400 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 



where he acted as vice-president and reporter of the 

 International Carriage Jury, in speaking of coaches 

 exhibited at the Exhibition, mentioned drags as a 

 thoroughly national carriage, which should be copied, 

 not only by France and America, but by other 

 European nations. He qualifies this remark by 

 saying that the French and American coach-builders 

 have shown great aptitude in catching the style and 

 copying the construction which has engaged the at- 

 tention, ingenuity, and varied experience of English 

 coach-builders, as well as amateur and professional 

 drivers for many years past, notwithstanding that they 

 have now arrived at a high state of perfection. 



There are many ingenious contrivances to render 

 them more accessible for ladies. These vehicles, he goes 

 on to say, should be more for use than ornament ; they 

 occasionally get very rough treatment. Moreover, their 

 exposure to the weather and general use at race 

 meetings, cricket matches, and picnics, is a severe 

 trial to carriages of such elaborate and costly finish. 

 A drag should not be pretty, but properly built for its 

 destined use ; if a drag has a habit of rolling when the 

 horses canter or gallop, the discomfort and danger ta 

 those on it is not compensated for by the high polish 

 and brilliancy that is so attractive to the uninitiated. 

 Many of those that carry passengers in and out of 

 London have been very successfully treated in this 

 respect, or they would not have been so well supported. 

 Mr. Hooper attributes much of the skilful work ob- 

 servable amongst the French exhibits in the carriage 

 department, to the sobriety of the French nation. 

 Many of the British carriage workmen, he says, are 

 sober, industrious, and skilful, but they lack the special 

 traininp- of the French. A run of prosperous years. 



