CARRIAGES. 481 



necessities of the horses have been attended to, the vehicle should be 

 thoroughly sluiced with cold water, so that not a speck of dirt remain 

 clinging to the paint. At whatever hour the residence may be reached, 

 this operation should never be neglected. The free and copious employ- 

 ment of fluid floated over the varnish is imperative, and (as will be 

 explained hereafter) prevents serious damage. 



There is no occasion, at so late a period, when extreme hours have 

 probably indisposed the servants for exertion, that the carriage should 

 be regularly cleansed with brush, mop, and pail ; but a large watering- 

 pot, kept ready for such uses, will, in a very brief space and without 

 much trouble, pour forth a steady stream of liquid, and float off the 

 loose fresh mud by the simple action of gravitation. This done, the 

 superabundant moisture will have run off the varnish, which was first 

 sluiced, and th^ surface may be roughly dried with a sponge. All being 

 accomplished, the coachman may safely delay his regular routine of 

 duties until he rises on the following morning. 



The reason which necessitates a carriage to be immediately washed, 

 whenever it returns home soiled, is quickly stated. If wet mud be per- 

 mitted to continue and to dry upon the surface, a white, opaque spot 

 will afterward indicate the place to which the dirt adhered. Moreover, 

 a vehicle which is invariably left in its coat of filth until the following 

 morning, always requires repainting and revarnishing twelve months, 

 and very often two years, before the general period for restoration, when 

 the opposite and the more careful measures are adopted. 



Should a carriage have to wait the convenience of its master, it should 

 never rest in the full blaze of the sunshine. Where a choice is possible, 

 the careful servant always withdraws into the shade. It is even worth 

 while that pride should so far sacrifice its feelings as to sanction such a 

 precaution ; for the cool shadow is not only more pleasant for the horses, 

 but is infinitely better than the extreme of glare and heat for the convey- 

 ance to which the animals are harnessed. 



The excess of light causes the varnish to crack, and removes the gloss 

 from the smartest vehicle. The smooth and the highly polished surface 

 suffers ; this, of course, injures the deeper structures. Should the carriage 

 have been purchased from an honest builder, there is small danger of 

 any degree of warmth affecting the main structure ; but if the custom 

 of standing in the sunshine is sanctioned, the paint will not last longer 

 than three years, while, even for that period, the effect will not be good ; 

 since the cracks in the varnish serve as gutters wherein soil will ac- 

 cumulate. 



The well-built body of a regular carriage should remain together 

 while three sets of wheels are used up. The arbitrary dictates of 



