COACH PROPRIETORS. 135 



That Sherman occupied this position in the ' Beau- 

 fort Hunt' case may be assumed from the circumstance 

 that the coaches were all yellow, and one of them of 

 his own peculiar build, somewhat heavy, and not well 

 adapted to such fast work as the ' Beaufort Hunt.' 



It happened that in its earlier days this coach was 

 not particularly prosperous, as with the heavy loads 

 carried, the pace adopted, and the hilly ground below 

 Newbury, the stock got knocked to pieces ; and 

 worse than all, accidents occurred, the coach being 

 upset twice in little more than a fortnight. The 

 consequence was people were afraid to ride in it, 

 and it was doing very badly ; so much so, that the 

 proprietors found it necessary to make some sweeping 

 alterations in order to gain a position for it, restore 

 the confidence of the public, and make it a paying 

 concern. 



As the difficulties and mishaps had occurred on the 

 lower ground, it devolved on the lower-ground man 

 (Lane, at Bath) to remedy them. 



The first step he took was to dispense with the 

 services of a so-called Captain Jones, who was one of 

 the coachmen who had had an upset, and the other 

 man who worked with him between Bath and New- 

 bury. In their places he put on a young man who 

 was a very good coachman, well known on the road, 

 and who had to drive up from Bath till he met the 



