[18] In the _St. James’s Chronicle_ of December 30, 1772, a correspondent “observes with particular pleasure the good effects of the rolling machine on the turnpike road to Stony Stratford. For this important improvement Mr. Sharp is responsible.” The writer proceeds to describe with the exactness and appreciation due to so useful an invention, the first patent of the familiar road-roller. SPEED OF THE 18TH CENTURY STAGE COACH. In 1742, the Oxford coach, leaving London at seven in the morning, reached High Wycombe (about forty miles) at five in the evening, remained there the night, and concluded the journey on the following day. The Birmingham coach made its journey at about the same pace, forty miles per day, resting half a day at Oxford. Night travel does not seem to have been at all usual. Apart from the badness of the roads, the audacity of highwaymen was a sufficient reason for refraining from journeys by night. Some improvements were made in private carriages at this period, but there was little change for the better in the stage coaches, which differed slightly from the “machine” of a century earlier; the driver’s seat was safer and less uncomfortable, and that was the only noteworthy alteration. An advertisement of 1750 announces “accommodation behind the coach for baggage and passengers; fares 21s., and servants 10s. 6d., riding either in the basket behind or on the box beside the driver.” Endeavour to expedite the service between the great towns of the kingdom is shown in an advertisement of the “Flying Coach,” which was put on the London and Manchester road in 1754. This informs possible patrons that “incredible as it may appear, this coach will actually arrive in London in four days and a half after leaving Manchester.” The distance between the two cities is about 187 miles, making the rate of speed a little over 44 miles per day. The stage coach of 1755 is thus described by Mr. Thrupp. “They were covered with dull black leather, studded by way of ornament with broad-headed nails, with oval windows in the quarters, the frames painted red. On the panels were displayed in large characters the names of the places where the coach started and whither it went. The roof rose in a high curve with an iron rail around it. The coachman and guard sat in front upon a high narrow boot, often garnished with a spreading hammer-cloth with a deep fringe. Behind was an immense basket supported by iron bars in which passengers were carried at lower fares. The whole coach was usually drawn by three horses, on the first of which a postillion rode, in a cocked hat and a long green-and-gold coat. The machine groaned and creaked as it went along with every tug the horses gave it, and the speed was frequently but four miles an hour.”