— •AS — 1 Found It. 'If/?.. 5- Iran K Swales ••• UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AT AMHERST UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Special Collections & Rare Books J^. >5\-s.- -t so far I must now do what I ought to have done at the commencement, — show my motive for commencing at all. It was neither more nor less than that I cousidered a regular treatise on driving, in the general sense of the word, Avould be a work of great utility, and all I intend, or hope to do, is to show that driving is not quite comprehended by sitting be- hind a horse or given number of horses, with the reins in the driver's hand, trusting to Providence and good lucli for getting along in safety. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thiug," I really flatter myself that I possess comparatively a good deal in these matters, yet this teaches^ me that I do not know quite half enough, and also that many who profess a great deal really know nothing at all. 20 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. If a man from inclination or circumstances is des- tined to drive only one description of vehicle and one description of liorse it would be sufficient for Ms pur- pose that he drives that vehicle well and safely. The private servant avIio diiAes a brougham or a landau or any description of one horse or pair-horse carriage, may do very well for tliis, and doubtless flatters himself he could do very well for any other description of coach- manship. He would, however, find himself, or at all events, others would find him, woefully deficient when put to the test. The different description of knowledge and practice required in driving different descriptions of carriages, different descriptions of horses, and those in different descriptions of situations, is much more varied than people are apt to imagine. The finished coachman can di-i\e anything, and drive it well, but he will not, nor cannot drive anything equally well. There can be no doubt but the stage coachman requires, and fortunately acquires, generally speaking, more diversified knowl- edge in coachmanshii) than any other votary of the whip, particularly when driving sixty or seventy miles across a country. Here he will have perhaps nine or ten teams to drive, and to learn how to manage the tem- pers of from forty to fifty different horses, independent of the chances of these horses becoming lame or ill from accidents and various other cii'cumstances which OBSERVATIONS. 21 may from time to time occur. He will have to know how to get over all sorts of ground with the greatest advantage as to time, the ease of his horses, and the safety of his passengers, clearly showing that driving the same vehicle, I mean here a coach, in different sit- nations and nnder different circnmstances requires quite different management. I wish my readers to understand that a man is not merely a coachman who, with everything put right for him, can contrive to turn corners without running against a post, or who can manage to wend his way along a road or moderate-ly ^ilequented street. He should understand his carriage, know its component parts, and their effects on its safety and running. If he does not know all these he might be driving with something about it loose, cracked, strained, broken or misplaced at the imminent risk of his own and his com- panions' lives. If not a judge of its running well or ill his horses will suffer. I need scarcely say it is also necessary that a good coachman should understand the full effect of every strap and buclde about his harness, for on properly harnessing and bitting horses all their comfort and that of the driver depends. More accidents happen from the want of this than from any other cause, and horses are also often very much punished in their work from such neglect. A man ignorant of all 22 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. tihese matters does not know what is likely to lead to danger, and of course when once in it, he is as helpless as a child in adopting the best or perhaps the only means of getting ont of it. The reader has doubtless often seen a coachman, before taking hold of the reins, go to all four of his horses' heads, lay hold of their bits and feel that each horse is properly bitted. Probably this to some has appeared a useless precaution. The coachman, however, knows better, for upon this a great part of his own and passengers' safety depends. I may perhaps surprise many persons by stating that a horse improperly bitted will sometimes set 'him kick- ing. Some may say what on earth has his moutlk to do with his heels? A great deal with some horses. They say "the devil is good-tempered when he is well pleased." So am I, and so is a horse, and while he is he goes pleasantly and quietly, but put a too severe bit in his mouth, and what is ten times worse, put the reins into rude hands, his mouth gets punished, which naturally irritates and puts him out of temper. If under these conditions any little thing occurs that at another time he would not have cared for, he sets to kicldng at once. The guarding against every probability of getting into difficulties or danger I consider the first duty of a coachman, knowing what is likely to lead to either is OBSERVATIONS. 23 an indispensible part of the qualification to become one, and when in difficulty a fine hand, strong nerve, a quick eye and presence of mind are all necessary to ex- tricate him from it. Here the coachman shows him- self, and here the dummy universally fails. The latter sees the effect plain enough, but knows nothing What- ever of the causes, consequently he either sits still and does nothing, or if he does anything, in all probability does the very thing that increases both the difficulty and the danger. In proof of what presence of mind and knowing what to do in an emergency will result in, I may mention a circumstance that occurred whilst driving, in fact, breaking a well bred pair of horses to harness. They had both become perfectly handy and were good- tempered, but from youth, high blood and high con- dition, ready to avail themselves of any excuse for a lar]?. I hii.l (li'iven them all about town perfectly \N ell and all right, until coming down a hilly street up went the pole nearly to their ears, my toeboard nearly coming on tiie hind (juarters. I now found something was all wrong, and guessed the cause. I immediately struck them both sharply with the whip. Off they went like two startled deers down the hill at about eighteen miles an hour, featlier edging everything we passed, I expect- ing however, to give something an "insider," but escaped. 24 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. Ascending the opposite hill enabled me to pull up, when 1 found sure enough the pole pin had been left out. Since 1876, when Colonel DeLancey Kane started the well-known coach "Tally Ho" from the Hotel Bruns- wick, New York, to New Kochelle, which first gave that impetus to coaching and mania for driving in this country, a great improvement in everything relative to horses, carriages and harness has been the result. The drive in Central Park can now compare favorably with the Row or the Bois de Boulogne, both for quan- titj and quality, except in one most particular point, and that the most essential point of all — ^the private coachman. When I speak of a coachman I mean one who has been brought up from boyhood in good stables, under good men, and knows his business thoroughly. The first coachman to a lad}^ of fashion requires much more knowledge of his business than people generally suppose. Here every jolt must be broken, no swinging of his carriage over the crossings in the street, no sud- den pulls up or hitting horses with such bad judgment as to cause a sudden backward jerk to the carriage. There should be no stopping at doors so as to leave it swaying backward and forward to the full extent of the check braces and tlie discomfiture of its delicate and fastidious inmates. The carriage must stari}, go on OBSERVATIONS. 25 its way and stop as smoothly as it went off. Merely passing safely between other vehicles would not be suf- ficient to satisfy a lady accustomed to be driven by such an artist as a first rate body coachman. To any ama- teur of driving it is really a treat to see such men hand- ling their horses on such occasions as a Court day at Buckingham Palace. They may be seen threading the masses of a dense crowd, their carriages gliding about like so many gondolas on the Grand Canal at Venice. No fuss, no pulling and hauling; a turn of the wrist is sufficient for horses accustomed to be driven by such coachmen. All seems easy to the bystanders, no diffi- culty appears, but this apparent ease shows the mas- terly hand that is at work. There is a kind of free- masonry among such men that enables them to detect the perfect coachman at a glance. A cast of the eye at the hands of each other on meeting is sufficient to show to each what the other intends doing. They know they will each do what they intend, though only an inch of spare room is between them. With confidence in their mutual skill they fearlessly pursue their course with as much precision and certainty as if the wheels of their carriages were confined in the track of a railroad. Mis- haps or even mistakes on such occasions hardly ever occur, and for this reason they are all perfect artis.ts. But go to the theatres, the scene is widely 20 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. different. Here is to be heard swearing, whipping, smashing of panels, backing of horses, vociferations of coachmen, cabmen and policemen, the whole place a perfect pandemonium. This contrast arises from the fact that in tlie latter case there are a num- ber of men employed to drive carriages who have little claim to the name of coachman. These clumsy workmen often fall to the lot of ladies, and nearly always to merchants and business gentlemen who keep carriages, the owners not being competent judges of driving, take a coachman from the recommendation of others who probably know as little of the necessary elements of a good coachman as themselves. Here let me strongly (recommend ladies never to take a coachman on mere recommendation, unless they know the person who gives the recommendation to be a perfect judge of the requisite qualities of one. If they consider a )man to be a promising candidate, before finally engaging him let them get some one of their acquaintances who thoroughly understands such matters to sit by his side on the box for half an hour. He will then either be at once disproved of, or they will be cer- tain of having a servant who understands his business. Ten dollars a month more in wages will be amply made up by avoiding coachmakers' bills for repairs or those of veterinary surgeons for accidents to horses. They OBSERVATIONS. 27 will also liave their carriage horses and harness neatly turned out, be properly and safely driven by a man who /looks like a coachman, instead of getting one who does not know how to do either, and who will probably be asked by some knowing fellow, "Hello, there, who feeds the pigs when you are out?" Or, "I sny neighbor, how much extra does your boss give you for milking?" An untaught, stupid house ser- vant plagues and mortifies one by his awkwardness but a coachman with similar characteristics, should never be trusted at large without a string and collar about his neck to keep him off coachboxes. I have in the foregoing page only paid a just tribute to the merits of the coachman of ladies or men of large fortunes, but I must at the same time remark that I never yet saw a gentleman's coachman who could drive four horses that he had been unaccus- tomed to drive. Thej make the worst stage coach- men of any men who have been in the habit of driving at all. They have been so used to horses all matched in step and ti'inper that they :ne absolutely lost with any other. Coachmanshii) is therefore to be shown in various ways as well as the want of it, and is exhibited under as various circumstances. Take, for instance, those well-known knights of the whip, Fownes, the late Selby, Cracknel, Huble and others too numerous 28 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. to mention, there were none of them to my knowledge at any time during their career, private coachmen, but they served their apprenticesliip and learnt the art which brought them prominently before the public as stage coachmen, or ijnore commonly speaking, omni- bus drivers. The Petersburg driver with his bells and sleigh is equally a coachman in his way. The Canadian, reck- lessly as it appears to us, crosses his corduroy roads, drives over half-formed bridges or dowm declivities with his pole three feet above his horses heads in a way none here could do it. The "conducteur" of a Paris diligence brings his five horses with his "town" behind them in a trot into the inn yard at Calais. All three are coachmen in their way and yet none of them could i>erform the parts of the other. I have no doubt but to perform each of their duties well requires about an equal share of intellect and practice. It is quite evident by what I have already said, that driving, to do it well, should be learned scienti- fically, and that there is much more danger in trusting ourselves in the hands of persons ignorant of these matters than is generally supposed. The starting of the Coaching Club in New York has been the means of bringing out some very excellent gentlemen coachmen which undoubtedly renders those OBSERVATIONS. 29 who participate in this kind of sport good judges of the qualifications, powers and merits of the horse for such purposes, and by constant buying and selling such horses, it makes them judges of their relative value. Long may such men live to enjoy the amuse- ment which their ample fortunes render possible. There are without doubt pursuits of a higher order, pursuits that produce more beneficial results to mankind in general, but every man of fortune has an undoubted right to spend that fortune in such pursuits as he conceives affords him the most gratification, and pro- vided that the pursuit be a harmless one, no one has a right to interfere with it. The pursuits of the sports- man while carried on by tlie gentleman, are generally not only harmless, but beneficial to others, they give employment to many and occasion a great deal of money to be expended. — -ijf^^-g— BU DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. GENTLEMEN DEALEKS. There is one point I must respectfully impress upon my readers, i. e., being a first rate judge of a horse win not enable him to be a horse dealer. A gentleman may know perfectly well the relative value of horses and may easily ascertain the value of any other article of merchandise so far as buying and selling goes. He may even learn where in some measure how to buy and sell a horse to the best advantage, but this does not qualify him for a horse dealer. I am sure that no gentle- man ever has or ever will succeed as a regular horse dealer. That there are however many who in a private way do to a very considerable extent deal in horses, is a notorious fact and a fact very much to be regretted. It is a subject of still further regret that among them are found those who in every other transaction are men of unblemished honor aii,d integrity. If these gentlemen conceive that they carry on this underhand kind of private trade without it calling forth very severe animadversion from those who abstain from it they very much deceive themselves, and they labor under the influence of a stiU further error if they suppose GENTLEMEN DEALERS. 31 that tliej can continue this practice, without losing very considerably in point of character and prestige in the estimation of their friends and acquaintances. Placing them in comparison with the regular horse- dealer, I have no hesitation in saying that so far as this pursuit is concerned, 1 consider the latter the most respectable man. He sells you a horse openly as a dealer, as a man who disposes of him entirely for profit; you probably place no reliance upon his word, or confi- dence in his honor, he does not ask you to do so, nor is he offended if you do not. You purchase of Mm in piost cases under a written warranty. If the horse does not answer the description given of him the law is open to you for redress. If you have just cause of complaint he generally at once takes the horse back. But if you buy from a gentleman dealer in horses you trust to his word and to his honor. If you are deceived, which by the by, you will find no uncommon case, what is your resource? You must either keep your ,bargain, or, if you hint that you have been taken in, a quarrel ensues, and you are called out for presuming to doubt the word and honor of a man who, however, in such cases, forfeits both perhaps twenty times in a year. Such men, are, however, rare among gentlemen, and I trust may long remain so. From the moment a gentleman first harbors the idea of making money by 32 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. buying and selling horses lie has taken the first step toward degradation. He possibly at first, indeed mogt probably, had no further view than in an honorable way availing himself of his superior judgment and taste. He is "unfortunate" enough to sell three or four horses to advantage. This gives him encourage- ment and probably for the first time in his life he feels the pleasure of making money in a peculiar and in- teresting maimer, and he continues to speculate with success. Hitherto he has done nothing wrong. His horses have all turned out as he represented them. He now, however, happens unfortunately to get a horse not quite what he should be. AVhat is he to do with him? Is he to sell him at a loss? A very short time ago he would have done so, but now the itch for makiQg money has taken too firm a hold upon him. He enters into a kind of compromise with his conscience and the horse has really perhaps nothing material tlie matter with him. He avails himself of his position in society and sells him on his word, as a perfectly sound horse. If he proves otherwise he does not allow he has been guilty of of a deception, but places his word of honor that he was sound when he sold him. This closes the transaction. Having thus escaped with impunity, instead of taking it as a salutary warning of the dangers of such transactions and haviug once been GENTLEMEN DEALERS. 33 gviiltj of a dereliction of honor and integrity he goes on until he unblushingly (in dealers parlance) ''sticks a screw'' into a friend whenever he can find the oppor- tunity. This is a fair sample of the usual i^areor of tliose who commence privately dealing in horse?,. It is a pursuit that every gentleman should avoid. It is as demoraliz- ing in its influence on the mind and eventually as fatal in its effects on the character as is the pursuit of the pr(.fessevl gambler. (''All fair in horse-dealing" is an idea that some persons profess). It is a very erroneous one. It is an idea, that no sensible or honorable man can seriously entertain. There is no more excuse for premeditated deception in the sale of a horse than there is in any other transaction. The moment a man can bring himself to think there is he will steal. 34 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. TATTERSALLS. If any one imagines from what I have previously TVTit- ten on the subject of horse dealers that I wish either to consider or intend to represent horse dealers as men in whom we may place perfect confidence, the fault must be attributed to my peculiarity of expression and not to any intention of mine, as I consider them in no such light. Confidence may be reposed in many dealers in the same way as dealers in wine or in pictures. If a man, how- ever, is not a judge, and is not posted, and goes to either making his o^ti purchases, he is certain to be more or less taken in ; that is to say, he will not get the best value for his money. If first-rate dealers they wiU not venture to give you an absolutely unsound horse in the face of a warranty to the contrary, a decidedly pricked wine for sound, or a pirated copy for a genuine picture, but you will be pretty sure to get an inferior horse or wine or painting. They are tradesmen, and are in business to make money, and, while they do not dare to do anything which is absolutely dishonest, their consciences are some- thing like that of the old Irish lawyer who considered that there was nothing dishonorable that was not contrary ^-l ^'-'^^fp— ■; 1 .i^_.^^ ^ '.€^'1 Sale Day at Tattersalls, New York. TATTERSALLS. 37 to law. I have previously stated that I am convinced that a respectable dealer is, in the end, all tilings being con- sidered, the best medium by which a gentleman can supply himself witli a horse, and possibly the cheapest. •If he is not a judge of a horse he has no business going personally to dealers in horses. it is far better to take some one with him, who is a judge of what is wanted, and wlio will keep his eyes open, and lie will want both of them wide open, even in buying from reliauble sources. Another point in favor of tlie regular horse dealer, par- ticularly one wlio has a good connection and large de- mand for them, is the fact that he does not limit his buyers to the price paid for tliem, but gives them strict instructions to buy the best. It is stated that one gen- tleman horse dealer, who a short time ago went West — Philadelphia or Newark — ^rsdth |2,000 and brought back eighteen horses, was credited with a great feat of buying them at less than |50 a head than their minimum price, which was that paid by the horse car companies for what is called "streeters." What this gentleman wanted with this class of liorse is hard to determine, excepting it was to play false on intended purchasers, something like in this manner: "For Sale, the property of a gentleman; several pairs of horses of quality; all in good working condition ; well broken to four-in-hand and 38 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. tandem." I do not doubt for a moment that they were in working condition, many of them having worked long enough to become a bit "shovey'' in front (bent in their forelegs). Such horses Avere entirely unsuitable for the purposes for which they were intended, and ought to have been in the hands of peddlers or runners of junk carts. 6uch pitfalls for the unAvary buyer are, of dourse, un- known in dealing with a firm like Messrs. Tattersall, of London. That great house, which for a century and a half has maintained its pre-eminence, and has achieved a financial success and stability of the highest, has rigidly observed the rule never to buy at its own sales for re- sale, and never to allow a bid by an owner or on his part, ,excei3t in the case of an entry with a reserve i^rice. At the top of each regular weekly catalogue of Messrs. Tattersall the following notice appears: "The OT\Tier re- serves the right to bid through his agent, the auctioneer, as often as he sees fit." The plain English of this is that there may be reserv e prices, up to which point the animal will be protected by the auctioneer, and the object is to prevent the appearance of active bidding when it does not exist, and thus to guard the public from a deception that might unfairly be practiced ui:>on it. But when it is announced at Tattersall's that an ani- mal is offered without reserve, every one is assured of an TATTERSALLS. 39 absolute sale, for no owner would have the hardihood to attempt a bid, directly or indirectly, as such an attempt would only invite certain and public humiliation. It has followed from the enforcement of these rules that this house is known distinctly not to be horse-dealers in any sense, but simply as a great commission agency for those who buy and sell. It is thus entirely removed from the re- motest suspicion as to its transactions. Every consignor knows that aside from the honorable traditions of the house, the amoant of its commission is always depend- ent upon the price realized, and that its interest is blended with that of its patron. The confidence thus in- spired has, of course, been one of the material agents in obtaining and holding its great popularity, and in its long history it has mtnessed the rise of many a new firm, that started on the same prhicipl but that, yielding to the strong temptation to deal covertly, fell by the Avay- side. It may be said that the commission house has a per- fect right to pick up a bargain when it offers, where it does so openly, and without neglect to the interest of its client, but even then it should be remembered that, in view of his usual commission, the auctioneer has an ad- vantage of ten per cent, over all other purchasers — a fact hardly to be reconciled with business equity. Briefly stated, the Tattersall principle is that, for its 40 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. own sake, and for the sake of its customers, it secures tlie best prices possible, wliile it leaves the plums also for the buyers at its sales. The success of the house is the best possible proof of the soundness of the principle. The only agencies in existence of the original Tatter- sails, of London, England, established in the United States, are Tattersalls, of New York (Limited), founded in 1890, and Tattersalls, of Chicago (Limited), founded in 1891, which conduct their business under precisely the same rules and methods as the parent house. \Vhether by auction or at private sale the interests of these houses is simply the commission, and every i)ossible effort is made to prevent bidding up on the part of the owner, a practice as unfair as it is frequent. Whenever an at- tempt in this direction is detected it is promptly and vigorously defeated, and so long as this system is main- tained there can be no doubt of the complete success of the new company. Mr. Wm. Easton, who has been for many years at the head of a large and successful business of this character in this country, but which is now merged in the busi- ness above alluded to, is the managing director and business head of this new house. He is a gentleman of tireless activity, and of great experience in every branch of this business, while as an auctioneer he possesses re- markable qualities. Unlike the mere automatons who sim- TATTERSALLS. 43 ply serve to record bids and to maintain a monotonous jargon, he possesses many attributes of the born orator, and not only makes his sales interesting to casual spectators, but has a magnetic way of coaxing the coy bidders and stimulating the languid. His latest sale of thoroughbreds — those composing the racing stable of the late Senator Hearst — was one of his most brilliant successes, but it is certain to be eclipsed by the sale of the Belmont stud, next October, which promises to rival, if it does not surpass, the famous breaking up sale of the late Lord Falmouth's stud. Mr. Easton has just conducted very successfully the first sale of hackneys ever held in America, and the esteem in which he is held by the large breeders of thorough- breds may be imagined from the fact that he is to sell this year the yearlings from tAvelve of the great studs, aside from several important closing-out sales. This company is, indeed, the first to Americanize the best English methods and to adapt them to the uses of the progressive Kepublic. It regards every detail that is calculated to make its establishment more popular with the best class of people. Every resj^onsible i)osition is occui)ied by a competent and gentlemanly person, and the utmost courtesy to visitors and the strictest decorum is inculcated upon all its employees. It results from this that every day many ladies walk in with as much free- 4:1 1:)R1VING AS i POUNl> IT. doin as if visiting a dry-goods store, and they also attend the sales in large numbers, finding comfortable chairs in the carpeted galleries. Each morning a printed cata- logue of all the horses in the place, whether for public or private sale, is provided for visitors, who are thus able to select and inspect such as they are seeking, with- out tedious delays, and in a score of similar ways provi- sion is made for the convenience of customers. I have just learned that Tattersalls (of New York) have purchased an entire block in Chicago, upon which it will erect a mammoth building, to be devoted to its business. Chicago, and the vast horse-producing regions tributary to it, are to be congratulated on the fact, as they will thus secure the benefits of the admirable Tat- ersall methods. Another point of interest, in referring to this branch of my subject, is the manner of warranty as to soundness. Such warranty is a very fruitful source of business vexa- tion, and in some ways of absolute fraud. It is the fixed rule of Tattersalls, of London, not to allow a horse to be sold from their premises so warranted. For three days before a sale every animal can be exannned, and intending purchasers can have their own Veterinary Surgeons re- port on them and thus come to the sale prepared to bid intelligently. If, for instance, the catalogue describes an animal as quiet to ride and drive and it p,roves fractious, TATTERSALLS. 45 it may be returned and the money refunded. In other words, the owner's description must be perfectly true, so far as it goes, but it must not extend to soundness. The effects of this rule are equally satisfactory to buyers and sellers, and it would be a long stride in advance for business in this country if this common-sense EnglisJa rule should be adopted. 46 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. HOESE DE.VLERS. We will now look a little into the character and conduct of the regular horse dealer. I know of no class of n^.en on whom so great and — what is much more unfair — so indiscriminate a share of odium is thrown as on the horsedealer. I am free to allow there are some who are not altogether above reproach. We must not, however, from this draw the inference that it necessarily follows all horse-dealers are dishonest, but my humble opinion is that tradesmen in any other line are pretty much the same and in about the same proportion is not perhaps absolutely erroneous. The only difference is this, the horse dealer cheats one man in the day to the tune of one hundred dollars, the other cheats in smaller sums a hundred in the same time, always keeping the fact in their minds that in addition to this hundred customers he would be as ready as the dealer to cheat any one man the amount of the hundred if the opportunity offered. There is one circumstance that ought to be taken into con- sideration and pleads very much in favor of the fair horse dealer — supposing our purchase from him does HORSE DEALERS. 47 not answer our expectation, or perhaps his representa- tion. That is the nature of the animal in which he deals. I kQow of no commercial transaction in which a man is so often deceived, and in which he so often deceives himself, as in the horse. Dealers are often, much oftener than is supposed, deceived themselves. Respectable dealers do take every precaution in their power not to get an unsound horse into their stable, they cannot, however, with all their precaution, at all times prevent this. But they will not in such a case risk their character by selling such a horse to their customers. A horse may be purchased in the country from the breeder apparently sound. He may hitherto have been so and yet before he may have been at work one week he may be the very reverse. Some hidden internal cause that the most practised eye could not detect may have long existed, the effects of which only become apparent on the animal being put to work. Here no blame can possibly be attached to the dealer. He has bought him with every warranty of soundness, has traveled him perhaps several hundred miles home, has had him several days in his stable and found him all that he expected. He has every right to think him a sound horse and as such he sold him. Still, such a horse may deceive both the dealer and purchaser when put to the test of work and change of treatment. 48 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. Vicious as well as unsound propensities in the horse frequently lay dormant for a \ ery considerable time. When speaking of dealer's horses, I mean young ones. I am quite satisfied that where one young horse does mischief from vice, ten do it from alarm, and there is no telling what a frightened horse will attempt to do. Be is a hundred times more difficult to control than the vicious one. A coachman may have driven his carriage for years in perfect safety in all situa- tions and may be an excellent coachman, but if he suffers himself to forget he has hold of a pair of young ones without any other fault on his part, he will get into certain difficulties and danger, if not worse. The sudden stroke of the whip to a young horse who lias, perhaps, never before felt it, would set him plunging at once. Going more rapidly down hill than they have been accustomed to do will alarm them, turn- ing very sharply round a corner brings the other horse according to the turn right and left, suddenly on the pole, and confuses him. That most cruel and uncoach- manlike practice of pulling up horses sharp at the door throws them suddenly upon their haunches, causes their feet to slip and unless their mouths are made of cast iron severely injures them. There can be no doubt that the numerous accidents New Yorkers see and daily hear of — I wonder there is not more — ^three HORSE DEALERS. 49 out of four arise from want of judgment in driving. A driver not being aware of what is likely to produce an accident consequently takes no steps to prevent it. He probably has no conception that a strap buckled too tight or left too loose will render a horse uneasy in the harness, irritate his temper, set him plunging and finally kicking and running away. This horse might have been a week previously bought from a dealer, been driven in double and single harness, and always gone perfectly quiet and would have continued to have done so if oiommon judgment had been used. This is all we have a right to expect from a high^ spirited horse. He does not promise to carry a phaeton or a gig down hill on tlie top of his tail or be flayed by his harness from our carelessness. If persons wish a horse that would permit this 1 should recommend a wooden one. In any case of this kind, without making an investigation as to the causes, the effect having occurred, the first person usually censured is the dealer. No arguments on earth wiU persuade the purchaser that it aose from any other cause than the dealer having sold him a vicious horse, and he will probably feel further convinced that he knew he was so; in short, whatever failing a horse may exhibit aftfer being purchased, whether it be in soundness, temper, consti- tution or anything, deservedly or not, the dealer is sure tiO DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. to be set down for a rogue. I will mention a case that occurred to myself not many months since. A well-known gentleman living not twenty blocks from Central Park requested me to get Mm a horse to match the one he had. It was a very fine animal, sixteen hands high, of excellent conformation, extra high action, showing a great deal of quality and a fair amount of speed. Several horses were tried but one could not be g:ot to go with him. At last, however, I accidentally met a gentleman who was leaving town and wished to dispose of three horses and at his invitation I went to look at them. One was a very fine bay and by his looks and way of going satisfied me that he would make a close match for the horse in question. I put them together and drove them myself on three difi'erent occasions ajid a nicer pair I never wished to sit behind. The gentleman was delighted and bought the horse. Some weeks after I received a note from him requesting me to call and see him. To my astonishment, he appeared very much displeased with his purchase and requested me to sell the horse. In reply to my question as to what was the fault with him he replied: "Why a very great fault, he plunges in his harness and rears up on his hind legs, on one occasion getting across the pole, and nearly smashed my carriage to pieces, in fact, my coachman is so frightened he will not drive him HORSE DEALERS. 51 again." I requested tlie gentleman to accompany me to his stable. He did so, and mth his permission I asked the coachman to harness the pair. I saw where the trouble was instantly. The harness was an old-fashioned set with long bar bits and curb straps which were short and the reins being buckled down in the lower bar made it very severe ui)on a high-spirited horse with a tender mouth. The horse became restiye before being put to the carriage. I took the curb strap off altogether and buckled the reins in the cheek ring and with the gentleman on the box beside\me, drove out. The horse acted splendidly, indeed I could not get him to go wrong. The gentleman was satisfied and wisely com eluded to keep the horse and dispose of the coach- man. He certainly made a change for the best. 52 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. BUYING HOKSES. There is no doubt that horse dealers in New York are heavily handicapped as to the kind of horses they have to buy. In England horses that are bred for carriage work are allowed to run till between three and four years of age. They are then bitted and broken to harness and sold to dealers, who have every convenience to finish their education. They are driven every day by an experienced brakesman through the busiest parts of the West End of London, until they become quiet and handy and get accustomed to different objects. Their style of going, the way they carry their heads and shape their necks are (subjects on which no end of time and patience are spent to make i)erfect. The dealer now considers them so, and certainly is justified in put- ting them into the hands of a customer as a pair of horses fit to put to his carriage. But how different the process American horses have to go through. They are bought indiscriminately as to age or what kind of work they have been doing. Most of them have been worked since they were able to draw. I can leave BUYING HORSES. 55 my readers to imagine the work usually done in the West by horses — plowing, logging and other kinds of heavy work. They are certainly quiet and used to draught, but never having had anything but a plain ring snaffle to guide them, and rough hands to handle them, are hard-mouthed, misshapen in their conformation for car- riage work, and therefore more difficult to bit and alter their style and Avay of going than the young horse who has done nothing but run out since being foaled. Dealers' horses, as a rule, are or should be kept fresh from the time they arrive in the city, tliej get just enough exercise to keep them on edge. They are un- accustomed to the paving stones, and everything is strange to them. When being shown to an intending purchaser they are certainly shown to the best advant- age; so in fact is every other article you purchase. They may have been sick with distemper, pinkeye or other diseases which young horses are liable to contract. As soon as their recovery is assui'ed they are made up for the market, and sold as soon as possible. Their having been sick and getting only moderate exercise necessitates their being kept on short rations, just enough soft feed to keep them looking well. After they are sold, however, their treatment alters at once un- less the coachman knows something, and his employer allows him to do what he thinks right. They are no 56 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. sooner docked and trimmed up tlian thev are put into a lieay^^ carriage, driven round the Park, and most likely further. They now get oats three times a day, and like a child with a box of candy, eat till they get sick. The regular work is begin- ning to tell on them. They get dull, their lack of condition begins to tell, they have no ambition to step, and therefore lose whatever action they might have had when bought, and, excepting the horses were well mated, of good color and proper conformation, look mean and worthless. Many young horses are ruined through injudicious driving and improper treatment that would in experienced hands otherwise make up into good, useful animals. I venture to surmise that amongst my readers there are some who, when buying horses, have been so im- pressed with their high stepping qualifications as to lose sight of the other points which go to make a per- feeti carriage horse, without taking into consideration the forced state of condition of the animal, or whether he or they are suitable for your purpose, even if they did not have the extra high stepping qualities. You bought them simply on.a^cpunt of their action not knowing how or from what cause that action was pro- duced, and after working them a short time have be- come disgusted with-yom' purchase because, they having BUYING HORSES. 57 lost the courage and ambition, as well as action they had when bought, being ignorant of the cause, you either blame yourself for buying them or blame the dealer for ha\ing deceived you. I once heard a lady remark to her coachman, " Robert the horses don't step near so high as they did when we bought them. Do you suppose the dealer put anything into their feet to make them act?" Noav, I -dare say this question has been asked more than once, and some people are stupid enough to imagine that the dealers use artificial means to make their horses step high whilst being sold, but I can assure my readers they who im- agine so are wrong in their surmises. The wealthy people of New York are not so fortunate as their friends in equal circumstances in the large cities of Europe, who can go to any one of the several large sale stables and select a pair of horses which, if they buy, they will find are not only well matched and thoroughly broken, but have good manners and fine mouths and every other essential point that time, pa- tience and experienced handling could effect. How dif- ferent the experience of buyers of such horses in New York! I have known a dozen different pairs of horses sent to an intending buyer and all returned as unsatis- factory through some defect, difference in size, color, way of going or whatever it might be^ which the dealer 58 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. perhaps never noticed, and even if he did, in some cases would not know how to remedy. Some people are much easier suited than others and will go to a dealer and buy a pair of horses j^roviding they look alike in color and size and the price moer shoeing these faults can some- times be rectified. The true-actioned horse steps from the shoulder, bends the knee in front, and steps out gracefully, bringing them down light and easy. It is but natural for a horse of proper conformation to do so, and so long as he is kept in high condition, does not get too much work, but 64 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. sufficient to keep him in exercise, will always retain the same amount of action, and if a young horse, can be made to improve if driven by an experienced coachman. Flashy going horses, with extra high action, are not adapted for hard work or rough roads. They tire sooner than i>lain goers. To those persons who ovm and drive high steppers I advise them to work them as little as possible on the pavements and drive them moderately on the road. Never drive them at top speed, but let them go a little within themselves, the principal thing being to keep them in good condition. High feeding and good care is the mainspring from which they obtain the courage and good spirits that tends more than any- thing else to make them step. CAPPERS. 65 CAPPERS. There are no class of men so useful to intending pur- chasers of horses as a respectable capper, one who ob- tains a livelihood selecting horses and finding custom- ers for them. To some persons the name will no doubt imply something wrong or illegitimate in regard to buying and selling horses, but I can assure my readers that it is often through the judgment and experience of these men the driving i)ublic are enableeen bought by a gentleman dealer as an ex- periment and Avere advertised as having undergone a special preparation, were all supposed to be in h'gh con- dition, well broken to harness and docked and trimmed, fit to go into immediate work. According to my idea, however, they were just fit to be turned out for a few months until their tails grew. They were not only docked jtoo short, but their tails, being cut as close to the dock as they could be, were trimmed up each side, giving them the appearance of a worn-out shaving brush. Horses' tails should be cut according to their size and height, and left as square as possible. In fact, carriage horses 16 hands and over should bave their tails reach within a few inches of their hocks. Particu- HOW TO DRIVE ONE HORSE OR A PAIR. 103 lar attention should also be given to the way in which they are carried by getting the cruppers stuffed, aud of a thickness so as to prevent their lying. too close to the buttocks. The manes should also be pulled in proper proportion. 104. DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. THE WHIP. Knowing how to use the whip is of much more import- ance than some people imagine. There is really no art in benig able to catch a double thong ; it is merely a knack, and can be easily acquired. I would, however, advise those of my readers who wish to learn to take a lesson from some one competent to teach. Practice until von get perfect. To be able to use the whip is as essential as being ;able to use the reins correctly. What on earth would we think of a carpenter if he did not know how to use a saw. No matter how well you can drive or how complete your turn-out, a ;whip with a thong dangling all over the stick gives it an untidA^ appear- ance besides adding to the discomfiture of the persona riding with you. The thong when allowed to hang down will catch around the hub of the wheel, and un- less you pull up quickly will wind around until you have to let go of the whip altogether. The idea of a coachman not being able to use a whip recalls to my mind an incident which occurred in Boston. I was en- gaged teaching a gentleman to drive a team. Being an apt pupil, he learned very quicldy, and became an HOW TO DRIVE ONE HORSE OR A PAIR. 105 adept with, the whip. He was in want of a coachman, and had requested the representative of the leading coach builders at that time, who had an agency in New- port, to send him a first-class, practical man. Now it so happened that the representative of this firm was at that time a very young- man, in fact, quite a novice at the businesSj and possibly more interested in cigar ette smoking than four-in-hand driving. But he sent one; I don't know where he found him, but he came to Boston and presented himself as the coachman recom- mended very highly by the carriage firm. I never before or since beheld such a specimen of a private servant. Over six feet in height, and of slovenly ap- pearance; in fact, he looked more like a farm hand. I was asked my opinion about him as to his being suitable for the i^lace, and found myself in a very em- barrassing position. It is against my natural inclina- tion to injure anyone or prevent their obtaining a livelihood, so I merely made a proposition that if he could drive a team he could certainly handle a whip. He was asked the question. "Oh, yes," replied he; "as good as anybody." A team whip was handed to him made by one of the crack London whip makers. He looked at it, threw out the thon^, and tried inef- fectually as he termed it, "to crack it," but it would not go off. He put it down with the remark, "That 100 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. ain't the kind Tfe been used to," and I know he spoke the truth. He was saved the trouble of becoming very familiar with it by having his return car fare paid to Newport. There are certainly a good many coachmen who never aspire to drive more than one or a pair, wlio are sadly deficient in knowing how to hit a horse without break- ing the whip. There is sometimes an excuse for break- ing the thong, as it may become rotten tlirough having been exposed to wet or the constant use of pipe clay, which is sometimes used to keep the thong white. The stock is often broken through a flaw in the wood or unavoidable accidents, but in most cases it is broken by hitting the horse witn the stick instead of Avith the thong, which is intended for that purpose only. Coach- men who cannot hit a horse effecfively with a light whip and without being obliged to have the top half whalebone should never be allowed to use one, a bale stick or plough handle would suit them better. ~-^— 7-^-#^^^ "mi jiwiiiliiii THE TAIs'DEM. THE TANDEM. 109 " Oh, what delight a tandem ride, A high wheel cart with three inside; The wheeler steady, and leader free, If the whip is clever it goes merrily." I have ofttimes heard the remark, "It is harder to drive tandem than four," and have repeatedly been asked by gentlemen who drive tandem my opinion npon the subject. Driving tandem or four are similar only in regard to holding the reins. Tavo horses under eoual conditions cannot possibly be as hard to manage as four. There is a great difference between a coach and a cart, without taking into consideration the difference in weight when each Is loaded. I know several gen- tlemen who drive tandem well who could not drlAe four, but I have yet to find a good four-horse coach- man who cannot drive tandem. I have on several oc- casions seen gentlemen make turns Avith a tandem that to do the same with a coach would turn it over. With tandem there is no danger of a leader kicking over the bars or a wheeler getting a leg across the pole ; neither is there three tons of weight to steady down hills or a brake to be applied every now and then, besides the responsibility of having perhaps a dozen valuable lives entrusted to your care 110 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. Wliat makes driving taii(iem so distressing to many is the absurd manner in which the outfit is put together, neither taste, appointments nor the general i)rinciples which constitute a tandem being considered. In some cases, even when the turn-out is complete as to the size of the horse, make of the harness, and cart of correct pattern, there is an utter lack of knowledge how these are to be brought together so that every strap is in its right place, the cart balanced perfectly, so that it will ride easily and coinfortablj , the horses bitted and reined so tJiat tliey work like one. Unless these points are considered worth knowing something about, it is almost useless to attempt to learn how to drive tandem. A cloclv will not go correctly if it is not put together properly and an ill-fitting tandem will make a fool even of a good coachman. The tandem illustrated in the foregoing page is that of Mr. Burton Mansfield, to whom I believe is accorded the distinction of being the first exponent of driving tandem as it should be done in New York. He is a professor on the subject, and has done more than any other one person to assist begimiers in acquiring this style of driving. He was one of the original founders of the Tandem Club, which includes among its members T. Suiiern Taller, Esq., whose artistic abilities as a whip were deservedly no- ticed at the last horse show at the Madison Square NO THOROUGHFARE. SHOWING OFF. THE TANDEM. 115 Garden. As far back as 18G7 Mr. Burton Mansfield imported a Whitechapel cart from Peters of London, which has long been recognized as the best model of cart for tandem, and from which model most of the carts in use at the present time Jiaye been designed. Tandem harness should be made to fit properly, every part proportionate as to size; the reins of the best quality of i)liable leather and not nearly so wide as those of other harness, which will be appreciated by coaclimen who drive with their hands and not as some do, with their elbows. The mention of reiiis brings to my mind a point I omitted when comparing the driving of tandem and four. I must admit that iu the former it is not so easy to finger the reins, as they lay much closer to gether, coming up almost straight from the wheel pad terrets, whereas with four-in-hand, the^- are separated to a much greater extent. Hoses intended for tandem work need not be closely matched as to size unless they are also required to be used in double harness, when of course they should look alike, step and go well togethej\ To those who intend purchasing, I would advise them to have the shaft horse fully fifteen hands, three inches, with large and deep body, showing substance and quality combined, one that will fill the shafts, with large, broad, round quarters, short back, long neck well set on to good 116 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. slanting shoulders. On the proper conform ation of a horse intended for this work a great part of the ease and comfort of the driver depends. A horse that steps sharp and does not go too far off the ground is hj far the best. The leader need not be quite so heavily built, about fifteen hands three inches or nearly so, of good disposition. Be careful to avoid buy ing one that shies or pulls; a stubborn or stumbling one is equally bad. The leader is no doubt the leading actor, but it does not necessarily follow that he should be a star (gazer) or one that carries his head too high. When putting to be sure to have the wheeler harnessed so that everything fits comfortably. Keep him as close to his work as possible without .causing anything to touch him behind when going down hill. See the shaft stops are in their proper place and the back-band loose enough to give the tugs room to play. Have the tugs in the right position on the baclv-band, so that the shafts are not brought too high or too low to get their level and balance. Tlie cart should set up high enough off the ground so that when balanced the shafts will ride above the traces. HOW TO DKIVE TANDEM AND FOUR. 119 HOW TO DRIVE TANDEM AND FOUR. Tlie first thing to do before starting out is to see tliat everj'tliing is all right, that the bits drop in the proper place in the horse's mouths and that the curbs are slight- ly loose. Stand at the off side of the wheeler, take the lead reins in the right hand, the near rein on top. Place the wheel reins in the left hand, one each side of the second finger, the near rein on top between and under the top finger, the off rein under and between the second and third fingers (fig. 6). Keep the top finger open and 120 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. Btraiglit and slip the lead reiQS from tlie right hand into the left, the near rein on top, the off under the first or top finger, and you will find them in the proper posi- tion (fig. 7), near lead on top ^ith two reins lying to- HOW TO DRIVE TANDEM AND FOUR. 121 gether, the near wheel and off lead, which is also above the near wheel and the off wheel, between the second and third fingers. Stand back a little to get the necessary length of rein so that when you are on the box they will be as near as possible t::e requisite length. It is well when driving and the horses at work to notice the distance of the hands from w^here the reins are joined together — ^the splice — ^if team harness the buckles will act as a guide. so that when taking the reins in hand and before start- ing the same position can be guessed at within a few inches. Now place them in the right hand altogether, keeping them in the same position (fig. 8), thus leaving your left hand unincumbered, and which Avill be neces- sary to use when taking your position on the box seat. As soon as seated place the reins in the left hand again and sit and hold the reins as in (fig. 9). It is ne- 122 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. cessary before starting off to see that the horses are well up in their traces, and that each rein is in its proper place, neither tight nor slack. Many vexatious delays are caused through starting off with one rein loose foi' as the horses get into their collars and feel a check on ^vljich ever side of the bit the rein is tightest, naturally turn, and with an amateur coachman, who is 8:enerallY a little nervous at the commencement, mij^ht get him into difQculties. Alter a little practice with the reins the best and most coachmanlike way is to take the two wheel reins in the middle finger, get the required length, just enough to feel the horse's mouth lightly, keeping the lead reins between tlie tA^^o bottom fingers of the right hand, thus (fig. • 10). Having the length of rein, so that they are perfectly even on each side, and HOW TO DRIVE TANDEM AND FOUR. 123 then as the horses start off and the leaders fill their traces drop tlie lead reins in their proper position. By- doing this each horse will have its fair length of rein. Now we will suppose you have started off all right, not forgetting to droj) your hand a little when giving the horses the signal to start, and wish to make a short turn to the left, for instance, going around a corner, shorten the near lead rein, which is easily accomplished by tak- ing hold a few inches below the left hand with the bot- tom part of the right hand, thus (fig. 11), at the same time drawing it towards you over the left hand which should be pushed forward at the same time till it forms 124 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. a loop (fig. 12), then press the thumb down tight to hoLi it firm till the turn is made and the horse wants his head. Kaise the thumb, the rein ^Yill run straight again. Whilst doing this haye the right hand ready on the off rein to pre- vent, if necessary, the wheeler tnrning short. When making a turn to the right the off lead rein is looped and the right hand is at liberty and at the same time ready to catch hold of the near reins (fig. 13). When merely pulling to the near or off side of the road to avoid ob- stacles or passing a vehicle, a slight touch of the right hand on the lead rein will be all that is necessary, keep- ing the right hand on the rein until the obstacle is passed. It might perhaps be necessary to turn the wheeler off as well if he does not follow, which can be done by tak- HOW TO DRIVE TANDEM AND FOUR. 125 ing hold of the two reins at the same time while pulling to near side (fig. 14), and taking hold of the reins as in (fig. 15), when pulling to off side, but always bear in mind one thing — ^never to separate the rein or allow them to slip between the fingers ; it is much better to practice with reins that have been in use for a considerable time, they are more pliable, softer, and not so likely to slip. Never attempt to turn short without having the leader well in hand. Should he happen to be a free goer and the traces taunt he will pull the wheeler around too quick and perhaps throw him down. Going down hill the lead reins should be shortened so that the lead traces 126 DRIVIXG AS I FOUND IT. are absolutely slack. Every ounce the leader pulls go- ing down hill means a i)ound more for the wheeler to hold back. If a short hill it will be sufficient to take the lead reins in the right hand (without separating them) HOW TO DRI^^E TANDEM ANB FOUR. 127 and pull tliem towards you (fig. 16), and "steady the leaders," but it is not safe having the right hand so en- gaged for too long a time. If w^ould be very awiiward to the driver if the leader should stumble or a sudden turn to either side of the road be necessary. The best way to take the lead reins up when coming to the brow of a hill or before making a short turn is to take the lead reins from the left hand with the two bottom fingers of the right hand (fig. 17), pull towards you, at the same time push the left forward (fig. 18), and place the lead reins in the left hand again, in their former posi- tion excepting the lead reins are shorter. If you find it necessary to take the wheeler back a little take the lead 128 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. reins in the right hand, with the thumb and top finger grasp the wheel reins from behind the left hand, at the same time pushing the left hand forward (fig. 19), until the necessary amount has been taken up, but keep the fingers closed so that the reins cannot escape, then drop the lead reins in their former position. This method gives the driver a better chance to feel the mouths of his horses and get the exact length of rein than by taking hold of the reins with the right hand and pulling them through the fingers from behind the left hand, which HOW TO DRIVE TANDEM AND FOUR. 129 should not be done, unless you find it necessary to shorten all the reins at once. Driving a team is very similar to Tandem, both as re- gards the position of the reins in the hand, excepting v/hen taking them in hand to start, when having the reins in the left hand, as in fig. 7, and before putting them into the right. With the right hand then take hold of the two off-rems^ and pull them out (fig. 20) until the length f lom the buckles on the wheel reins to the hand are of equal distance, this will leave them hanging loose, whilst the two near reins are taut, but when they are put into the right hand and you have be- 130 DKIVIXG AS I FOUND IT. come seated on tlie box and the reins are then put into the left hand, jou ^dll find that they are perfectly even. I must now take the liberty co give my young readers some words of advice. Don't think for one moment that when you have learned to hold your reins, make turns and come home safe after your first drive that 3^ou have no more to learn. I will say for myself that I have been driving all descriptions of vehicles for the last twenty years, and every time I go out I can gener- ally find some little obstacle in my way that I have never encountered before which requires some new move on my part to surmount. I admit that it is easy (when you HOW TO DRR^E TANDE.M AND FOl R. 181 know how) to guide a tanrlein or team throu-gh Cen- tral Park, when not too crowded, or down country- lanes and highways, but to be always ready in cases of emergency, having everything as it ought to be, every strap to fit ^nd in the right ])lace, and last but / i ! i I I H3.20 not least having your horses in perfect command and each doing only its proper share of the work requires more practice and judgment than most people would credit. There is no enjoyment or pleasure in driving to those wlio make hard work of it. 132 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. FOUR IN HAND. To those of my readers who drive or intend to drive a team I most humbly apologize for givino: them a "back seat." It was my intention when "starting off" to give all those interested or dpsirons of becoming interested in coaching a "front seat" in this, my "first trip" on the "literary road." But upon further consideration I deemed it advisable, being a "new beginner," to start at the bottom of the hill and gradually ascend, fearing if I started at tlie top I might come down too quick, and, in the event of not being able to " put on the brake," cause a "spill," and thus bring to an abmpt end my first venture. Having got so far on the road I think it is about time I came to the first "change." I know from a long and varied experience amongst all classes of horsemen that it will be harder for me to make those who have been driving a team for some time to alter their method than it will be to teach those who are about to start one. There are several gentlemen who have dr'ven teams for years, and who are considered first-class whips, their names being, commonly speaking, household words in A PKO-tEbSlUNAL. FOUR IN HAND. 135 society, who are wofuUy ignorant of the different altera- tions i required at times to make a team go well to- gether. Nine times out of ten the owner of a team drives himself; that is what he keeps it for — his own pleasure and amusement. In fact, in most ca^es. drives it fr(>iii the stable himself and back there again, the coachman being incompetent to drive four. Now, it stands to reason that if a man cannot drive a team we can hardly ex])ect him to know when he has (put them to whether he has put them to as they should be. Therefore, the person who drives them should, for his ovni comfort and safety, be able at once to see and rectify any imperfections that may be in the bitting, reining and working of the horses; but when a gentle- man employs a practical coachman, one who really does understand his business, and drives them himself occa- sionally, it will be sufficient for him to be able to drive, as the team will be put together properly. To have a team put together and know how to drive them in a coachmanlike style requires a good deal of practice; more so, in fact, than most gentlemen ^Aho kee]^ teams imagine. I have on different cccasions, while e:}gaged in drivln i; a road coach, been tasked by passengers to allow them to di'ive a little, ane(l yet. This is a case of "too easy." There are, I am sorry to say, a good many more lilve him who tliink because they hold the reins — not drive — over a team a short distance on a straight road imagine they are i^erfect coachmen, and that the faster they go the more they think they know. Unless you are an experienced diiver it is not only dangerous but foolhardj^ to drive fast, by so doing you run into danger quicker, and if in danger have less time to extricate yourself. Coach horses should never be ex- tended or be at the top of their speed, if they are they soon tire. Some people think that because they are riding behind four horses they ought to go further and faster than with one or two. They do not take into con- sideration the weight that those four horses have to pull, even a break with eight passengers will weigh thirty hundred pounds, or 750 pounds to each horse. Another important thing, and one very seldom thought of, a horse whose natural gait is say 10 miles an hour, you can drive him 30 miles a day by going slow, say seven miles an hour, but to drive him at his top speed 138 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. will tire Mm out the first hour. As it is seldom we get two horses gaited alike how can we expect to get four and with the same amount of speed? We will suppose that three out of the four horses can go 10 miles an hour with ease and the fourth horse eight miles an hour. Now, if we drive nine miles the first hour the slow horse is going or properly speaking being pulled along a mile an hour faster than Avliat he is really capable of doing easily, consequently to do that extra mile in the hour he could not do any work, therefore the other three horses must do liis work for him, making it harder for them and helping to tire them out, and the slow horse is completely done up. Now, if we had gone only seven miles an hour, all four horses would be doing their equal share of the work (always provided they were properly put too and driven) and going within themselves, doing less than what they were really capable of doing. They would finish fresh and be ready to go another seven miles, and if in moderate condition, repeat the under- taking. I shall never forget a scene I witnessed two years ago. A gentleman arrived late one eveniug at the hotel stables with a four-in-hand break. He was accompanied by two gentlemen friends and a coachman. They looked tired and appeared to be in distress. From a conversa- tion I had with the coachman, it seems that they had FOUR IN HAND. 139 started from New York a few days previously for a coacliing trijj through the country and were en route for Saratoga. When two days on the road one of the leaders dro]>ped dead, as the coachman expressed it, "through doing all the work.-' They bought one from a farmer to take his place, whicli turned out to be very lazy, and would do no work, and in trying to hit him with the whip, broke it. From that time out the lazy horse would do no work and his mate commenced to get tired, went off his feed and became sick. They decided to stay over two or three days and rest the team. A foAV (lays later they got ready to start and were har- nessed up in the yard. Tlie wheelers were yerj evenly matched, but the leaders, one was a thick-set mare with no ambition, in fact, looked too slow for a coal carf; the other a good-loking gray, fidl of courage. I really felt for him. I could see the reins were even and both bitted the same. The reins in the cheek ring just suited the mare, but would not prevent the gray from doing all the work, if he so desired, and his looks betokened him a good one. I was hoping they would give me a chance to speak to them so I could offer a little assistance and advise them to buckle the gray down and take up his reins a few holes. I did speak to the coachman about it, but he did not seem to under- stand, and a few moments later they started off, with 140 • DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. the gray about lialf a yard in front of tlie other leader. Nearly a T\'eek elapsed when I met a friend of mine who had driven over from Saratoga, and I asked him if he had seen or lieard anything about the four-in-hand. Yes, he replied there was a party arrived in Saratoga the day before I left driving a break and three horses, and I heard it reported that he had lost his best horse on the road — a gray one — who had (]ropi)ed dead. The party were all sick and disgusted with tlieir trip and intended to finish their journey by train. It was just as I ex- pected. I am at a loss to understand why persons are so foolhardy as to start out on a trip with four horses put together by chance, not knowing the relative merits of each horse, or what the amount of work he is capable of doing, or has to do, besides being ignorant of the dis- tance a horse can travel without tiring. I was once employed by a gentleman who had spent no end of time and patience, in getting together four very good goers, and few men could hold them together better than he couhl. We were out on the road and he overtook a friend also driving his team, who piqued him- self on having fast ones. They had a few minutes' chat, when to the latter gentleman's perfect astonishment, my emi)loyer Avent away from him and the supposed fast ones with perfec^t ease. We met an hour afterwards in the park, and when they had come side by side, the same FOUR IN HAND. 143 result toolv place. It ended in a deal, and they actually exclianged teams, my employer getting a large sum of money in the exchange. We went out with our new team every day, getting them properly bitted, in road language, putting them together. The fact was, three of these horses were beyond comparison, much faster than our former team, but the fourth could neither step nor go with the others. This horse we sold and put in one fully as fast as the others. They were then one of the fastest teams in London, and could step together like soldiers : whereas before, they only seemed to have been put together to be in each other's way. A short time elapses! before meeting again, when the tables were com- pletely turned. We were going through the park when a team came by us at a good pace, and instantly recog- nizing them as those we had exchanged, my employer permitted them to get a few lengths in advance, then put on the steam, caught him, and passed at a good fifeen miles an hour. Had ^'Tam O'Shanter" on the gray mare, or Scott the 'Mock," mounted on the ghost of Pegasus passed, he would have been surprised, but his surprise would have been tame compared with his perfect as- tonishment at the matchless style of going and the pace of his former bays, but so it was — he was beaten, and that by his own horses. True, ore had been changed, but this he did not know. The horse, taken out of the team. 144 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. was a fair goer, but had no harness action, but after being ridden a few times, made a splendid back. Now, here was a young horse )»eing sacrificed, and spoiling his companions, from being put into his wrong place. So much for judgment, or rather the want of it. Judgment in horses certainly is not possessed by one man in a hun- dred who keeps and uses them, and yet scarcely one man in that hundred will allow or believe he does not possess it. , To those who like coaching and intend taking a trip, I strongly recommend them before attempting to start out, to get some one well qualified to judge the right sort of horse most suitable for the work, and what is more important, to see that the team work well together and are properly put to, so that each horse has the proper length of trace, pole chains, and the reins adjusted so that when the team is at work each horse will do his even share and no more. There is, moreover, a good deal of judgment required on the part of the driver when on the road. Some men will drive ten miles a day more than another and keep their teams fresher and in better condition. Travelling over rough, hilh^ roads makes the work for the wheelers harder than when diivdng along a smooth road. On going down inclines the leaders ought to be kept back to give them a chance to rest themselves. The wheelers, if the brake is on and hoUs FOUR IN HAND. 145 good, have a certain amount of work to keep the pole straight — ^in fact, the wheelers are always kept busy. It is, therefore, advisable when going up hill to let the leaders do their own share and a little more. I remem- ber once travelling by a coach and observing the two wheel horses, both fine looking powerful grays, that the near horse had not once tightened his traces for upwards of two miles, and on my saying "I suppose he was making up his mind as to when he should set to work" the coachman laughed and said "his time is very near up now, sir." He said true enough. In another half-mile I saw a hill before us. A couple of hundred yards before we came to it the gray horse sprang into a gallop and the others joined, and this horse certainly took half jthe coach to the very top of the hill. The remainder of the stage was aU against collar and the gray never wanted a word said to him the whole way, in fact he was a horse and a half until we changed, and his comrade about one-fourth of one. I am ready to allow that those two wheelers were not such as a man of fortune would select for his team, but in their place they were both good ones. In riding on a box sometimes if a man is one of the sortl — I should call him one of the right sort — ^he may probably see one or more of the team merely carrying the harness. He must not infer because the 140 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. driver permits them to do this for two or three miles that the coachman is a bad one or careless. No man can judge of the propriety of his doing so as well as himself. Some horses like to do all the work at first, others at the end of the stage, and in this they must be indulged or they are good for nothing, or would be rendered so. There are horses which never want a touch of the whip over anything lil^e level ground, but are bits of rogues at steep hills. They therefore do their share on the whole, and where they punished to make them work uphill they would perhaps jib and not draw an ounce, probably commence kicking into the bargain. Others, particularly if not quite so fast as their comrades take very little of the load on the flat, but at hills will take half the coach up. This is their forte, and for this their exertions must be reserved. Some for the fi.rst five miles are hasty, and do more than their shai'e, consequently to a certain degree be- come exhausted and work but little for the remainder of the stage. Others only set to work when — in a road phrase — ^'they smell home.'' Then they peg away and pull your arms off unless you let them take half the coach. . Letting horses have their heads, i. e., driving with a loose rein, gives the free ones a chance to do more than their proper share of the ^vork, therefore they get tired sooner. Keeping your horses in hand FOUR IN HAND. 147 and too-etlier is of the utmost importance whether driv- ing through a park, country highway or bus^^ city streets, you never can tell the moment something wiU get in your way A person -might inadvertently at- tempt to cross the road; a child may stray off the side- walk; or in driving through the country cattle might cross your path. Every one is liable to cause an ac- cident if the reins are loose, because it requires more length of pull to enable you to feel the horse's mouth, and as generally happens to young coachmen who are taken b}' surprise rhey forget at the moment what to do — ^to shorten their reins. Most of tlie foregoing faults arise by gentle- men taking lessons from wliat a stage coachman would call ''park coachmen." I have repeatedly been out with gentlemen in this city who have taken lessons by the dozen. They know how to hold the reins properly and how to make a turn, providing the team is going moderately well ; but A^hen it comes to any practical work — dri\dng ovei* rotigh roads with a coach loaded and lots of other important points which is most important a coachman should know something of, they are entirely ignorant. It is a well-known fact to nearly all those of my readers who have had any experience in coaching that to become a proficient wiiip requires a lot of practice and constant dri\4ng which can be more 148 DRIVING AS I FOCTND U*. easily acquired by driving out with friends wlio own coaches, and if practicable take every convenient op- portunity to sit on the box seat of a road coach driven by a professional. You will learn more in one journey than a park coacliinan could learn you in twenty lessons. It is much to be regretted that there are so few oppor- tunities in New York to take the foregoing advice. The. 0 is ccvt'iinly one j^reat drawbrick — bad raaive the driver more com- mand over his horses, in fact bring liim on a straight line and nearer to them. Some persons may say how could the driver apply the brake? But this is very easily answered. Have a foot brake which is more easy to work and when applied is more effective, always pro- viding it is put on as it ought to be, so that when applied with sufficient power will skid the wheels. The brake blocks as a rule are hung too low down, coming against the under turn of the wheel as in fig. 1, consequently when the coach or break is loaded the springs give a little, thereby throwing the brake block FOUR IN HA^^D. 159 off the wheels. Now, if the shank of the brake was made shorter, throwing the bearing of the block on the upi^er turn of the wheels, as in fig. 2, the extra weight of the coach when loaded would certainly assist the brake to hold firmer. I have before remarked a man ought to know some- thing about driving a team before he can be considered an expert in judging what kind of horses to buy to make up one. But it does not necessarily follow that a coach builder should be a coachman before he untertakes to build a coach, still I tliink it would be advisable and in the end give more satisfaction to those who purchase if they obtain tlie advice of some one who Is known to have a really i^ractical knowledge of the difl'erent kinds of breaks or coaches suitable to the different kinds of work for which they are intended. It by no means follows that a body break which was intended to be used almost exclusively for exercising should be recom- mended by carriage builders to an intending purchaser as a fair and safe vehicle to make a trip over a rough or mountainous country. I in no way wish to infer that a break is more unsafe than any other kind of a coach or drag, providing the seats are arranged so that when loaded the weight is evenly balanced; but where the extra seat is put on close behind the box seat, which when full throws the 160 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. whole weight in front, makes it positively unsafe when driving over rough roads or making sharp turns. Coaches and drags not being altogether suitable for those who may wish to take a tour through the country w^e must look for something with enough seating capacity sufficient to accommodate eight to twelve persons with enough room to store the necessary outfit required on a long trip. The outing coach I consider a really great improve- ment upon the old-fashioned drag for outing trij^s. It looks equally well in the Park, and is much better adapted to American roads, having strength and light- ness combined; each and every passenger gets a front seat, that is to say, they can all see the way they are going. There is a boot in front and behind; a door at the back to give access, in fact the whole length of the body being hollow gives unlimited space for everything neces- sarily required for the comfort externally and internally of the coaching party — ^luncheon case, hand-bags, valises, dressing cases, hat boxes, rugs, wet weather coats and aprons, horse-clothing, head collars, extra harness col- lars, hame straps, a box containing monkey wrench, screw nuts, clips, oil can, extra washers, package of pearline, which will be found not only useful to wash grease off the wheels, but as a pickle in which to put 7. 162 * DRR'ING AS I FOUND IT. steel bits, pole chains, etc., to prevent them from rusting, and two chain traces about 7 feet long, made with a hook and eye at each end. They can be used for lead or TNheel, pnd they oan be made any length, and if re- quired can be used temporarily as a pole chain. Using them tij getlier they will be found useful as lead traces if the assistance of an extra horse is required when ascend- ing hills or mountains. When starting out on a coaching trip to be well equipped is lialf the journey. The harness should be well inspected, especially if it has been in use any length of time^ and if buclde worn or weak in any ])lace have it repaired and streng-thened. Now, from my own experience of coaching in England I must say that coach owners, both public and private, use the very best harness that they can get. It is to their interest to do so. It lasts longer, looks better and is not so liable to break. It is well finished, smooth made, fits as it ought to, and therefore not irritating to the horses, far different and a much superior article to that recommended and sold by an enterprising firm in New York as road har- ness, but which is used almost exclusively by omnibus proprietors on account of its cheapness. SIX IN HAND. 163 SIX IN HAOT). Coaching men as a rule decry the idea of any one man driving six horses properly, that is, in a coachman- like style. Taking the men as a whole who are usually employed for this kind of work, I must admit they are to a certain extent correct. There are also numberless men who drive a pair and make hard w^ork of it, whereas another — here I mean a coachman — drives four with more ease to himself and even less exertion; so it is with six, although I must be excused for ''blowing my own horn." I can drive six equally as well as four, and really better tnan some who imagine they are in the front row as fourliorse coachmen. The six-hoi-se coaches as used in the West are no doubt driven by men who as far as artistic skill is re- quired would be unable to drive a pair down Broadw^ay, and the coachman who could with ease drive a pair in the city wonld b(^ tc^tally inca]>able to guide — 1 can- not say drive — the six horses for a stage over the wild Western plains. As an illustration of this fact I wish to mention an amusing incident of which I was an interested spec- 164 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. tator. It was on the morning of the celebration of the Centennial, in 188S. An old-fashioned Concord coach was brought from the West to take part in the pro- cession. It had been previously advertised in the daily press as being a true representation of the Western coach, and was to be driven by a regular A\'estern driver. I happened to be on the corner of Fifty-fourth street and Sixth avenue when the coach with six horses came down Fifty -fourth street to\^'ards the avenue on its way to join the parade. The driver was sitting on the box-seat in; a half stooping position, with his hands and arms extended over the foot-board, grasping three reins in each hand and the whip with the thong tied in a bow helplessly resting in the ^vhip-socket. I shall never forget the look of despair which the driver ex- hibited when reaching the corner, which I presume he wished to turn, judging by the orders he gave the two men who were evidently acting as running footmen — one on each side of the leaders. With their assistance the corner was turned with difficulty, the driver never once altering or shortening his reins. He apDeared to have no idea of knowing how to make a turn, and it was reall}^ distressing to see him at Avork. I have, however, been repeatedly told stirring stories of the dexterity of these Western six-horse drivers, and a little incident which occurred not very long ago is ^ '«:^ SIX IN HAND. 167 brouglit to my mind and may be of interest to my readers. Wliile driving the Mohican I had an entire family from the West, and as they had travelled ex- tensively on the coaches out there they evidently im- agined that city coachmen Avere "not in if' with the Western drivers. We were returning home and as- cending a long steep hill nearly a niile in length. The horses were walking, and even at this pace found plenty to do to keep the coach moving. The party were beginning to feel uneasy about getting to the ho eel in time for dinner, so they requested me to 2:0 a little faster, but not acceeding to their request, one of the gentlemen commenced to recite his coaching experiences in the West, making special mention of a certain driver by the name of Hank, who, he said, drove up and down hills at a furious pace. I was silent, but went along very steadily imtil I came to the top of the hill, when I put on the brake and com- menced the descent, which was very steep. There were embankments on each side of the road, \A'hich naturally got higher as we descended. Thei^ ,was a lake at the bottom of the hill directly in front of us, and the turn to the right which I intended taking was almost im- perceptible to the party. As a rule, when commencing to descend steep hills, I go very steadily, giving myself an opportunity to see if the brake holds good and is 168 DRIVINGr AS I FOUND IT. all right before getting up steam. Mj intentions were evidently not perceived by the party, and they com- menced to reiterate the wonderful driving of the West- ern wonder, the famous Hank, over again. I had already come to the conclusion that Hank's name was brought in to me as a hint to go faster and felt an inclination coming over me to find out how brave these gentlemen really were, so, without saying a word, I let go the brake and set the horses going, and they bein^ good ones away they went, in fact, they went so fast that the coach began to sway. Suddenly some one grasped me from behind. It Avas the gentleman who had been relating the wonderful adventures of Hank, and he called out, "What are you doing? For God's sake stop!" The ladies screamed, for tj^ose who were unacquainted with the road and the turn at the bottom really expected that I was going to drive them into the lake. When nearing the bottom of the hill I pulled my horses to a trot and safely rounded the corner. After regaining breath, the gentleman asked me what had happened. I replied, "Nothing. You gave me so much Hank, I thought I Avould give you a little in re- turn," and that little appeared to have a very depress- ing effect on him, for never another word was spol^en during the remainder of the journey. That six horses can be driven with perfect safety six IN HAND. im under all possible conditions 1 have proved to my own satisfaction and that of many others. When I say ito drive I really mean what I say, and not merely holding the reins and perhaps only three or four of the six horses doing any work, but to have each one reined, bitted and put to, so that when driven a few rimes they are as easy to drive as four, and require no more room to m.ake a turn in. The reins should be held in the left hand the same as with four; excepting that the wheel reins are placed on each side of the third finger, the swing or middle pair each side of the second and the leaders each side of the first or top finger as in fig. 21. In making turns the lead and swing reins 170 DRmNG AS I FOUND IT. are looped at one and tlie same time, as in driving four, and illustrated in li*^'. 12. The easiest and best way to sh-orten any individual rein or take tkem up is to pull them through the fingers of the left hand with the right, which shodld at all times be fi^ee. Keiver separate the reins from the left hand. Coachmen who can drive a team well and ^ho possess nerve, good hands and judgment will not find it so difficult as might be imagined to drive six-in-hand with ease and safety. Amongst my readers there are some no doubt who have had the good fortune to enjoy a ride on the six-horse coach " Mohican, '^ running from Kichfield Springs to Cooperstown. commencing in 1888. It is OTOJed by Mr. Eugene Eai^le of the "Hotel Earlington," formerly the "New American," and although running as a public coach, was used almost exclusively by his guests and was a pronounced success. The following season, 1889, it was again put on the road, but through unforseen cir- cumstances and bad management on the part of those interested in the contract for supplying the horses, it was speedily taken off. The next season, 1890, the coach, having undergone a comi)lete renovation, it was again started, and considering the short time it ran, was well patronized. This was only natural; for a more pleasant and enjoyable trip than that from Kichfield Si)rings by way of the little lakes, then through a fertile and lovely SIX IN HAND. 171 farmiDg country to Maple Grove, is not suri)asse(l in any country. The last half of the drive to Cooperstown there is about eight miles of excellent road, extending the whole length of Otsego Lake, with its clear waters, and beautiful scenery, made famous by the works of Fennimore Cooper. If preferable, the passengers can alight at Maple Grove, wliich is tlie head of the lake, and finish the trip on the "Nattie Bumpo," a small steamer which takes a circuitous route along the lake, ariiving at Cooperstown about the same time as the coach, in fact, both are in sight of each other the whole way. The passengers can then resume their seats on the coach and continue the trip, which includes a visit to the Cooper House, and a drive through the streets of this pretty little town. On the return trip the first stop is at Thayers' Three-Mile Point House, famous for its fish and game dinners which are, as a rule, heartily enjoyed by the passengers after the twenty -mile ride. Two hours are allowed for refreshments. Many avail themselves of the boating, fishing, and other amusements. A start is then made for home, arriving at Richfield Springs at 6 P. M., in good time for dinner. DEWING AS I POUND IT. THE OLD TIMES. Some people delight in the sport of the turf Whilst others love only the chase, But to me the delight of all others is A coach that can go the pace; There are some, too, for whom the sea has its charms And who sing of it night and mom ; But give me a coach with its rattling bars, And a guard who can blow his horn. How the girls all doat on the sight of a coach, And the dragsman's curly locks, As he rattles along ^A^th eleven and four And a petticoat on the box. His box is his home, his team his one pride, And he ne'er looks downcast or forlorn ; And he lists to the musical sound of the bars And a blast on the old Mail Horn. —Old Coaching Song. COACHING IN AMERICA. 175 COACHING m AMEEICA. The revival of coaching in England, some few years since, had no more enthusiastic admirer than Colonel De- lancey Kane. He not only took a piincipal part in it himself by running a coach, but conceived the idea of in- troducing this most attractive mode of travel to the people of the United States, and to him alone must be given the credit of inspiring the lovers of horses to in- dulge in this healthy recreation. In; the year 1875, the ^' Tally Ho" was running from London to Virginia Water, with Edwin Fownes, Sen., as professional Coachman, Guide, and Mentor. The Colo- nel soon became thoroughly initiated into all the little points and ideas, which are necessary to be learned to become a practical coachman. The following year the Colonel returned to New York bringing the "Tally Ho" and Arthur Fownes, son of his former mentor, with him, to act as guard, in which capa- city he has had no equal on this side of the water. It is a great jjity that the exainple he set, regarding the proper time to sound a call, and the proper call to sound, was not followed as an established standard. It ought to be 1T6 ,DRmNO AS I FOUND IT. more clearly understood, that a guard is not merely one who can make a noise; he should know what to blow, and what he blows for. The following is a brief history of "Coaching in America. In 187G the "Tally Ho" made its first ai>pearance during the spring season, starting from New York (Hotel Brunswick) to Pelham (Arcularuis Hotel). The start each day being witnessed by admiring crowds of peo])le, and it ])ro^ed such a pronounced success, that it was decided to put it on the road in the fall, and the jour- ney was extended to New Kochelle (Neptune House). The following season, 1877, a different road was se- lected. The "Tally Ho" running to Yonkers (Getty House), starting from (Hotel Brunswick), New Y^'ork. The "Tally Ho" was put back again on the New Ro- chelle road in 1 878, running from (Hotel Brunswick) New York to New Rochelle (Hugenot Hotel), but in conse- quence of the bad condition of the roads, the coach had to stop running. During the foregoing season A. FowTies acted as guaril and coachman. To show that the interest taken by the jmblic in coaching was not allowed to abate, the following article copied from the "'New York Herald," of April 3, 1880, may be interesting reading: "On Wednesday, April 21, Colonel De- Lancey Kane will start with his coach Tally Ho' for the season of 1880. From New York to New COACHING IN AMERICA. 177 Koclielle is the route selected, and tbe same places as in former years will be passed through, yiz., Harlem, Mott Haven, Fox's Comers, Westchester, Pelham Bridge and Pelham. The changes of horses will take place as for- merly. During the past winter the coach has been en- tirely reappointed, the original color having been retained. A glance at the official time table below shows that the ''Tally Ho" will leave the Hotel Brunswick at 10 a. m. and arrive at New Kochelle at 12 m. Fully three hours and a-half may be i)assod at the Castle Inn, as the horn of the guard ^^^ill not give notice of the return trip until half-past 3 p. m. At half-past 5 p. m. the Hotel Brunswick will be reached. Beside the attraction of the route, which is one of great beauty, always pleasant, often picturesque, and occasionally romantic. Travelers by the "Tally Ho" will find a most charming old- fashioned hotel in the Castle Inn. The house has been leased by the Queen's County Hunt, T\ith forty a«res of land surrounding it, for a hunting headquarters, and they have furnished it, so as to make it a regular old- fashioned country hotel of the first-class. Passengers will find on the grounds the Hunt model kennels, which haye just been completed, containing over forty hounds, ten additional couples having arrived from England on Thursday last. There are now over thirty horses in the Hunt stables, and fox hunting in its best form is regular- 178 ©RIVING AS I FOUND IT. Ij carried on every Wednesday and Saturday at lialf- past 1 p. m. The field is open to all comers, and every body will be made welcome. " Mnch has been done to the roads by the village author- ities, through which the coach will pass, and the road between Pelham Bridge and New Kochelleis now being macadamized by the residents of the neighborhood in view of the 'Tally Ho's' return. The coach, in short, will be well-horsed, admirably managed and capitally driven. It will as heretofore run regularly, rain or shine. The Coaching Book ^ill be open in a few days, when places can be secured for weeks in advance. As stated in the foregoing article, the roads had been repaired and the weather being exceptionally good, that season, everything proved very satisfactory. In this year Frank Swales was professional coach- man, and H. Distin acted as guard. It ^dll not perhaps be out of place to mention that the name "Tally Ho" has been wrongly applied to e^^ery old ramshackle ve- hicle drawn by four horses. It would be equally reason- able to name a barge or rowboat "Mayflower" or "Volun- teer," as to call all coaches "Tally Hos." There being no new aspirant in 1881 to take up and follow in the footsteps of the Colonel, who during the time the "Tally Ho" ran, was sole proprietor, and bore COACHING IN AIVIERICA. 179 the entire expense himself. A few members of the Coaching Club, at that time in its infancy, started the "Tantivy" by subscription, and starting from Kew ^'ork (Hotel Brunswick) made the (Tarrytown Hotel) Tarry- town, its terminus, A. Fownes, ])rofessional coachman, and K. Graham acted as guard. The following are the coaches in chronological order and may be used for reference: 1882. The Tantivy's second appearance, running from New York (Hotel BrunsAvick) to Yonkers (Getty House), H. Evans, guard. 1883. No coach ran this year 1884. "The Greyhound" started on its first trip from New York (Hotel Brunswick) to Pelham (Country Club). C. D. Iselin, G. R. Roosevelt, Proprietors. H. Distin, guard. 1886. The subscription coach "Tantivy" again made its appearance this season running to (County Club) Pel- ham, from New York (Hotel Bruns^^'ick). F. Cunard, guard. 1887. The "Tantivy" starting from New York (Hotel Brunswick) running to Pelham (County Club). F. Swales, prof, coachman, ; F. Cunard, guard. 180 DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. 1890. The ^'Tanth^" starting from New York (Hotel Brunswick) to (County Club) Westchester. H. Distin, guard. The principal owners of the "Tantivy" were Colonel Jay, Frederic Bronson, Esq., Hon. Hugo Fritsh, Isaac Bell, Esq., T. K. Koosevelt, Esq., and Reginald Rives, Esq. 1891. In consequence of the bad condition of the roads there was no coach run this year. '»z:$=i-i!^-:^=w«' ALL ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS WORK ON DRIVING DRAWN BY WALTER PETTEE ARE COPYRIGHTED AND CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE PUBLISHERS. LONDON HARNESS AGENCY. Highest Award Paris Exposition, 1890. MARTIN & MARTIN, MANUFACTURERS OF LONDON WEST END HARNESS AND SADDLERY. Our stock comprises full line of Four-in-hand, Tandem, Landau, Brougham, T Cart, Dog Cart, and Eusset Leather Harness suitable for Surreys and Buekboards. All newest designs in Driving Aprons, Crook Whips, Coach, Post and Taudem Horns, with extra extensions to improve the tone. Patent rubbir mouthpieces. SADDLERY. CROPS, . LADIES' & GENTS' RIDING & DRIVING CLOVES. POLO GOODS, WHIPS. REGISTERED MARTIX SADDLE, FOWN'S, SLEEP'S, DENT'S, GRANT'S. EVERY ESGLISH STABLE REQUISITE KEPT IN STOCK. All goods sold by us are made at our London West End Establish- ment. THE VALUE AND 3IERIT we offer cannot possibly be equalled by any other house, as all INTERMEDLITE PROFITS are saved. LONDON HOUSE: 103 aioucester Eoad, South Kensington, London. PHILADELPHIA: 1,713 Chestnut Street. 235 FIFTH AVE., near 27th Street, NEW YORK. CARRIAGES FOR The Boulevard, The Park, The Country, The Seashore, AND FOR PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS USE. Each and Every One Adapted for Its Special Purpose. kimbalTbros., FACTORY AND WAREROOMS, NOS. 110, 112 AND 114 SUDBURY STREET, BOSTON. jeNKINS, 304 f\fE\\ fWllfiUE, NEiAi VORK KND l-ONDON. Specialties : Liveries, Riding Breeches and Leggings, Hunting and Driving Suits. Successors to Messrs. Redfern & Son's, Gentlemen's Department. Late with Hammond & Co., Celebrated Breeches Makers, London. HANSOM CABS, SKELETON AND Body Breaks AND ALL KINDS OF VEHICLES OF SPECIAL DESIGNS Built to Order. FINE REPilRING IN ALL BRANCHES PROMPTLY EXECUTED AT MODERATE PRICES. ALFRED J. WALKER, umm mummii 142 EAST 4IST STREET, NEW YORK. ESTIMATES FURNISHED. •3 Do kr Ever Look Like THIS! ''"^''ii%iiiiiiiiiiBiiiii;;;7:iiailiii Or do they grow so FOUL and SOUR your Horses will not drink from them ? Why not have THIS ||iiijliiiiiiip Have you any PRO- ^■||jl|ipf ' about your stable? WRITE FOR FULL CATALOGUE. CORDLEY & HAYES, Sole Agents, 173 and 175 DUANE STREET, NEW YORK. £STABL.1SH;KD 1835, ENGLISH AND FRENCH HARNESS AGENCY. Stable Outfitters. Correct Styles. Vienna Leather Goods. .iSCCA^f^j-^ Co goS OJL 254 BOYLSTON STREET, BOSTON, MASS., U. S. A. Agents in America for Frencli Straight Seat Saddles. 13. oro^i^. TJ^II-OR •••• MND ••••• I7VIRORTER, 71 BEACON ST., BOSTON. Agent for Whitaker & Co. and Hill Brothebs, London, West. DeNT'S E)\l(iUS|^ b^WllfiCi (ieoi/E5; ALSO Walking, etc., for Ladies and Gentlemen, TO BE OBTAINED OF ALL Hijli-Class Men's Furnishers and Other Dealers Throughout the World. DR. W. T. CARMODY, (Member Koyal College Veterinary Surgeons, London.) VETERINARY SURGEON, Office: 826 Seventh ive., Corner 53d St., New York. Telephone Call 632 38tli St. Kesidence, 60 West 37tli St., N. Y. JOHN REYNDERS & CO., o jpor loi A.IV » . The highest gi-ade of spectacles, eyeglasses, opera and field glasses. Our latest novelty The "Electric" Race and Field glass with instantaneous opening and clos- ing arrangement. Oculists' Formulae receive our careful attention. 303 Fourth Avenue, N. E. Cor. 23rd St., NEW YORK. Peter White. ^_+ Benjamin Kerr. HARNESS MANUFACTURERS. LANDAU, BROUGHAM, T-CAET, COUPE, DOG CART, TANDEM, AND FOUR- IN HAND HARNESS, CUSTOM MADE AND TO ORDER. LIGHT ROAD HARNESS A SPECIALTY. All Requisites forthe Stable Constantly on Hand and of the Best Quality. 13 EAST 27th STREET, NEIR FIFTH AVENUE. m:tj]li^er. HABIT MAKER, Inventor and patentee of the IMPROVED AMERICAN RIDING HABIT SKIRT. Unsurpassed in Fit, Elegance Comfort and Safely. NOTICE TO OUT-OF-TOWN LADY PATRONS.— Unless measure for bodice can be taken and fitted in my estab- lishment, orders for riding skirts only will be received and executed, and cloth sold for bodice. Directions for tak- ing measurements for skirt sent on application. No pat- terns sold. (4 West 23d Street, Opposite Fifth Avenue Hotel, NEW YORK. Frederick Lee, MANUFACTUKEK OF BEST LONDON HARNESS AND SADDLERY, 65 Long Acre, London, England. I take great pleasure In announcing that I have opened a Bkanch Es- tablishment at r^o. 5 ^W. 20i±L St., TSTe-vvr York, (OPPOSITE DELMONICO'S.) where will be offered for inspection a choice selection of very best LONDON HARNESS and SADDLEEY. It is now over 20 years since my manufactures were first introduced into the States, and the increasing demand for same has necessitated the opening of the above premises. Should you trust me with any of your kind favors, I assure you that you will find my goods of the very finest quality, at the most reasonable prices, and your wishes carried our with promptness. Thanking my many pairons for their past favors, I am. Yours Respectfully, FREDERICK LEE. JOHN M. jenny" NEW YORK LIVERY BOOT MAKER, 19 West 28th Street, Two doors East of Broadwaj^ NEW YORK. A larj^e assortment of English Boots and Tops consta.ntly on hand. JOHN WIRTH, 155 West 28th Street, Bet. 6th and 7th As^es., NEW YORK. DRIVING LESSONS. Ladies and gentlemen taught to drive Tandem or Four-in-hand. Horses bought and sold on commission and broken to all kinds of harness. Terms on application. F. SWALES, log West 33d Street. Also care of J. T. BURGESS, 54 West 23d Street. i€ DRIVING AS I FOUND IT." For sale at all the principal Book Stores and Harness Agencies throughout the United States, or at either of the above addresses.