[Lands of the Slave and the Free by Henry A. Murray]@TWC D-Link bookLands of the Slave and the Free CHAPTER III 13/16
These carriages are supported at each end by four wheels, of thirty-three inches diameter, fitted together in a frame-work, and moving on a pivot, whereby to enable them to take more easily any sharp bend in the road.
Their weight is from ten to twelve tons, and their cost from 400l.
to 450l.sterling.The system of coupling adopted is alike rude and uncomfortable; instead of screwing the carriages tightly up against the buffers, as is the practice in England, they are simply hooked together, thus subjecting the passengers to a succession of jerks when starting, and consequently producing an equal number of concussions when the train stops. From the foregoing sketch, it will be seen that the narrowness of the seats is such as to prevent its two occupants--if of ordinary dimensions--from sitting together without rubbing shoulders.
It will also be observed, that the passage through the centre of the carriages enables any one to pass with ease throughout the whole length of the train.
This is a privilege of which the mercurial blood and inquisitive mind of the American take unlimited advantage, rendering the journey one continued slamming of doors, which, if the homoeopathic principle be correct, would prove an infallible cure for headache, could the sound only be triturated, and passed through the finest sieve, so as to reach the tympanum in infinitesimal doses.
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