CARRIAGES. 



489 



A WHEEL SETTER. 



previous to the employment of the leathers. For the wheels a setter, 



or a machine to raise them from the ground, cannot be dispensed with ; 



a mop and a pail to remove the dirt; a 



brush to cleanse the angles ; also sponges 



and leathers to thoroughly purify or polish 



the surface — all are needed. There should 



also be a superior brush for the lining; 



and another brush, with an additional 



leather, to brighten the brass or plated 



ornaments upon the exterior. 



To polish the last, no preparation ex- 

 cels prepared chalk, when mixed with soap 

 and water. It thoroughly removes every 



impurity, without sensible wear of the substance to which it is applied. 

 In this last particular, it possesses an immense advantage over the gritty 

 pastes sold for the purpose of polishing metals ; for this material acts 

 chemically and mechanically on such surfaces. The prepared chalk may, 

 moreover, be purchased at every chemist's, the charge commonly being 

 a shilling for the pound; while the other ingredients are found in every 

 household. 



In one respect, few servants are sufficiently careful. They imagine 

 whitening and other filths are indispensable when glass is to be cleaned. 

 The prejudice originates in ignorance ; for glass requires nothing except 

 two leathers, or a sponge and a leather, to render it perfectly bright. 

 The first article should be merely moist, the intention being to loosen 

 or to remove the superficial dirt. After this has been accomplished, the 

 dry leather is brought into play to cleanse and to polish the metal. By 

 such an easy and so simple a resort are prevented those accumulations 

 round the edges of windows, and the soiled condition of the frames 

 which disgrace too many carriages, and which certainly would generate 

 no regret if rendered altogether impossible. 



The lining does not need so much care as might be imagined. Unless 

 the weather be hot and the roads very dusty, it will hardly require more 

 than a single brushing. A brown holland cover for the interior has 

 become general ; but such a thing, when soiled, should never be sent to 

 the family washerwoman. The article may come home washed, starched, 

 and ironed to perfection ; but in these processes it is sadly stretched and 

 pulled out of shape. The holland never sets well afterward, and very 

 speedily requires the cleansing to be repeated. 



The proper method, and not the dearest in the end, is to return such 

 things to the carriage-maker, by whom such matters are understood; 

 the article will be returned cleansed and calendered, looking like new 



