Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/302

CAKRIAGE. 254 CARRICKFERGUS. duction was at first vigorously opposed by the sedan chairmen and by the boatmen on the Thames. The general use of carriages dates from the Eighteenth Century, but their greatest development did not occur in England until the Nineteentli Century. In the early part of that century, as a result of the work of Telford and Jlacadam, the highways of Great Britain were put into a condition which made vehicu- lar traflic easv and pleasant. About this time (in 1804) Obadiah Elliott, a coach-maker of J.ambcth, patented a device by which veliicles •vvcre hung upon elliptical springs, thus doing away with the lieavy jjcrch, or longitudinal wood or iron pole, which had always been used to con- nect the front and hind wheels of four-wheeled carriages. So important was this invention con- sidered, that Elliott was awarded a gold medal by the Society of Arts. With this invention modern methods of carriage construction began. Jlodern carriages are manufactured in great variety of form and mode of structure. The simplest form is the buckboard, in which the only spring is the long, llcxible board which is attached directly to the hind axle and separated from the front one by a king-bolt. There are nuiny forms of light four-wheeled carriages, usu- ally drawn by one liorse, which are classed under the general name of buggies, and which may or may not have folding tops. As an example of the latter class the runabout is a light and ]iopular type. The surrey is a two-seated bugg'. Then there is a large group of more elaborate hooded carriages, in which the driver's seat may or may not be on a level with the rest of the carriage, and in which there is often much glass used. These vehicles reach their greatest elabora- tion in the barouche and the brougham. There is a group of two-wheeled pleasure vehicles, in which the shafts are more or less rigid; as part of the load is borne by the horse. These are described under C.rt. Fashion and utility produce frequent changes and developments in carriages, and to the many forms different names are applied in different countries and at different times. Shooting-traps, golf-carts, mail-phaetons, and spiders are in- stances of vehicles which in many cases are used for purposes widely different from those for which they were originally designed. Victoria and cab- riolet are the names of open-hooded carriages with two seats, while the vis-i-vis, an ojien car- riage often fitted with a canopy, has seats for four people in addition to the coachman and groom. The landau is a large carriage for four passengers, whci'c the top may be folded back, thus transforming it from a closed to an open car- riage. Somewhat resembling the brougham, but liigher, lighter, and somewhat less prctentioiis and costly, thus making it particularly available for use in the country and i-iualler towns, is the rockaway. Of similar construction, but lacking the more solid frame and glass of this vehicle, is the depot-wagon. The wagonette, which may or may not have a roof, consists of a bo.x-scat for the coachman or driver in front of two longi- tudinal and parallel seats. The brake, which is well suited for four-in-hand driving, is a high vehicle with two. three, or four parallel and trans- verse seats. senMng as a substitute for the road coach (jr drag. (See Co.cii and CoAriiiNO.) The brougham or eoupC with little transformation becomes the 'four-wheeler,' which, especially before the introduction of th(5 hansom, in America, was known as a cab, while the French fiacre and the tierman and Russian drosvhke may be considered a modified form of the victoria or cabriolet. The chaise, which is a term usually applied to a two-wheeled cart, now practically obsolete, was at one time extensively used, and in the United States was known as a shay, the word being |)re- scrved in the familiar poem by Holmes, entitled ■'The One-Ilorsc Shay." Of the vehicles used for the convenience of the general public, the cab, the stagecoach, and the onmibus are the principal types. The cab, or hansom cab, is a two-wheeled vehicle with the driver's scat behind and above the body of the carriage. It was invented in 1835 by an Englishman named Joseph Hansom. The devel- opment of the stage-coach is described under Co.vt'ii. The omnibus is arranged with the en- trance for passengers at the back, an aisle run- ning lengthwise with a row of seats on each side facing each other. The onmibus came into use in England about 1829. The introduction of the steam railway and the street railway has per- haps decreased the use of omnibuses more than any other class of vehicles, though for many years (hey have formed an inleresting feature of Paris and London street travel. The name and essential features, however, are ]n-escrved in a (dass of pri- vate carriage constructed on .a smaller scale, and carrying more passengers than the usual three- seated vehicle. The most notable feature in the construction of carriages at the beginning of the Twentieth Cen- tury is the increased use of rubber tires for both city and country vehicles. The pneumatic tire, first used about 1800, did not meet with imiversal use, being confined to trotting sulkies, riuiabouts, or heavy omnibuses. Later solid rubber tires were improved and made adaptable for all kinds of pleasure vehicles and are now found univer- sally. The "good-roads' movement in the I'niled States has caused a quite general adoption of broader tires, especially for wagons to carry heavy loads. The different forms of horseless carriages are discussed under .i_noMOBiLE. For further information, consult: W. Burgess, Practical Treatise on Coach-BuHdinq (London, laSl ) ; G. A. Thrupp, nintort/ of the Art of Conch- Btiildiiifj (London, 1877). Sec Cart; CoAcir ; CoAOiiiNo; Driving; Hak.som; Ph.eton ; Wao- ONETTE. CARRIAGE, Gun. See Ordna.ce. CARRICAL, ka'rd'kal'. See Karikal. CARRICKFERGUS, knr'rik-fcr'giis (ir., ■Rock of Fergus, naincd after Fcrr/us JIacKrch). A seaport town of Ireland, on Belfast Lough, 10 miles north-northeast of Belfast (Map: Ireland. F 2). Though within the ccmnly of Antrim, it forms of itself the county of the town of Carrick- fergus, about 25 square miles in extent. Carrick- fcrgus extends nearly a mile along the north- western shore of the lough. The fishery of the bay, which is famous for oysters of an unusual size, employs a large number of the inhabitants. Salt of superior quality and in great abundance is mined. There are spinning-mills, bleaching estiiblishments, and manufactures of linen ami cotton fabrics. Its chief fc:iturc is the pic- turesque castle, erected by Dc Courcy in the Twelfth Centurv-, on a rock about 30 feet high, nrojecting boldly into the sea, by which it is 1