ON COACHMEN. 



249 



hips have had against the hoop of the box, when I was 

 young and light, as the coach proceeded at a good rate 

 over a broken pavement ; and a coachman being thrown 

 from his box, when wide-awake and sober, was then a 

 common occurrence. Perhaps it is not generally known, 

 that to Mr. Warde, of Squerries, are we indebted for the 

 first coach box ever placed upon springs. He prevailed 

 upon the proprietors of the Manchester ' Telegraph ' to 

 adopt the use of them, and thence they were called 

 Telegraph springs. 



By the way — speaking of the Manchester ' Telegraph,' 

 and the improvement of the present race of coachmen — I 

 am induced to touch upon the celebrated opposition 

 between that coach and the ' Defiance,' which lasted 

 longer, and was carried on with more spirit than any 

 other upon record. Both coaches have stood their 

 ground, and are worked in a very superior style ; but my 

 chief reason for mentioning them here is, to pay a tribute 

 to the two very swell coachmen who drove them out 

 of London at least fifteen years ago ; and who may almost 

 be said to have set the example of neatness in dress, 

 and respectability of appearance and demeanour, which is 

 so characteristic of coachmen of the present day. These 

 were, John Marchant on the ' Telegraph,' and Bob Snow 

 on the ' Defiance ' — the latter for some years past a pro- 

 prietor of, as well as at work upon a Brighton coach, 1 

 Rather a singular circumstance attended my first acquaint- 

 ance with him. I was going down the road with his Man- 

 chester coach, and I had appointed an old friend in his 



1 < The Dart.' 



