German 1474, Emperor Frederick III. visited Frankfort in a close carriage, and again in the following year in a magnificent cov ered carriage. Shortly afterward carriages began to be splendidly deco rated. At the tournament held at Ruppin in 15°9 the carriage of the Elec tress of Brandenburg was g-ilded all over, that of the Duchess of Mecklen burg, was hung with red satin, and the carriages of twelve other ladies of rank were elaborately lined and ornamented. The weddino--carriaae of the Emperor Leopold's first wife, who was a Spanish princess, cost, tog-ether with the harness, three thousand eight hundred florins. The car riages of the emperor are described as of no great mag,nificence; they were covered with red cloth fastened with black nails, and the whole work was without gilding. The panels of the carriages were of glass, and for this reason they were called the imperial glass coaches. These were distin guished only by having leather traces, but the ladies in the imperial suite were obliged to be contented with carriages having traces of ropes. The harness was black, but on festival occasions it was ornamented with fringes of red silk.
introduction of coaches into England took place during the sixteenth century, and has been credited to Sir Thomas Chain berlayne, who was ambassador to the courts of Charles V., Philip II. of Spain, and the king of Sweden. The oldest carriages used in England were known as chares, cars, chariots, carrouches, and whirlicotes. The earliest English coaches are described as consisting, of a body covered by canopies, which were supported by pillars and surrounded by curtains of cloth or leather, which could be folded up when desired. The coaches were without springs, and were driven by a postilion, who rode the Bear wheel-horse. The driver's seat was added at a later date. Glass windows are said to have been first used in 1631 in the carriage of Mary, queen of Spain. The best-known English coaches possessing a history are Her Majesty's state-coach and that of the lord mayor of London. The latter is the older, having first been used in 1757 for the procession of Sir Charles Asgil, lord mayor elect. The body of this remarkable vehicle was not supported by springs, but hung on heavy leather straps, and the vehi cle was richly ornamented with carving, painting, and gilding. The royal state coach, described as " the most superb carriage ever built," was designed by Sir William Chambers, the paintings on it were executed by Cipriani, and the work was completed in 1761. The entire carriage was beautifully adorned with carved work and gilding. It was 24 feet in length, feet in width, -r2 feet in height, and weighed four tons. Enormous sums were lavished upon the carriages of the wealthy and high born in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A state coach built in
Italy in 1629 for the marriage of Edward Farnese and Margarita of Tus cany was resplendent with two thousand five hundred ounces of silver, and it required the work of twenty-five silversmiths and two years' time for its fabrication. In Italy artists of note \vere employed to paint the panels of the coaches, and in -r,5-r6 Pontormo painted two triumphal cars for Leo X. Figure 8 (pl. 21) exhibits an English coach of the seventeenth century.
Construction of l"ehicics.. Runni construction of the vehicle is quite as important in reference to the amount of load to be transport ed as is the nature of the road. In pleasure-carriages carrying capacity is of secondary importance, the principal object being to secure personal comfort, lightness, and eleg,ance. For convenience, all road-vehicles may be classed as two-wheeled and four-wheeled. From the constructive standpoint, each consists of an under framework (comprising what is com monly called the running-gear) and an upper framework, or the wagon body. It will suffice for the scope of this work to consider briefly the construction of the running-gear only. The most important part of the running-gear consists of the wheels and their axles. The wheels are made up of the hub, the spokes, and the rim (fii. 20,figs. 36, 37). The Inib consists of a solid block of wood (in rare cases of cast iron) strength ened on the outside with bands or rings of wrought iron, a cast-iron or brass box being, let into the centre to serve as a bearing- for the axle, which passes through it. A recess is provided to hold a quantity of grease for lubrication. The perimeter of the wheel is formed of two or more annular segments of wood firmly united by dowel-pins. \\Then only two of these segments are used, they are called half-rims; when more than two seg ments are used in the rim, they are called fellies. The half-rims, or fellies, are held firmly together by a circular wrought-iron band called the tire. This is expanded by heating, then shrunk on, so as tightly to compress the wheel, and bolted. According- to Knig-lit, the circular continuous tire is of American origin, the practice in Europe, until lately, being to make the tire in sections arranged so as to break joints with the fellies. The spokes, usually made of oak (or, for the lighter class of vehicles, of hickory), are radial arms which connect the hub with the rim of the wheel. The foot-tenon of each spoke is inserted into a mortise formed in the hub to re ceive it, and the rim-tenon is similarly inserted in the rim or felly. There are cominonly two spokes to each felly.