Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-14
BY JOHN WALKER HARRINGTON

THE recent gift of Concord coach,
1925 model. to the Smithsonian
Institution recalls the debt
i transportation owes to that type
of vehicle. The joint donors,
Will Rogers and Fred stone, found
this relic in their Western travels.
From New Hampshire, where the Con-
cord was originated, to the Rockies Is
a far cry, yet there many an old Con-
cord migrated, for the design may be
traced in the lines of the famed Dead
wood.
Although the coach has been used
for nearly 500 years, few changes have
been made In its general structure.
The first is said to have been built: IN
last in Kocz, Hungary, from which 1t
derived It's name.
The names of most vehicles come
from the town of their origin, as the
landau, first made In Landau, Ger
many, or the Berlin, named from the
German capital, or the Conestoga
wagon, now being recalled so wildly as
Americas pioneering to the land OF the
setting sun Is being celebrated.
Long Luxury Abroad.
Coaching recently has been revived
in the AdirondackS. The Rondack
coach owned by Mr.. and Mrs. Walter
Schnaring is making frequent trips be-
tween their farm and nearby noun
tain resorts. At q recent horse show
was exhibited famous old stage coach
which half a century ago hauled pas
sengers from Port Kent to Paul Smiths
Coaches were long luxury in Eu-
rope. where common folk walked and
the wealthy rode horseback. At first
springlesS and clumsy, they were bone
racking. Then came the use of huge
leather straps to swing the bodies and
relieve the jolting of the rough roads
In the eighteenth century the glory OF
coaching days in England had dawned
and the English, outrivaling the French
artisans, made coach building a f1ne
art. All monarchs had their coaches
of state, plenteously gilded. covered
with ornate carvings but still lacking
in comfort.
No Perch Left for Assassins.
The folding steps Of the coach OF
ceremony were invented says tradition
because when they were drawn up into
the body of the vehicle there was no
perch left for aSSassins. The cr1Ver
box rested directly on the front axle
Over the rear axle was platform, the
rumble. on which stood the tootmen.
Their employers considered that
rumble was a concession, for, after all
footmen were supposed to be walking
or running most of the time, giving
warming of bad places in the road OF
helping in case Of accident. On the
coaches of state, when monarcnS 90
to be crowned or to open ParllamentS'
liveried lackeys stand on the rumble
On the travelling coaches the rear poot'
intended for baggage and packages
af f,lQf10Tm
Coaching gained more comfort by the
introduction of better roads. Inc
scotch engineer Macadam introduced
the broken stone pavement whlcn
bears his name; Telford provided the
highways with heavy foundations ana
,lnderdrainage and the sur1aclng
which characterize our modern thor
a good speed for coaches before these
improvements had been four miles an
hour, regarded as flying in the face OF
Providence. AS the stage routes o.
England were mostly over level coun-
try travel on wheels became fairly COM
Portable.
Land Travel Developed Slowly.
Land travel in the New World de-
welcomed slowly. To her primitive peo-
nles the wheel was unknown, although
on other continents there had been
chariots and carts for thousands OF
wears. Thefe were no horses IN Ine
Americas nor any oxen. The INDIANS
travelled on foot; the only venice tney
knew were filters, one END OF winch was
dragged on the ground.
THEIR best mode Of transit was by
canoes which could be carried over
nortapes from one water course to an
other. The white settlers followed the
indian modes of travel-building their
villages near the water. Rude carts
drawn by oxen imported from the Olo
World appeared as roads were pulit
Then came horse drawn wagons, next
the American road wagon.
Coaches at first were imported from
England. Coach building had become
an accepted English tradition in the
eighteenth century, and the few CO.
lonial coach builders had served their
apprenticeShipS in the old country
Philadelphia had several important
shops. and from one of these came the
coaches of Gen. Washington, sucn as
the one in which he made MS TOUR
of the South after he had been MADE
President. -
In the colonies sedan chairs were
stiIl used-contrivancies invented IN
the French city of that name and IN
PRODUCED into England during the reign
Of Charles I. Women were carried
in these chairs by footmen. who bore
the weight on poles. In sedans the
socially elect often went. from their
estates to the stopping places OF the
stage lines.
Abbots Devise New Coach.
In the temporary quarters Of the
museum Of the City of New York Is a
model showing a scene before the Blue
Bell Tavern. A woman has Just
alighted from her sedan and is about
to enter a coach which is to bear her to
the then distant city. Several forms
of vehicles, such as the French cnalse
and the hanson cab, are really sedans
or inclosed chairs on wheels. The
small coach to this day shows sedan
lines, as 1t is like two Of the litter
chairs placed front to front.