288 BUYING AND SELLING HORSES. 



consummated ; for, if the sale is made without the full endorse- 

 ment and approval of this important functionary, the horses will 

 almost invariably go wrong in some way and the deal will be 

 upset. It is the coachman who has the full charge of them, 

 and he can easily make it appear to his employer and to his 

 employer's family that the horse or team does or does *not suit 

 them. 



In many cases the dealer will find this functionary of such 

 a grasping and penurious disposition as to require from fifty to 

 one hundred dollars. In some cases I have known them to de- 

 mand more than that ere his permission for his employer to 

 make the purchase could be obtained, but when this matter is 

 once amicably settled with the coachman he at once becomes a 

 powerful auxiliary in making the sale and also in making it 

 a permanent and satisfactory purchase to his employer, no mat- 

 ter whether the animals are quite all right or not. 



It is always seen by the shrewd dealer — this great necessity 

 of being in the good graces of the coachman, as on him alone, 

 in many cases, hangs the possibility of a sale. Of course this 

 $50 or $100, or whatever the coachman's fees, as it is called, 

 may amount to, necessarily comes out of the purchaser, as, with 

 the present competition in trade, no dealer can afford to take 

 this sum out of his profits. Consequently the dealer in fine 

 goods of this description is forced by circumstances to fix his 

 price at such a sum above what he would otherwise be willing 

 to sell them in order to meet the above contingencies of trade. 



