BEARING REINS, FAST COACHES, AND LINCH-PINS. 243 



coach. A bent stay worked in what is called a worm 

 screw, which twines around the hinder part of the box of 

 the wheel. When the linch-pin was taken out, the wheel, 

 thus situated, could not be taken off until it made one 

 turn and a half backwards on the axle. The proprietors 

 of this coach having now gone to Messrs. Wright and 

 Powell, their coaches have Mason's patent boxes to the 

 wheels, so that no further danger can be apprehended on 

 this head. The last time I travelled by it, we had one 

 of the new coaches, and Peer said it was almost im- 

 possible to make her roll or swing. 



To show how very little aware passengers in general 

 are of danger in a coach — and 



Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise — 



I will step out of the road for a moment to relate an 

 anecdote of this celebrated ' Telegraph ' : — When the 

 opposition between the ' Independent' and itself was at its 

 height, a lady was booked inside for Southampton, and 

 a friend was appointed to meet her at the usual hour of 

 arriving. As he was walking in the streets, he espied 

 the lady in a coach more than two hours before he ex- 

 pected her, and as soon as it stopped he went up to her, 

 and asked her why she had not come in the ' Telegraph' ? 

 ' Why this is the " Telegraph," ' replied the lady, ' and 

 we should have been here sooner, only we were obliged to 

 wait for horses at Popham Lane.' Now the fact was, the 

 two coaches had been racing all the way down, perform- 



R 2 



