Arpeggio

“ On any night the spectacle was beautiful. The absolute perfection of all the appointments about the carriages and the harness, their strength, their brilliant cleanliness, their beautiful simplicity—but, more than all, the royal magnificence of the horses—were what might first have fixed the attention. Every carriage on every morning in the year was taken down to an official inspector for examination: wheels, axles, linchpins, pole, glasses, lamps, were all critically probed and tested. ”

“ When first leaving port, studding-sail gear is to be rove, all the running rigging to be examined, that which is unfit for use to be got down, and new rigging rove in its place; then the standing rigging is to be overhauled, replaced, and repaired, in a thousand different ways; and wherever any of the numberless ropes or the yards are chafing or wearing upon it, there “chafing gear,” as it is called, must be put on. This chafing gear consists of worming, parcelling, roundings, battens, and service of all kinds—both rope-yarns, spun-yarn, marline, and seizing-stuffs. ”

“ Four railway carmen he met, driving their vans, instead of the “Hello!” and the mystic twist of the whip, there was first a glance of cautious recognition, then a steady look ahead, with an air of absorbed interest, as though realising for the first time the horse's presence. ”

“ I was afraid something like this would happen, so I came prepared for it. I've got ropes and pulleys with me, in the car. We'll fasten the rope to the machine, attach one pully to the bridge, another to the car, and I guess we can get out of the mud. ”

“ Throughout our slumbers the clank of the machinery, the shrill whistles to go on ahead, or turn astern, sounded till morning came, and when one by one the citizens of our little world turned up on deck, each felt, as he saw the wheels revolving and the wire rope uncoiling from the drums, that he was assisting at an attempt of singular audacity and success. ”

“ The cars of the gods and goddesses are composed of four rafters squared and hung on a thick rope in the form of a swing or see-saw; between the rafters is a cross plank on which the god sits down, and in front hangs a piece of coarse cloth, well dirtied, which acts the part of clouds for the magnificent car. One may see, towards the bottom of the machine, two or three stinking candles, badly snuffed, which, while the great personage dementedly presents himself swinging in his see-saw, fumigate him with an incense worthy of his dignity. ”

“ Would your Carriage displace along the road four horses on each stage?—Two ten-horse Engines would displace the whole number of horses along the stage.
Have you made experiments which enable you to answer these questions?—I was not at all prepared; my principal object bas been to ascertain what power I have to do a certain work; I have paid very little attention to horse power.
Do you think that your Carriage is equivalent to a four-horse Carriage on the road, in the number of persons it would draw?—It is more than equivalent to it, from the circumstance of its being able to do more work. ”

“ As on a waggon’s axle the wheels revolve and the axle standeth still and beareth the whole waggon and governs all the motion; while the wheel turns about, and the nave next to the axle moves more steadily and more securely than the fellies do: in such a manner that the axle is the highest good, which we call God, and the happiest men move nighest to God, even as the nave moveth nighest to the axle, and the middling sort are just like the spokes ”

“ Countless carriages were there; those which had deposited their freights were drawn up on the opposite side of the square, wheel to wheel, like a park of artillery; others were setting down past the lighted portico, which was crowded by servants in livery. ”

“ The turns are frequent and sharp; and the heavy, overladen vehicle, in its furious downward career, gives a swing at each, as if it would cut short the passage into Italy, and land the passenger, sooner than he wishes, at the bottom. At length, after four hours' riding, the descent is accomplished. The scene has changed in the twinkling of an eye. The plain is as level as a floor. ”

“ The pole they draw by is sloped upwards towards the end; which is rais’d considerably above their heads; from whence a chain, or rope, is let down and fasten’d to their horns; which keeps up their heads, and serves to back the carriage. ”

“ As soon as the rain leaves off and the sun comes out again, he stops the carriage, and dresses himself once more. The harness is made of rope, and, as often as not, it breaks. Then you have to wait while your coachman goes to the nearest shop or house in order to beg a bit of string wherewith to repair the damage. ”

“ In the decade between 1876 and 1886 came also the hydraulic dredger, the gas engine, the enameling of sheet-iron ware for kitchen use, the bicycle, and the passenger elevator, which has transformed city life and dotted our great cities with buildings fifteen and twenty stories high. ”

“ The holes are then stuffed with tow steeped in resin and oil; a rope is looped round the pole, and two young men, who must be brothers or must have the same baptismal name, and must be of the same age, pull the ends of the rope backwards and forwards so as to make the pole revolve rapidly, till smoke and sparks issue from the two holes in the door-posts. The sparks are caught and blown up with tinder, and this is the new and pure fire, the appearance of which is greeted with cries of joy. ”

“ To draw or drag a ship or boat by means of a rope attached to another vessel or boat, which advances by steam-power, rowing, or sailing. The Roman method, as appears by the triumphal arch at Orange, was by a rope fastened to a pulley at the top of the mast. They also fastened a rope to the head of a boat, and led it over men's shoulders, as practised on our canals at the present day. ”

“ This operation is very similar to the way a canal-boat is dragged along a canal through the green fields of England, only that men have, in the case I am describing, to do the work of horses. A tow-rope was made fast to the fore-mast, and about a third of each ship’s company were ordered to drag their respective ship ahead. Away we went, as usual, with song and laughter, tramping along the ice for miles together, and towing our homes, like snails, after us. ”

“ There is a rush of men, the click of a bolt, a red fire-engine, spitting and swearing with the sparks flying from the furnace, is dragged out of its shelter. A huge brake, which holds supplementary horses, men, and hatchets, follows, and a hose-cart is the third on the list. ”

“ To sit properly in a carriole, you should be rather round-shouldered, as its shape is not unlike half a walnut, scooped out. The post-boy sits behind, or stands up, as a groom does in England; but his position must be uncomfortable in the extreme, as the carriole has no springs, and bounds and jumps heavily over ruts and pebbles, causing him to fidget at intervals, and make an exclamation of discomfort most irregularly. The shafts and wheels are slight, and the body painted uniformly of a chocolate colour. ”

“ The uninitiated may think that the man on the bridge, revolving a spoked-wheel with apparently small exertion, is directly moving the rudder to port or to starboard as he wishes. But the helm of a large vessel, travelling at high speed, could not be so easily deflected were not some giant at work down below in obedience to the easy motions of the wheel. ”

“ Field-carriage. Field-gun carriages consist of two short cheeks of wood, bolted upon a stock and wooden axle-body, in a recess which fits the iron axle on which the wheels are placed. The stock terminates in a trail and trail-plate which rests on the ground, and has on the end a strong ring called the lunette, which is placed on the pintle-hook when the piece is limbered. In the stock is placed an elevating screw-box of bronze in which the elevating screw fits. ”

“ I should say that the joint action of the horses and drag would be more injurious than the Steam Carriage, the motion of which was regulated in the above manner, provided the wheels were of the proper width, and the total weight not greater than that of the coach and horses. ”

“ A make-shift framework, on small solid wheels, has been used and recommended.
Towing.--A good way of fastening a tow-rope to a boat that has no mast is shown in the diagram, which, however, is very coarsely drawn. A curved pole is lashed alongside one of the knees of the boat, and the tow-rope, passing with a turn or two round its end, is carried on to the stern of the boat. By taking a few turns, more or less, with the rope round the stick, the line of action of the tow-rope on the boat's axis may be properly adjusted. When all is right the boat ought to steer herself. ”

“ I once beheld a gentleman performing in Hyde Park, who, finding himself seriously incommoded with the slack of his reins, stretched out his right hand over the left, seizing the reins in front of it, and then, like sailors hauling a rope hand over hand, proceeding to pass his left hand to the front and take hold of them in front of the right hand. ”

“ Men and horses collect the last remnant of their strength. Every moment one fancies they must break down. The towing-rope, a three-inch cable, is as taut as a bow-string, and the iron bolt round which the rope is wound is burning hot with the friction. The captain stands by with a sharp ax in his hand. ”

“ Riders Are Timbers of a large Scantling fay'd within Side of the Foot Waaling; the Floor Riders are wrought over the Keelson; and the lower Futtock Riders Scarphs to the Floor Riders from the Keelson to the Orlop Beams. Rigging Are all the Ropes whatsoever belonging to a Ship's Masts, Yards, or any Part about her; and she is well rigg'd when all her Ropes are of their fit Length and Size, in Proportion to her Burden. Right the Helm A Sea Phrase used by him that Conds to the Men at the Helm or Steering Wheel, ordering them to keep the Helm even in the Middle of the Ship. ”

“ But when the cab arrived at a place where some dipping streets met, and the flaming front of a music-hall temporarily widened my cylinder, behold there were many cabs, and as the moment of necessity came the horses were all skaters. They were gliding in all directions. ”

“ As yet, no serious accident has happened. Let us hope none ever may! The principle of construction, with a central notched rail, tightly grasped by a cog-wheel, besides [pg 561] the powerful brakes belonging to each carriage, seem to promise fairly. The trains, too, proceed in reality so slowly, and with such caution, that a man is always able to walk in front of the first carriage. ”

“ Nothing to do but hitch your rope ladder to the battlements, shin down it, break your leg in the moat—because a rope ladder is nineteen foot too short, you know—and there’s your horses and your trusty vassles, and they scoop you up and fling you across a saddle, and away you go to your native Langudoc, or Navarre, or wherever it is. ”

“ While threading the way through the intricate labyrinth of waggons, stages, falling horses, and locked wheels, it is highly unpleasant for the denizens of private carriages to find the end of a pole through the back of the equipage, or to be addressed by the coachman, "Massa, dat big waggon is pulling off my wheel." ”

“ The material was the silver-like metal of which most Martial vessels and furniture are formed, every spar, pole, and cross-piece being a hollow cylinder; a construction which, with the extreme lightness of the metal itself, made the carriage far lighter than any I had seen on Earth. The body consisted of a seat with sides, back, and footboard, wide enough to accommodate two persons with ease. ”

“ The branch horse-railroad already reaches one of the main entrances, and brings down crowds of people every day and evening, and especially on the evenings in which the band plays. At such times the avenues are not only thronged with superb equipages and crowds of people, but the whole harbor is alive with row-boats, sail-boats and yachts. ”

“ Fancy a driver travelling every day with high wooden fences on each side, fancy the amount of good timber needed to block the open view, fancy the agony of travelling by train, and then fancy the great silliness of doctors talking like that. ”

“ Hold on to it and work the wheel round with your hands till a float projecting a little beyond its fellows comes opposite you. In this you’ll find a slit cut, ending in an eye-hole. Pass the rope, as it dangles, into this hole, and keep it in place by a turn of the iron button that’s fixed underneath the slit. Now step on to the broad float, never letting go the rope, and the weight of your body will turn the wheel, carrying you downward till a knot in the rope stops your descent.”
“What then, dad?”
“My son—you’ll see the place that for twenty years has held the secret of my fortune.” ”

“ At T, is a small roller, merely for preventing the ground rope from coming up among the machinery. At the head of the railway, and under the tackle-board, is a wheel and pinion Z, with a crank for tightening the ground rope. The fixed machinery at the head, for hardening or tempering the strands, is similar to that on the carriage, with the exception of the ground-rope geer, which is unnecessary. ”

“ The slope here is so precipitous as to be impracticable for horses. A railway has accordingly been constructed, but the car is pulled up this almost perpendicular height not by steam or electricity, but by rope and pulleys, along the rails! ”