“The Guide or Engineer is seated in front, having a lever rod from the two guide-wheels, to turn and direct the Carriage, and another at his right hand, connecting with the main Steam Pipe, by which he regulates the motion of the Vehicle--the hind part of the Coach contains the machinery for producing the Steam, on a novel and secure principle, which is conveyed by Pipes to the Cylinders beneath, and by its action on the hind wheels sets the Carriage in motion. The Tank, which contains about 60 Gallons of water, is placed under the body of the Coach, and is its full length and breadth. The Chimneys are fixed on the top of the hind boot, and, as Coke is used for fuel, there will be no smoke, while any hot or rarified air produced will be dispelled by the action of the Vehicle. At different stations on a journey, the Coach receives fresh supplies of fuel and water. The full length of the Carriage is from 15 to 20 feet, and its weight about 2 tons. The rate of travelling is intended to be from 8 to 10 miles per hour. The present Steam Carriage carries 6 inside and 12 outside Passengers. The front Boot contains the Luggage. It has been constructed by Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney, the Inventor and Patentee.” Gurney was held, by a Parliamentary Committee, to be “foremost for practical utility”; but that statement was owing, there is little doubt, to the influence of his many friends in Parliament. Hancock’s steam-carriages were at least as efficient--but then he had no such influential supporters. Gurney claimed to have lost £36,000 directly in his experiments, and a much larger sum indirectly, through the excessive tolls imposed, and brought his grievances before Parliament. A Committee recommended a grant of £16,000 to him, as the first to successfully apply steam-carriages to use on public roads. [Illustration: GOLDSWORTHY GURNEY’S LONDON AND BATH STEAM-CARRIAGE, 1833. _After G. Morton._ ] In 1824 Walter Hancock was experimenting on similar lines, but it was not until 1828 that a proposal was made to run a service of steam-carriages between London and Brighton, and not until November 1832 that his “Infant” actually made the attempt. It had already, at the beginning of 1831, plied for public service as an omnibus between Stratford and London, and now was to essay those 52 miles between London and the sea. It performed the double journey, but, owing to lack of fuel on the way, not in anything like record time, although it is said in places to have attained a speed of 13 miles an hour.