CONSTRUCTION OF COACHES. 97 



for the purpose of carrying the luggage, etc., some 

 with and some without the perch,, and found the 

 great diflFerence between them. Those without perches 

 required . very little attention or repair ; the others 

 as they came in required extra repairs, attended with 

 much expense in order to keep them in a fit 

 state. 



Mr. Purcell also gave a comparative statement of the 

 running upon the two plans, viz. : The day mail going 

 to Belfast, carrying twelve outside and four inside 

 passengers, and weighing eighteen hundredweight, 

 was built without a perch. It ran for seven months 

 without a bolt or nut stirring, and he expected would 

 run for a great while longer without requiring 

 anything to be done to it, the only expense having 

 been the ordinary wear and tear of the wheels ; but 

 the mails, that carried only six outside passengers, 

 including coachman and guard, were as heavy and 

 constantly needed repair, and in the space of time 

 mentioned a perch for a carriage might be worn put. 

 The coaches without perches, too, were not so liable to 

 accidents generally, or when they did occur were not 

 attended with the same danger as the mails were 

 subject to ; for if an elliptic spring broke, it still 

 continued connected in three out of the four points 

 of connection, and the coach might safely travel 

 to the end of its journey; or if an axle-tree broke 



7 



