CARRIAGES.   135

Take, for example, the "sedan" broughams and the cabriolets which have been introduced within the past few years, and are what might be termed elaborations of standard carriages ; even the casual observer realizes that these carriages must be relegated. to the hack stands long before their period of usefulness is accomplished, the only question being whether the hackmen will have them at any price.

The more eccentric the type, the shorter lived it is and the sooner it must be supplanted. This quality is just what is wanted by our rapidly growing class of nouveaux riches. They wish their acquaintances to know that the?/ buy a new carriage every year, so the more noticeable the change the better they are suited. Who can blame the coachbuilders for catering to this class, who form really their best-paying patrons?

It quite often happens that there are several existing designs of the same variety of carriage, all of which may be equally correct. In a proper carriage of any sort we will find the following points : Appropriate dignity with simplicity, well-balanced lines, an absence of elaborate and fancy carving or iron work, and an air of' luxury without ostentation.

Such an effect can only be produced when the proportions and £reatment throughout are in perfect accord-an end much more difficult of attainment than one would at first suppose.

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