SPRINGS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17922, 16 November 1923, Page 5

SPRINGS.

AN OLD INVENTION. A handsome machine, with steel springs for the ease of passengers and the convenience of the country, began Monday, July Bth, 1754, to set off from Chelmsford every morning at 7 o'clock, Sunday excepted, to Bull Inn, to be there at 12 o'clock, and to re-' turn the same day at 2 o'clock. "To be informed, if God permits, by Tyrrell and Hughes." So says a notice that appeared in the Ipswich Journal of August, 1754, snowing that even at that period the comfort of passengers was considered a valuable asset for any vehicle. The earliest known device to protect passengers from the shocks of the road was used on .Roman waggons, built during the. third century. The, body of this waggon was set in the middle of two long poles, connecting the front and rear axles. The passengers enjoyed whatever shock absorbing qualities the poles had, which, at best, could not have been very comfortable, for the body was clumsy and the poles stiff and unyielding. The next step in spring development came with a small four-wheeled carriage with the body suspended by long leather straps from elaborately carved posts set upright at the corners of the axles. By swinging tp and fro, the body partially absorbed the shocks of the road. A small carriage of this type was built for the marriage of Duke John Frederick, in 1527. Accurate information concerning the development of steel springs is very meagre. It is definitely known, however, from English patent office records that a patent for a steel spring was granted to Edward Knapp as early as 1625. It was not used extensively until some forty years later (1670), when a spring vehicle, resembling a sodan chair on two wheels, called a Bruette, became popular in Paris. Two long poles, extending forward, were held by the runner in a manner similar to that of the jinrikshas of Japan. Leaf springs came into use about 170Q t . The name of the inventor and the date of the invention are not definitely known. These 'slightly curved and tapered springs, called whip springs, were- fastened at the middle to the standard posts, and from their tapered ends, the body of the carriage was suspended by. leather straps. It is easy to believe that this was a radical improvement over the old method of suspension, but it was not entirely satisfactory, as the long straps still permitted a great deal of swinging, tilting, and jerking. In America, in i 766, ten years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, two partners had a stage route thirty-six miles long. The proprietors probably were serene in their opportunity until a .competitor came along with "good stage waggons with seats set upon springs."