8 THE COACH-HORN: 



only urge my readers, as I said before, to take the 

 trouble and to practise. 



I quite agree with them that it is not exactb." a 

 treat to hear a novice trying to blow a Coach-horn in 

 a house or in quiet lodgings, and therefore I would 

 recommend learners always to carry a mouthpiece in 

 their pockets. An ordinary cornet mouthpiece will 

 do, and blowing on this occasionally in the manner 

 I have described, whenever they feel inclined or have 

 the opportunity, will harden the lip and accustom it 

 to the mouthpiece, whilst the noise produced will not 

 even " wake the bab}^ " or cause an}' other more 

 serious domestic disturbance. 



A gallant Colonel, an eminent cornet player, whose 

 name I am scarcely at liberty to mention, told me of 

 a capital hint to persons learning to blow, which is to 

 place a hair inside the mouth and then try to spit it 

 out cleanly. This strikes me as an excellent sugges- 

 tion, for the action of blowing a Horn is ver}- similar 

 and a hair is a very difficult thing to spit out of the 

 mouth cleanly, as I observed. It is important to men- 

 tion that when sounding a Horn on a coach, it is 

 alwa3's advisable for the performer to turn his head 

 aside a little, so as to avoid blowing right into the 

 teeth of the wind. Attention to this little point will 

 make a great difference in the ease of blowing. 



Again, when driving through London or an}' other 

 large cities, the Horn should be used only when 

 necessary to clear the road of the innumerable 'buses 

 and cabs, both " growlers " and " hansoms," which 

 block the way, rendering it almost impossible to 



