To acquire a general idea of Distances, draw on a Map, of the scale before mentioned, Circles around your House of two Miles, of three Miles, and of four Miles in diameter, the Semi-diameter of which will give the distance from your residence of a Mile, a Mile and a half, and Two Miles, i. e. of Shilling, Eighteen-penny, and Two Shilling Fares.
Hackney Coaches travel, on an average, about 5 miles an hour, seldom more than 6, nor less than 4:—therefore, riding at the rate of 5 miles in an hour, costs about A Penny a Minute; and when you have been carried for 12 minutes, (look at your Watch when you enter the Carriage, and make allowance for stoppages,) you may reckon that you have 12 Pence to pay:—above 24 minutes, the Fares increase in a higher ratio, as above Two Miles is 3s.
The advantage of such Calculation is, if you are set down a few Poles within Two miles, you save, first, Sixpence on the Ground, and secondly, the extra Sixpence to which the Coachman is entitled on exceeding every Two miles; making the difference of a Shilling for perhaps a single Yard.
Before you get into a Hackney Coach, take the Number: it is especially advisable to do so, when you hire a Coach to carry home Ladies, and then do it in such a way, that the Driver may observe that you have taken his Number; and to complete your Care, ask the Coachman what his Fare is, which, if your Gallantry is as great as your Circumspection, you may perhaps do yourself the pleasure of Paying.
If the Coachman conducts himself improperly, or if any thing is left in the Carriage, apply to your friend Mr. Quaife[27]: by summoning the Coachman to the Hackney Coach Office, at the bottom of Essex Street in the Strand, or to one of the Police Offices, you will most probably recover it.
Avoid any dispute with a Hackney Coachman—pay what he demands, although you know it to be more than his Fare, and seek redress at the Office in Essex Street.
The Driver of a Hackney Coach has the option of charging[28] either for the Time he is detained, or for the Distance:—Time is rated at less than half what is charged for Travelling.
When you intend to be charged according to the Time you keep the Coach, in order to prevent any dispute when you discharge it, tell the Coachman the time when he first arrived, making allowance for the minutes that he has been coming from the Stand whence he was called.
The Machine used to measure the distances at the Hackney Coach Office is called “a Perambulator,” or “Surveying Wheel.”—This consists of a Wheel which is 8 Feet 3 Inches, i. e. half a Pole, in circumference; so in two revolutions it measures one pole, or 16½ feet. One revolution of this Wheel turns a single-threaded worm once round; the worm takes into a Wheel of 80 teeth, and turns it once round in 80 revolutions: on the socket of this wheel is fixed an index, which makes one revolution in 40 Poles, or one Furlong; on the axis of this worm is fixed another worm with a single thread, turning about a wheel of 160 teeth, whose socket carries an index that makes one revolution in 80 Furlongs, or 10 Miles: on the dial plate there are three graduated circles; the outermost is divided into 220 parts, or the Yards in a Furlong; the next into 40 parts, the number of Poles in a Furlong; the third into 80 parts, the number of Furlongs in ten Miles, every Mile being distinguished by its proper Roman figure.
The above Apparatus, Mr. Harris, Mathematical Instrument maker, No. 50, High Holborn, makes for £12. 12s.: it may be attached to the wheel of a Carriage, and the Dial will shew the progress made in Travelling, and then is called a Way-wiser.