92 THE COACHING ERA 



darkly if opposed; the Defiance boldly challenged 

 competition; The Eclipse, arrogantly conscious of its 

 merits; The Fearless, secure in its own perfection; The 

 Magnet attradfed customers; The Argus so wideawake 

 that no subterfuge on the part of its opponent could 

 escape it; and The Peerless, which disdained the possi- 

 bility of a rival to its perfedlions. 



Very different to these challenging names were those 



.of coaches which pursued their own way and eschewed 



competition, as The Live and Let Live, The Give and 



Take, Economy without Monopoly, and others of like 



import. 



The names painted on the backs of the coaches were 

 by no means the only steps taken for their advertisement, 

 for when competition was so keen coach proprietors 

 were ever on the watch for some telling point that 

 would proclaim the superiority of their coaches, or pour 

 derision and ridicule on the opposition. 



So fierce was the hatred and competition that existed, 

 that proprietors would go to extraordinary lengths in 

 their endeavour to drive a hated rival off the road, and 

 persist in their endeavour until one or both were ruined. 



The first bait to catch travellers was to lower the 

 prices, and once two coaches started to do this there was 

 no knowing where they would end. When one of these 

 contests was in progress on the Bath and Cheltenham 

 Road, the fares descended from ^i, is. to 15s.; then with 

 a run to los., 7s. 6d., 5s., 2s. 6d. and is. Matters did not 

 stop even there, for neither of the coaches would give 

 way or come to a compromise, and one of them adver- 



