106 DRIVING. 



their master pays to his carnage, are careless and neglectful ; 

 the carriage is either not washed at all, or it is only half done. 

 The under part and corners are scamped. Dirt means wear, 

 and it is thus expensive to keep dirty carriages. 



The sensible master, on the other hand, when his carriage 

 is announced, makes time to walk round and examine the vehicle 

 and harness, and the consequence is that the coachman, know- 

 ing that shortcomings will be noticed and mentioned, does his 

 own work and takes care to see that the men under him do 

 theirs. The master has his reward when the bill comes in, 

 and finds that the few minutes he has bestowed upon his be- 

 longings have been highly remunerative. 



Most persons who keep one carriage choose a waggonette 

 if for country use, or a brougham for town. The former, as 

 remarked in a previous chapter, is a comparatively modern 

 invention that is to say, it has only been in use some forty years. 

 Of late years it has extensively taken the place of the phaeton, 

 and is in many respects a more convenient carriage for general 

 use perhaps the most convenient that could be desired, though 

 it is never wise to suggest that finality has been reached. The 

 waggonette may be of any size, for one horse or two ; access to 

 the body of the vehicle is easy, for the steps behind can be 

 arranged in any way that is suitable, the seats can be made to 

 fold down so that the carriage may be used for the conveyance 

 of large quantities of luggage and a great advantage a hood 

 can be constructed for use when needed, the addition being 

 kept in the coach-house slung on pulleys so as to be readily 

 lowered and fitted or raised. Thus fitted, the waggonette 

 becomes a sort of miniature omnibus. With carriages, as with 

 so many other things, it pays best in the long run to get a 

 thoroughly well made vehicle from a good maker. With luck 

 it is often possible to pick up a sound and serviceable article 

 second hand, and if this be overhauled and approved by an 

 expert, money can doubtless be saved ; but such chances, if 

 they come, are outside the range of our present enquiry. A 

 waggonette of first-class manufacture, well, but not expensively, 



