MODERN CARRIAGES. 367 



much needed in a public vehicle on two wheels low suspen- 

 sion, for safety in case of the horse falling, and facility of 

 entrance and exit he had not the skill to utilise his materials 

 to the best advantage, such as is expected of all carriage builders 

 who are masters of their craft. 



He had, as an architect, been brought up in the use of 

 materials where weight was of no consequence, and his patent 

 for some years prevented others showing him the way to do 

 better ; in fact, after his death, the cab-builders copied his 

 designs, using a low standard of materials and workmanship 

 making up in substance and weight what was deficient in 

 quality and skill. When, about 1873, the Society of Arts 

 offered prizes for improvements in street cabs for London, 

 coachmakers turned their attention to the matter, and Forder, 

 of Wolverhampton, showed how the weight could be reduced 

 by the use of better materials and more skilled workmanship. 

 He mounted his vehicles on lighter wheels, reducing the weight 

 of the undergear, and making the body correspondingly lighter. 

 His neater and more comfortable interior fittingsT suited the 

 public taste in this country, and led to an export trade to other 

 countries, where hansoms have since been adopted and copied. 

 The laying of better road surfaces of wood and asphalte in 

 London has induced many of the cab-owners to go a step 

 further and put indiarubber tires on the wheels. 



Messrs. Laurie & Marner of Oxford Street had, about the 

 year 1842, introduced a close carriage midway between a 

 brougham and a coach, which they called a 'clarence,' 'sove- 

 reign,' or ' carriole.' It had very curved and rather fanciful lines, 

 seated four persons inside, was entered by one step from the 

 ground, carried the coachman and footman on a low driving seat, 

 and was used with a lighter pair of horses than the family coach 

 required. They afterwards made such carriages with landau 

 heads, and David Davies introduced a novelty in such carriages 

 by providing the front windows with bent plate glass. They 

 were all hung on elliptic or other combination of springs that 

 did not need a perch to sustain them. The celebrated novelist 



