Mr. Tilling was by no means an omnibus proprietor only. Before he had been established many years he was the owner of coaches, cabs, wedding carriages, and, in short, carried on the ordinary business of a job master. On Derby Day he had, usually, as many as two hundred horses on the course, and although he was present at Epsom thirty consecutive years, he had always so much to attend to that he never once saw the great race run. In fact, on one occasion, when he got back to Peckham, he surprised his chief clerk, who had been in the office all day, by asking what horse had won. After that it need scarcely be said that Mr. Tilling did not indulge in betting. Indeed, betting and swearing were practices which he would not tolerate among his men, although he was one of the most considerate employers that ever lived. Unspoiled by success, unostentatiously charitable and simple in his tastes, he was held in the highest esteem by every man in his employ, and when he died, in 1893, the loss was felt by each of them to be a personal one. There exists, at Messrs. Tilling’s chief offices, a good-sized room containing a pleasing testimony to the interest which the founder of the firm took in his employees. Mr. Tilling, many years ago, ordered that a photograph should be taken, and hung in that room, of every man who had been in his employ for twenty years. As other men completed their twenty years’ service their photographs were taken and added to the collection, and now--for the practice is still maintained--the walls are covered with them. Many of the men whose photographs adorn the room have been in the Tillings’ employ for nearly half a century. One of their “Times” coachmen, whose face is very familiar to frequenters of Regent Street, has driven an omnibus through that thoroughfare for over forty years. His brother has been in the same employ for a still longer period. The office also has its representatives of long service, one gentleman having been engaged there nearly forty years. Mr. Tilling, as already stated, began business with one horse, but the limited liability company which bears his name has now a stud of over four thousand, and possesses one hundred and sixty omnibuses. The horse with which Mr. Tilling started business was a grey, and for many years, in fact until he was compelled by his customers’ requirements to break the rule, he would purchase no horses that were not of that colour. CHAPTER VII Compagnie Générale des Omnibus de Londres formed--The London General Omnibus Company starts work--Businesses purchased by the Company--It offers a prize of £100 for the best design of an omnibus--The knife-board omnibus introduced--Correspondence system tried--Packets of tickets sold--Yellow wheels--The L.G.O.C. becomes an English Limited Liability Company--The first board of directors--Present position of the Company--The Omnibus: a satire--The Omnibus: a play.