I 6 CH. II 



CHAPTER II 

 GENERAL CHARACTER OF A COACH 



As at present built, either for public or for private 

 use, the coach is essentially the same as that which 

 existed at the time when coaches in England were 

 superseded by railroads. 



A distinction is made, however, between a drag, 

 built for private use, and a road-coach, * or public- 

 coach, intended to carry always a full load, and to be 

 driven at a high speed over long routes. The drag 

 is made lighter than the coach, but between the two 

 extremes of weight and of finish there are many 

 grades, depending upon the taste of the owner. 



Some men, living in the country and liking to 

 drive long distances, use their coaches like road- 

 coaches, at high speeds and with changes of horses ; 

 certainly the most ' sporting' way of doing the thing. 

 A coach for this purpose should be built almost 

 exactly like a public-coach. Other men use their 

 coaches only about home or, if they live in a city, 

 principally in park driving, with small loads, at a 

 moderate pace, on good roads, and such a coach 

 should be two or three hundred pounds lighter than 

 a public-coach, and may be slightly ornamented with 



* Road-coach has come to be an accepted name for a public-coach 

 or a stage-coach, but public-coach is more strictly correct. 



