430 PUBLIC COACHING CH. XIX 



Under such circumstances the loss of even a few 

 minutes makes it necessary for a coachman to use 

 all his skill to enable him to pull up at his change 

 on time. 



In England the construction of good roads toward 

 the latter part of the last century, the love of coun- 

 try life and its amusements, and the thickly popu- 

 lated state of the country, made travelling by coach 

 a pleasure as well as a business. 



The same kind of talent now bestowed upon rail- 

 way management, was then devoted to coaching, 

 and in connection with the Post-Office system, the 

 Government exercised, with an almost military uni- 

 formity, a rigid supervision over the service. Able 

 and highly placed people were interested in it, as a 

 business. Country gentlemen furnished horses for 

 this important service, and went frequently over 

 their roads, often themselves driving, for the pur- 

 pose of seeing that everything was done properly. 

 A fierce competition as to speed and punctuality 

 sprang up on the important roads, and every de- 

 tail was duly considered by the most competent 

 persons, often under Government penalties as to 

 performance of contracts. It was this series of 

 conditions, lasting through a period of nearly fifty 

 years, that made English coaching the thorough 

 and complete system that it was : the standard 

 for what has now changed from a serious business 

 to an amusement. 



That many men fond of fresh air and horses 



