If a Carriage be hired for a Day, a Week, or a Month, or for any time less than a Year, the person who let it out pays the Duty.
The customary charge for those common Carriages, whether of Two or Four Wheels, which are let out, is about 5s. per Day, or £5. per Month (28 Days).
Open Carriages are charged higher, as the whole Year’s Duty is paid upon them, though they are only used for a few Months.
When Coaches or Chariots are let by the Day or Week, the Harness is not included in the charge for them. Harness for a Pair of Horses is charged 1s. per Day, or 5s. per Week.
Hired Carriages are expected to be turned out clean, greased, and fit for immediate use:—examine them well before you take them; for if any part breaks while in your use, you will be expected to pay for the Repair thereof, unless you make a previous Agreement that it shall be done by the person letting it.
Tell the person you hire of, how long you want the Carriage, and how far you are going to travel:—he has then no excuse for not giving you a sufficient Carriage.
The price of a Job during the dear Months, when the Town is full, i. e. in April, May, and June, for a Chariot or Coach, a Pair of Horses and Coachman, his Wages and Board Wages, the standing at the Hackneyman’s, &c., and all charges included, is, (a little more or less, according to the quality of the Horses and the Carriage), per Month, (reckoning 28 Days), about £26.
The usual sum for the Hire of a Coach or Chariot and Harness, is, according to the condition thereof, from £5. to £7. per Month:—if you hire them of a Coachmaker, you will have more choice, and may get a better Carriage.
A Glass Coach, or Chariot and Horses, not to travel beyond eight miles from Town, may be hired, per Day, for from £1. 1s. to £1. 5s.