One of the Company’s first concerns was to obtain an improved omnibus, and with that end in view the directors offered a prize of £100 for the best plan of one suited to their requirements. There were seventy-four competitors, and the results of their efforts were displayed, in February, 1856, at the Company’s office, 454, Strand. The two best plans were sent in respectively by Mr. R. F. Miller and Mr. Wilson, but the judges, Messrs. George Godwin, Joseph Wright, and Charles Manby, were by no means pleased with the work submitted to them, and reported to the directors:-- “We have first to express our regret that although many of the propositions display considerable ingenuity and offer here and there improvements, we do not find any one design of supereminent merit, or calculated in its present shape to afford that increased amount of comfort and accommodation your company, with praiseworthy foresight, desires to give the public, and which, moreover, will doubtless be looked for at your hands. “Inasmuch, however, as we are required to select one of the designs as the best of those submitted, considered with regard to your stipulations and wants, we beg leave to point out the design No. 64 sent in by Mr. Miller, of Hammersmith. Inquiry of Mr. Miller, and the examination of a full-sized omnibus built by him (after arriving at this determination) have shown us that if his intentions were more completely expressed in his drawing than is the case, the design would be more worthy of the premium. “We must repeat that we find no design that we can recommend for adoption intact, or which, to speak truly, is worth the premium offered; but there are points about some of them which, being combined, would aid in producing what you and the public desire--a light, commodious, and well-ventilated omnibus. “GEORGE GODWIN, “JOSEPH WRIGHT, “CHARLES MANBY.” Mr. Miller was awarded the prize, but the directors, acting on the advice contained in the judges’ report, had their new omnibuses built from a design which combined the best suggestions of several competitors. In 1857 further improvements were made in the construction of omnibuses, the most important being the placing of five more seats on the roof, thereby making accommodation for fourteen outside passengers. These seats were placed on the near side, and made the “knife-board” omnibus, which has now almost entirely disappeared from London streets, but may be found passing the eventide of its existence in sleepy country towns and populous watering-places.