Seat belt

“ In reality they are ordinary cars with two rows of swivel seats down the center; seats supposed to pivot in every direction unless their action is impeded by the passenger's hand baggage, which the porter promptly piles around the chairs, leaving one barely room to place his feet and no chance at all to swing the seat. ”

“ In early times rush always served a function in the seats of chairs and stools, and was very seldom if ever used on the better class of furniture. The use of cane or rush on furniture for decorative purposes only is distinctly a modern idea. Utility rather than beauty prompted the introduction of seats of rush.
Modern furniture of excellent design and workmanship employs rush seats. These are either woven over a separate frame and inserted or are an integral part of the chair, being woven over the seat rails of the chair itself. Fig. ”

“ Few stretch out a hand to help a ragged or a decrepit man into the vehicle; and the well-dressed draw back and avert their heads as the impoverished wretch forces his way with difficulty past them up to the vacant seat in the farthest corner. The moment a well-dressed individual mounts the steps of the omnibus, every hand is thrust out to help him in, and the most convenient seat is instantaneously accorded to him. ”

“ There is no smug Pullman attached to the train, and the day coaches of the East are replaced by free chair cars, with each seat cut into two adjustable plush chairs, the head-rests covered with doubtful linen towels. ”

“ In all his young life he had found no sport so good as riding on the seat beside that father while he drove the express wagon; a shiny green wagon with a seat close to the front and a tilted rest for one's feet, drawn by a grand black horse with a high-flung head, that would make nothing of eating a small boy if it ever had the chance. ”

“ True, the boy (or, in some instances, the girl) who takes the horse back after you have done with it, rides behind. His seat is your valise, and his weight determines the subsequent condition of its contents! There is a charming lightness in these carioles. The springs are good, and the seat is easy. A leather apron reaches to your waist to shield you from the dust or rain; and, drawn by a Norwegian pony, such a drive is wonderfully exhilarating.
THE NATIONAL VEHICLE.
These little carriages have, however, one great fault,—their want of sociability. ”

“ If the first part of the ascent had proved perilous, this last section—the gingerly mounting of a ladder of chair rungs and legs uneasily poised upon a cushioned seat—was as hazardous as ever human experiment had been. The frail structure creaked and trembled beneath him, as, with infinite caution and testing, he swung one long leg after the other up the frail scaffolding. An unworthy eagerness made his heart beat when he was within the last rung of the top chair seat. The glass of the skylight was all but within his reach ... ”

“ As a rule those in use are so low that the horses’ quarters are in front of the footboard instead of being under it, and the driver is consequently too far from his work. In modern breaks the driving seat and boot are built almost exactly like those of a coach, where the footboard is well over the horses’ quarters. That portion of the footboard which comes over the roller bolts should be about five feet from the ground, which gives room for the horses underneath. ”

“ The Seat Cushions should be covered on one side with Leather, and on the other with Cloth.
Let the Stuffing at the Back be no thicker than necessary to make it easy, i. e. about 21⁄2 inches in thickness.
Have the Lid of the Sword Case to fall down with the back attached, instead of lifting up, being much easier to put in a parcel without troubling the passengers to rise. ”

“ For the little chair, first take the bundle of rushes which forms the curved back, and curve it into place and tie it round here and there with a little wool to keep it firm while the seat is being made. This will be better described by the diagram than by words. Each rush composing the seat must be added successively from the back towards the front, and when arranged, and the ends turned back or forwards to form front and back [86] legs, stays can be made of single rushes and all carefully bound in neatly with wool; wool holds much more firmly than cotton thread. ”

“ On the journey up river, on the little stern-wheelers, space is a great consideration, and a big trunk quite un-get-at-able; one feels less compunction in improvising a seat out of a tin box than out of a leather one, and seats have to be improvised very often on these occasions! ”

“ Running along each side of the compartment, just under the windows, is a long, leather-covered bench, which serves as a seat during the day, and a berth at night. It is equally uncomfortable in both capacities. ”

“ Do not wear too many fluttering ribbons, especially if occupying that coveted position—the box seat. It does not add to the skill and accuracy of the driver at a critical moment to have a fluttering ribbon cut like a whip-lash across his eyes. ”

“ Here is another coat, which ensures you a soft and dry seat wherever you may sit down (Fig. 10) —a peculiarly appropriate coat for a third-class smoking carriage: "In the back part of the coat there is placed, between the lining and the cloth, a bag or cushion, which, when inflated, forms a seat. A small tube of india rubber extends from the bag to the side pocket." Fancy travelling by train, not knowing such a thing as this coat existed, and seeing your fellow passengers gradually rising higher and higher in the world on the seat opposite to you—how uncanny it would be! ”

“ Take care to make the saw-cuts inside the two-inch mark, so that the rails will fit snugly into the corner-posts without any play. There is nothing so annoying in a chair as to have it loose-jointed and rickety.
A wooden seat sixteen inches square, with the rear corners cut out to fit around the back posts, is nailed or screwed fast to the top edges of the upper rails all around; and for the back a twelve-by-sixteen-inch piece is cut and screwed fast in the laps cut at the upper ends of the back posts, as shown in Fig. ”

“ Should he be invited to enter the carriage with them, he always takes the back seat—that is, with his back to the horses—unless specially invited to the front one. He must not either raise or lower the windows unless requested to do so. ”

“ The housings leave much to be desired, and the seats are much out of repair, and one is lucky to find the foot-board slung at a usable level and fairly horizontal, and if the protecting rail of the seat does not slip out. ”

“ The back is straight upright and the seat is of cane, cone-shaped, the highest point being in the centre. Now as the curves and gradients of the line are very sharp indeed, it is necessary to hold fast the whole time, to prevent slipping on to the floor. If one puts a foot on the opposite seat to steady oneself, it at once revolves, leaving the leg in mid air. However, we fix ourselves in as well as possible and enjoy the magnificent scenery. ”

“ Several of those machines denominated Pedestrian Hobby Horses have been exhibited here this week. The principle of this invention is taken from the art of skating, and consists in the simple idea of a seat upon two wheels propelled by the feet acting upon the ground. The riding seat or saddle is fixed on a perch upon two double shod wheels, running after each other, so that they can go upon the footways. ”

“ In the lining and trimming of a carriage, form, colour, and proportion are all requisites. All dress carriages have hammercloths or coloured drapery surrounding the driver’s seat. This forms a most prominent object, and if it does not harmonise with the rest of the vehicle the proportion of parts will be destroyed. The general form of the outline must be regulated by the lines of the ironwork or framework on which it is supported. ”

“ The Seat thereof to hold Two persons, should be thirty Inches wide and twenty Inches deep, inside measurement. The Cushion should be of equal thickness, and not higher on the Driving side, as it is in a Gig, because when only the Coachman is on the Box, he should sit in the middle of it. There should be a Pocket on each side in the lining, for putting Tickets in. ”

“ These perforations make the seat light, and also ventilate the same. The edges of the seat rest upon and are secured to the chairframe; and in Fig. 2 the frame is rabbeted to form shoulders, f, upon which the edges of the seat rest. I claim as my invention; (1) as a new article of manufacture, a chair-seat formed of laminae of wood, with the grain crossed, glued together, and concave on the upper surface, and convex on the lower surface, adapted to a chair-frame, substantially as set forth. ”

“ This usually prevents the chair from squeaking, due to a loose seat.
In constructing the wood frame for this kind of seat allow at least 3/16 inch for the thickness of materials. More allowance should be made for thick material and genuine leather.
Attach webbing and burlap in the usual manner; then form the hard edge as described previously. The hard edge is shown in Fig. 17 together with tow, wadding, and muslin, and Fig. 18 shows the seat ready for the covering after the trimming of the raw edges. The finished seat placed in a rocker is illustrated in Fig. 19. ”

“ By taking into consideration the sitting or standing position of the body, in connection with the circumference measure of the seat, it is absolutely necessary that the location of the seat line be positively known when the garment is apart and spread upon a flat table, like a pattern. Always bear in mind that the seat line in front will be three and a fourth numbers above the point of the crotch and about two and a half numbers higher on the back, or whatever the spread of the angle of fifteen degrees across the back may be. ”

“ It is always correct, under any circumstances, to carry a lap robe, and while in the show ring it may remain on the seat on the left side of the driver. For other occasions it is better to spread it over the knees to keep off the dust. ”

“ The body, as shown, is in the form of an inverted box, the motor, H, and driving gear being accommodated within the downwardly opening inclosure constituted thereby, and the body also has the upwardly open box-like forward extension, or pit, A2, for the accommodation of the feet of the rider, the rider's seat being constituted by the top forward portion of the box body. ”

“ Your seat is not less awkward and difficult; for the skin of the ox, unlike that of the horse, is loose, and, notwithstanding your saddle may be tightly girthed, you keep rocking to and fro like a child in a cradle. ”

“ She found her new seat no more comfortable than the one before it, and shifted in turn into all the corners of the carriage, and down the middle as well, till at last she had tried every possible part of it. In each place she felt less at ease than in the one before. She got up and looked into the empty racks, under the seats, beneath the heavy cushions, which she lifted with difficulty. Then she put all the packages back again into the rack, dropping several of them in her nervous hurry, and being obliged to kneel on the floor to recover them from under the seats. ”

“ The present arrangement of the controlling devices, when the steering column has the proper tilt and height, and the levers are at a suitable distance from the seat, seems to be an ideal one so far as convenience of operation is concerned, but it should be quite possible to find an equally convenient arrangement that is also free from the objection of obstructing the most convenient entrance to the front seat. ”

“ The inside seats should be at least six feet long, so as to take four people comfortably on each side; a second seat behind the driving seat as on a coach can be added, and if necessary can be made removable. ”

“ The canvas or leather seat may, with straps, be so fastened to the hooks in the body of the carriage, and the upright irons, as to make it a very comfortable easy seat; and the servant being thus a part of the equipage, is always at hand for use, either in opening gates, or in case of accidents; besides, he never can be left behind at the inns where you stop, or elsewhere, which is for ever the case when a servant is on horseback: he is hardly ever with you, when you most want him ”

“ One of the nicest of light vehicles in use is a kind of basket carriage, seated for four, or for two with a vis-à-vis folding down seat for one or for two more behind the box, the box seat sometimes holding a fifth, and occasionally there is a light miniature rumble behind holding another. ”

“ The height of the capping of the seat-back should not be more than fourteen inches above the seat, or the shoulders of the person kneeling and resting his arms upon it will be forced upwards, and will not be at rest.
The height of a seat-back which will meet the case of a person when thus kneeling, is the most suitable and convenient height for him when sitting. It leaves the bones of the shoulders at liberty to move freely above it, as they ought to be able to move, and it supports the spine. ”

“ An elastic or swinging seat, couch, or bed, for preventing the uneasy motions of a ship or a carriage, has recently been invented. To effect this, the frame of the seat or couch is suspended on juribals or joints, turning at right angles to each other, and an elasticity is produced both in the seat or cushion, and in the swinging frames, by the use of spiral metal springs. ”

“ There is no rest for the occupant's back; and while the seat is more than large enough for one, it [Pg 284] is not large enough for two persons. It is a sort of sledge on wheels. The noise made by these low-running conveyances as they are hurried over the uneven pavements is almost deafening. ”