TIMBER EMPLOYED IN COACH-BUILDING. 365 



Coaches are made in three sizes. The heaviest 

 four-horse stao^e-coach, such as would be used for 

 passenger traffic, weighs about 22 cwt. ; the weight 

 of a full-sized private coach, built with a view to 

 lightness, is about 19 cwt. ; and the weight of 

 the smallest coach made is from i;)^ to 18 cwt. 

 English ash is used for the framing of all coaches ; 

 Honduras mahogany for the panels, and pine for 

 the roof, floor, and divisions. The usual height of 

 the front wheels is 3 feet 4 inches, and the height 

 of the hind wheels 4 feet 3 inches ; they should be 

 283^ inches apart. The set of eight springs should 

 weigh about 250 lbs. The length from splinter-bar 

 to after part of coach, in a full-sized coach, is 10 feet 

 9 inches, the height from the ground to the roof 

 is 6 feet 1 1 inches. The tires of the wheels of a 

 full-sized coach are i^ inches wide, and M inch thick. ■^"' 



The best kind of brake in my opinion to apply to a 

 coach-wheel is one that you work with a circular 

 handle in connection with a screw. This brake gives 

 you enormous power, and the wheel which you touch 

 to set it in motion is fixed close against the driving- 

 seat. Such a brake was made in St. Petersburg for 

 Prince Bariatinsky, and is fitted to a small coach which 

 a very short time ago was standing at Messrs. Hol- 

 land's coach-building establishment in Oxford Street. 

 The English brake is very good, but, unless made 

 strong, the lever sometimes gets bent ; besides which, 

 by the use of a screw instead of a lever, one can exert 

 a much greater mechanical force. 



. * This inf )rmation was supplied to me by Mr. Kesterton, who now 

 presides over the business of Holland & Co., Oxford Street, London, 

 who have a world-wide renown for the excellence of their coaches. 

 With Mr. Kesterton I have been acquainted for now more than 

 twenty years, and am well aware of his experience in the highest 

 class of coach-building. 



