The tandem of Mr. G. F. McCandless (Plate XXXVI.), an honorary member of the New York Tandem Club, will be remembered by those who saw it in the competitions at the first horse show; for effective association of colors of horses and cart, as well as for other appointments, it stood at that time unrivalled, whether seen on the road, in the park, or on the tan-bark of Madison Square Garden. The illustration is by Gray-Parker. It is only a sketch, and in it there are defects which did not exist in the original. For example, Mr. McCandless's position on the box is too rigid and straight; the wheeler is too far away from his work. Nevertheless, the drawing is very smart. This is a good example of the "going-to-cover" cart described above. Mr. McCandless, whose taste in such matters will not be questioned, has in use the harness recommended in this article.
Inquiries are sometimes made as to the correctness of using either the leader's loin-strap, or wheeler's kicking-strap alone, that is, either without the other. Both are practical appliances, and either or both may be dispensed with, though the loin-strap seems to be necessary for sustaining the very considerable length of the lead traces; while the kicking-strap, except for finish, is necessary only when a kicker in the shafts is to be restrained. A breeching for the wheeler, entirely useless on the level, is indispensable for journeys through a hilly country.
Views differ as to the length of lead traces. It is admitted that to place a draught-horse as near his work as possible is preferable, but it is claimed that the rule does not apply to a tandem leader, who works only on heavy or hilly ground, his office being chiefly ornamental; indeed, as a friend of mine used to say, the duty of the leader was to deceive the wheeler, who would cheerfully do all the work in tandem, when he seemed to understand that he was being pulled along, though he was dull in single harness.
A longish tandem is good in outline, and for horses 15.3 hands I prefer lead traces 10 feet to 10 feet 6 inches in length. Short traces, requiring the leader at all times to be in his collar to keep clear of the wheeler, are especially adapted to the use of drivers whose leaders are always at work up hill, down hill, and on level ground; while longer ones are the sort for skilful performers whose lead traces are gently swinging when, on smooth roads, the cart seems to run of itself.
Within a few years there has been invented a contrivance for attaching lead traces to the wheeler's harness by two bars, or "whiffletrees," of different lengths, suspended by a chain from the wheeler's hames-chain. For the use of ladies who drive tandem, or occasional experimental drivers of the other sex, such safety arrangement must be invaluable, but tandem drivers of the old school would hardly utilize such substitutes for skill, or, to use an English slang term, they "wouldn't be found dead with 'em," lest they be denied a decent burial.
The driving seat, which is called "the box," is made up of a hollow wooden box, with top sloping, from the required height at the back, to its front edge of, say, two or more inches in thickness, the four sides being covered with the same material as that of the cushion, which is scooped or hollowed on its upper surface, sloped on its side edges, tufted throughout its breadth and depth for firmness, and should be fitted to the driver. For adapting it to the use of all drivers, of whatever length of leg, there is a cushion of no fixed dimensions; but it is found that one comfortable for a man of, say, 5 feet 10 inches, and average weight, with a correct seat and slightly bent knees and feet drawn together, will suit nearly all, the shorter man sitting a little forward and the taller one a little back upon the cushion. A box-cushion so thick in its front edge as to chafe the under side of the legs of a driver with a good seat and feet resting naturally against the sloping foot-board, will cause much discomfort.
A score or more of years ago in England was conceived the fad of plain, unshaped box-cushions for coaches, so high at the back and with a pitch so steep that the dragsman could not sit in and could only lean against them, nearly this entire weight being sustained by the foot-board; an example of which may be seen in Barrand's picture entitled, "The London Season," published in 1870. This absurd fashion was short-lived.
If such a cushion is unsuited to a coach, it is even more unfit for a two-wheeled cart, because when the off-side wheel drops suddenly into a hole, or strikes the ground after passing over a considerable obstacle, the driver from his leaning position, his legs being straight and rigid, is liable to be shot out of his seat into the road, or deposited on the wing over the wheel, from which latter place a friend of mine informs me he was often so fortunate, when using the objectionable sort of cushion described, as to be able to scramble back into his place without "pulling up."
Sitting in, not leaning against, a shaped cushion, with body erect and knees slightly bent, and yielding to the motion of the cart, the danger mentioned will be materially lessened, and if forewarned of a wheeler's falling, the driver may save himself from being landed beyond the horse's head, even if he fails to retain his seat in the cart.
It must have been to this conforming to the movement of the vehicle on the importance of which, as affecting safety, so much stress is laid, that the celebrated Jack Mytton owed his preservation when, running his gig-wheel up a bank, he afforded his passenger a new sensation by pitching him out like a sack of meal, and when, also, as was his custom, he charged a gate with his tandem, for he survived those and other similar exploits. In my limited experience in driving tandems I have never had a leader, however vicious, part company with the wheeler and bolt with his harness dangling about him; but if that event is yet to occur, and the twenty-three feet of lead-reins run clear, leaving my wheeler's bridle intact and in place, I shall attribute such good fortune to unbuckled hand-parts, and to the freedom of action of the swivels in my wheel throat-latch, so very practical, and so much to be preferred to the fixtures attaching to the rosettes at the wheeler's ears.