It is a very great convenience to have the power of opening the Door from the inside. This Handle should be made to turn towards the Door, so as to be within the Door when the Door is opened, it will then be out of the way of being struck against the Body in shutting; which, if it turns to the Right, will sometimes happen when the Door is shut by perfunctorious persons.
The spindles of these Handles during the first Year, till time has worn them a little, will occasionally move too stiffly: the remedy for this is a drop of Oil.
Never permit officious Strangers to shut your Carriage Door; in order to save their own time and trouble, and to accomplish this at once, some idle and ignorant people will bang it so furiously, one almost fancies that they are trying to upset the Carriage, the pannels of which are frequently injured by such rude violence; therefore, desire your Coachman to be on the watch, and the moment he sees any one prepare to touch your Door, to say loudly and imperatively “Don’t meddle with the Door!”
Have Locks to the Doors—they are very necessary when travelling, or when your Carriage is waiting for you at Night: a Latch inside that will fasten the Door so that it cannot be opened on the outside, is also desirable, especially in Travelling Chariots.
In Landaulets the door opening without the window frame, particular directions to the Footman are necessary that he observe the Glass is entirely down before he attempts to open the Door, or the pane will be infallibly broken. When the glass is quite up there is no danger, for in rising it releases a Spring which fastens the Door; the blind does the same; so that if the Servant keep the blinds up while the Carriage is waiting, a lock may be dispensed with. I would recommend the addition of this contrivance to Coaches and Chariots.
A Town Carriage should not be more than three feet from the Ground, so as to require only One Step; to which should be fixed a Strap, by which any person within the Carriage may very easily pull it up, and with the help of the Inside Handle, may, with equal facility, finish the Footman’s Work, and fasten the Door.
The above is an invaluable contrivance, and well deserves to be called “a Dumb Footman;” it entirely prevents the necessity of the Coachman’s leaving his Box; from which rash act, many lives have been lost, and many Carriages destroyed by the Horses running away[10]:—All will adopt it, excepting those persons who are so unfortunate, as to be more Proud than Prudent. Mr. Jervis was extremely earnest in recommending these excellent appendages; and to impress the importance of them upon the imagination of the Editor as strongly as possible, he closed his arguments by averring, that for a Coachman to leave his Reins would be as desperate an act of rashness as for a Cook to leave her Kitchen while her Spit was going round, and equally likely to produce the most tremendous and irreparable Evils!
If such a plan be adopted, the Body must not be hung further than twenty-two inches from the Dickey, i. e. near enough to the Coach Box to allow the Coachman to put his hand on the top of the Door when it is opened, and hold it so while the Passengers get in and out. Till the Hinges are worn a little, they will occasionally get rusty and move too stiffly, and require a little Oil.
The present fashionable Door Handle is too big by half, and is also extremely inconvenient on account of the Hinge in it, which requires an additional action, which in the course of a little wear becomes ricketty and rattles, and you can hardly tell to a certainty whether it fastens the Door completely or not.
The simple Handle without a Hinge, which was in vogue some years ago, is infinitely more convenient and safe, because its single action is more certain.