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Perfect as was the turn-out of each of these equipages, and well 

 driven as they invariably were, with the servants smart-looking and 

 properly dressed, there was no item in them which cost much money. 

 ' They include nearly all the classes which are most in use in Ireland, 

 and if men would take pattern from them there would be no cause to 

 find fault with the traps or the driving we see in Ireland. 



These examples can, however, be of use only to those who may 

 remember them. I shall therefore give one of more general utility. 



I allude to the equipages let for hire by Mr. John Wilson, of Sefton 

 Mews, Liverpool. His establishment for construction and con- 

 venience I am sure cannot be excelled, and I readily accept as a 

 fact what I hear, that its equal is not in England. Here are let out 

 for hire every class of trap, from the polo-cart to the coach, numbering 

 some eighty vehicles. In the stalls are fifty horses, with thirty stable- 

 men and drivers. Each of the latter has supplied him for his own 

 use top coat, hat, and gloves, while for special occasions they don 

 livery. Be it to take a man to the railway station with a lot of 

 luggage, to go to the Grand National with a large pirty, or convey a 

 lady through a round of visits, a smarter turn-out or one better 

 driven cannot be found than in the yard I am alluding to. Except 

 the few cabs, none of the traps have an appearance of being hired. 

 The men are tailored better by far than most of the private coachmen 

 in Dublin, while the equipages, their horses, and harness betoken 

 the carriage of a gentleman much more than many of those coming 

 from the stables of Merrion and Eitzwilliam squares. 



My advice to those of my countrymen who sport a conveyance, other 

 than a cycle, is to come and see how Wilson turns out a trap, and 

 take pattern therefrom, and if they make their visit on a Sunday after- 

 noon, when the horses are in their stalls and everything burnished 

 and bright, they will see how a driving-horse stable is kept in the acme 

 of smartness. 



The only department that can be found the least fault with is the 

 harness room, which is altogether too small. Wilson has over one 

 hundred sets of harness, fit to put on any gentleman's horse, with 

 half as many more not quite so stylish. If he had a room where these 

 could be displayed singly along the walls, it would be a sight of its 

 sort nowhere else to be seen. 



Then if a man wants to be suited with a trapper or two, let him 

 visit his sale establishment in Hope-street, and there in the season he 

 can have his pick from some forty horses, many of them Irish bred, 

 but all with English manners. 



The competitions at the Dublin Horse Show have for the past 

 five or six years proved to demonstration how we Irish can be 

 made to improve in our driving. I don't remember much about 

 them previous to 1886, but in that year there was not an Irish 

 entry of much merit. Surgeon Croly's pair. Timekeeper and Strong- 

 bow, was the only Irish tandem worthy of exhibition ; but though 



