PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE. 435 



thoroughly brushed at stated intervals to get rid of 

 the dust and prevent moths getting into the cushions ; 

 the outside seats should also be beaten and well 

 brushed. 



It must be remembered that if a coach-house is 

 damp, the springs, and all the other iron and steel 

 work, will become rusty and in consequence not fulfil 

 their proper duties. 



The axle-arms should be carefully cleaned and 

 oiled with the best salad oil about every three months, 

 by a person who really understands what he is about. 

 To do this the wheels will have to be taken off, the 

 coach will have to be raised with a carriage-jack, but 

 what is still better is a Jim Crow, such as is used to 

 raise locomotives when over the ash-pit, and which 

 many locomotives carry with them. These small 

 machines, with a very slight alteration, can be made to 

 raise carriages far better than any carriage-jack. I 

 have one myself, but I never heard of any one else 

 using them for such a purpose ; nevertheless, I have 

 conclusively proved that Jim is a better man than 

 Jack. 



All loose bolts and clips about a carriage should 

 be tightened, except those at the end of the springs. 

 Small repairs should never be neglected, as a stitch in 

 time saves nine. If tires of wheels get loose, they 

 should be seen to at once ; if spokes rattle, they should 

 be made fast ; if the washers inside the box of the 

 wheels are worn too thin, they should be replaced by 

 new ones. A good carriage should go to a good 

 coach-builder's once a vear, or the coach-builder 

 should visit the carriage and thoroughly examine it ; if 

 he be an honest man as well as a good tradesman he 

 will tell the owner when it does not require repair, yet 



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