16   DRIVING FOR PLEASURE.

On the latter point, and on the character of the employees in charge of the horses, the smooth running of the coach is greatly dependent. Oftentimes, when the going is deep and the coach heavily loaded, the horses are called upon to extra exertion in order to make the time-a point, by the way, which is of the utmost importance if the coach is to be well done. When the tired team is taken to the stable the horses should have the best and most conscientious of care. A draughty or badly ventilated stable is therefore to be avoided as far as possible, and great pains should be taken in the selection of the horse keepers. This branch of the work wilt probably be productive of more annoyance than any other, for it is exceedingly difficult to secure a number of reliable men, especially where the coach is to be run for only a few weeks.

Probably there is no coachman of experience but has at some time arrived at one of his changes to find the team either absent or looking as if they had not been groomed, their harness unkempt, etc. If the men turned up at all, they were probably stupid with liquor, necessitating their immediate discharge. Such episodes show the absolute necessity of having a responsible person go over the route every day some little time after the coach, to see that the work is properly attended to. If the proprietors of the coach can not do so-which is by far the best plan-it will

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