CARRIAGES. 493 



be better for many parties could proprietors condescend to exercise a 

 little more caution in this particular; as a capable dependent alone 

 ought to be created potentate over all the contents of the stable. 



All that essentially concerns a carriage having now been stated, the 

 subject, as the reader will have perceived, is not remarkably difficult to 

 understand. A few questions, therefore, put to the candidate for a situa- 

 tion, would speedily elicit whether the applicant comprehended the duties 

 of that office which he aspired to undertake. Ignorance can by its mis- 

 doing prove quite as harmful as the most designing malice. Much money 

 and no little vexation would be spared could gentlemen practice a rea- 

 sonable precaution before trusting in the discretion of a stranger. 



It was formerly a rule among the trade to allow five per cent, every 

 year off the employer's bill as a gratuity to the servant. This custom 

 was general, not only with the carriage builder, but with all persons who 

 had dealings with the stable. It even extended to those whose services 

 were only occasionally retained, involving the veterinary surgeon, the 

 shoeing smith, etc. The reason upon which such a habit was based 

 being a desire to bribe the coachman, that he might damage what the 

 trades-people would be required to repair ; or, at all events, it was a fee 

 commonly paid, hoping it would encourage the extravagance which it 

 was the master's interest to restrain. " The good old days," however, 

 are past I Most carriage builders have learned, from experience, their 

 best interests are promoted not by the fragility, but by the enduring 

 quality of those articles which they supply. Most proprietors also know 

 how long a sound conveyance should endure, as well as what ought to 

 be the average cost for repairs. 



The more respectable houses, even now, certainly give trifling presents 

 to the deserving domestics whom they encounter ; but such presents are 

 bestowed rather to induce care than to encourage willful damage of the 

 manufacture, for the tear and wear of which the donor is responsible. 

 In proof of this, the head of an establishment may frequently be seen 

 walking about, restless with pleasurable emotions, when a vehicle which 

 was built by his house shall last a month or two over the regular period 

 for renewal ; and the servant would therefore find he had embarked in a 

 losing speculation, who should damage his master's property with the 

 intent of increasing his occasional gratuity. 



