A practical treatise on coach-building historical and descriptive : $b Containing full information of the various trades and processes involved, with hints on the proper keeping of carriages, &c.Burgess, James W.
History
A practical treatise on coach-building historical and descriptive : $b Containing full information of the various trades and processes involved, with hints on the proper keeping of carriages, &c.
Burgess, James W.
Carriage and wagon making; Carriages and carts
or guard to keep any one from falling out of the vehicle, and also
the dress of the passengers from becoming entangled in the wheel.
In addition, a long bar of wood, rather longer than the diameter of
the wheel, curved to the shape, called ‘Cupid’s bow,’ is fastened
to the axletree, the linch-pin being outside of it, and the ends of
the bar tied to the ends of the wing by cords. I imagine it to be
placed in order to be a safeguard for the people in crowded streets,
who might be pushed by the throng against the wheel. It will be seen
in many of the models, and also in ancient drawings of Indian and
Persian vehicles. Many of the carts which are designed to carry heavy
loads have a curved rest from 20 to 30 inches long attached to the
lower side of the front end of the pole; this serves not only as a
prop while the vehicle is being loaded, but should the oxen trip and
fall it supports the cart and prevents the load, yoke, and harness
from weighing down the poor animals, as they struggle to recover
themselves. In England we have very few of these humane contrivances;
we have, however, short rests to prop up a hansom cab when not at
work. In India there are several huge unwieldy structures on wheels
called ‘idol cars;’ the name of the car of Juggernaut must be
familiar to many. The wheels of some of these are of enormous blocks
of stone, shaped and drilled for the work. In the Indian Museum is
a photograph of an idol car from South India, in the district of
Chamoondee and the province of Mysore, which deserves examination.
The car appears well proportioned, and the ornamental carvings are
beautiful in design and would bear comparison with most European work.
“The _hecca_, or _heka_, is a one-horse native car, resembling
an Irish car. It consists of a tray for the body fixed above the
wheels on the shafts, and has a canopy roof; the driver sits on the
front edge of the tray, and the passenger cross-legged behind him.
The _shampony_ is the usual vehicle for women, which resembles the
former, but it is larger; the wheels are outside the body, and it is
drawn by two bullocks; the canopy roof is furnished with curtains
that are drawn all round, and the driver sits on the pole in front of
the body. All these native vehicles have wooden axles, which until
recently, I am told, were used without grease, from the prejudices
of the people forbidding them to use animal fat. Some used olive oil
or soap, but in most large towns there are now regulations obliging
the natives to use some substance to avoid the noise and creaking
of the dry axles. The commonest carriages in Central India are
called ‘_tongas_,’ but the universal native word for a vehicle is
‘_gharry_.’”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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