86 WHEELS. 



possible friction ; the carriage is less liable to be over- 

 set ; and the tire runs square on the road, — a matter 

 of no small importance where the felloe is four or five 

 inches wide. 



If the axle of a chaise is made to revolve with the 

 wheel like the axle on railroad cars, there would be no 

 need of boxes in the wheel. The axle would then be 

 framed fast into the hub, and the boxes for the axle to 

 turn in would be on the frame or shaft of the chaise, 

 and the boxes might then resemble staples with nuts 

 to screw on to their points so as to draw them up closer 

 as the axle by friction became less. 



In this mode the friction would be less ; for a less 

 surface would be exposed to friction : oil or grease 

 could be more easily applied, and the wheel need 

 never be taken off unless you break it, as Tom said 

 of his dinner-plate when the waiter offered to change 

 it. Wheels made thus need not be so stout at the hub, 

 and would be much lighter. Little or no noise would 

 be heard ; for, if the boxes were not screwed tight, 

 there would be no tendency, as in case of a loose axle 

 in a hub, to rock to and fro : the pressure of the load 

 would prevent it. The only objection we know of to 

 this mode of hanging chaise-wheels is the difficulty 

 of turning, as both wheels must move together ; but, 

 where a carriage is loaded no heavier than a chaise, it 

 is easily turned, though one wheel may slide. 



Thus we should gain in several points : in a saving 

 of expense, in lightness, in oiling, and in a perfectly 

 quiet movement. This last advantage, a quiet move- 

 ment, is seldom attained in the first run of a chaise, 

 and it is never long kept. When the wheels have 

 worn loose on the common axle, they rattle like a 

 cart, and no bells are wanted to warn the public to 

 clear the way. 



