214 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 



in 1857 there were in London 4312 hackney-cabs 

 and 1019 omnibuses for the conveyance of persons 

 from one part of the metropoHs to another. The 

 extent to which omnibuses are patronised may be 

 estimated from the weekly traffic receipts of the 

 General Omnibus Company, which amounted, in the 

 week ending the 7th of March, 1857, to ^10,818 i^s. 



In New York there are thirty lines of omnibuses, 

 there being 600 of these conveyances in daily use ; 

 the routes of these lines vary in length from three to 

 five miles, the uniform fare is threepence. The 

 number of hackney-cabs is not in proportion to the 

 population of the City, owing mainly to the greater 

 facilities afforded by more popular conveyances, and 

 somewhat to the extortionate demands of cabmen, 

 though their rates are duly prescribed by law. 



The omnibus was introduced into Amsterdam in 

 1839, and since then its use has been extended to all 

 large cities and towns in the civilised world. 



Tramways are an abbreviation of Outram roads ; 

 this seems a rather far-fetched derivation, but it is the 

 fact. Mr. Benjamin Outram, in the year 1800, made 

 improvements in the system of railways for common 

 vehicles. One of the first tramways ran from Croydon 

 to Wandsworth ; this was completed on July 24th, 

 1 80 1. Mr. Outram was the father of the late Sir 

 James Outram, the famous general officer of the 

 Indian Mutiny. 



Since Outram's time an immense number of tram- 

 ways have been established, more especially in the 

 United States ; in New York, and other large towns 

 of America, they are in frequent use. The improved 

 form of tram-car, when introduced into England, was 

 first made use of in Liverpool and Birkenhead. The 



