8o CH. V 



CHAPTER V 

 ACCESSORIES 



Brake. — Coaches are now always fitted with a 

 brake, consisting of blocks which can be pressed 

 against the tires of both hind wheels. The blocks 

 are fixed to arms projecting from a horizontal shaft 

 which runs across under the body of the coach, 

 turning in suitable supports or brackets fastened 

 to the under side of the body. An arm projecting 

 upward from this shaft, passes into the body and 

 is pulled forward by a rod leading from the front 

 boot and connected with the handle of the brake, 

 the upper end of which is on the off side of the 

 boot. 



Every maker has his own way of carrying out 

 these details, but that arrangement in which only 

 the upper part of the brake-handle is visible from 

 the outside is the neatest. 



The block which rubs against the wheel may be 

 made of iron, or of wood covered with some ma- 

 terial, or of wood alone. Iron is the least satis- 

 factory, because it does not take a good hold of the 

 wheel, and because it frequently makes a noise ; it 

 lasts, however, a long time. Wood covered with 

 leather holds well, but the leather requires frequent 

 renewal and is almost always ragged and torn. 



