2 THE EXETER ROAD 



third way, over 4^ miles longer than the last, instead 

 of leaving Salisbury for Shaftesbury, turns in a more 

 southerly direction,' and passing through Blandford, 

 Dorchester, Bridport, and Axminster, reaches Exeter 

 by way of the inevitable Honiton in 172 miles, 6 

 furlongs. 



It is thus, by whichever way you elect to travel, a 

 far cry to Exeter, even in these days ; whether you 

 go by rail from Waterloo or Paddington — \1\\ and 

 194 miles respectively, in three hours and three- 

 quarters — or whether you cycle, or drive in a motor 

 car, along the road, when the journey may be accom- 

 plished by the stalwart cyclist in a day and a half, 

 and by a swift car in, say, ten hours. 



But hush ! we are observed, as they say in the 

 melodramas. Let us say fourteen hours, and we shall 

 be safe, and well within the legal limit for motors of 

 twelve miles an hour. 



Compare these figures with the very finest per- 

 formances of that crack coach of the coaching age, the 

 Exeter ' Telegraph,' going by Amesbury and Ilchester, 

 which, with the perfection of equipment, and the 

 finest teams, eventually cut down the time from 

 seventeen to fourteen hours, and was justly considered 

 the wonder of that era ; and it will immediately be 

 perceived that the century has well earned its reputa- 

 tion for progress. 



It may be well to give a few particulars of the 

 ' Telegraph ' here before proceeding. It was started 

 in 1826 by Mrs. Nelson, of the 'Bull,' Aldgate, and 

 originally took seventeen hours between Piccadilly 

 and the ' Half Moon,' Exeter. It left Piccadilly at 



