springs introduced.
In the winning of the West the
coach and the Conestoga wagon had
their part. for the rail lines were hardly
begun there by 1860. Many of the
hardy old Concords were sent beyond
the Mississippi, where they wore them
selves out.
New coaches, greatly influenced by
the New Hampshire design, appeared
in the pioneer posts of the new West.
These had various improvements, such
as elliptical springs. In design and
sturdiness they bore a strong likeness
to the Concord The Deadwood coach,
which Buffalo Bill used in his Wild
West Shows, was an Interpretation of
the design.
When coaching was revived IN Eng
land so years or so ago, not as q
means Of travel but as sport 1t took
hold on fashionable Americans, espe.
cially in New York. Old-time coach
building establishments came back into
their own Even in this age of the
motor cars the memory of the Ameri-
can coach cannot be blotted out. for
the perfection and grace of automobile
bodies is tribute to that noble craft
which reached so high a standard at
old Concord.
mo- Presidency