ABSTRACT
The "metropolitan carriages" engaged in the conveyance of passengers are of two classes - ticketed and unticketed; that is to say, those that ply for passengers in the public streets carry a plate inscribed with a certain number, by which the drivers and owners of them may be readily known; whereas those that do not ply in public, but are let out at certain yards or stables, have no badge afftxed to them, and are in many cases scarcely distinguishable from private vehicles. The ticketed carriages include the stage and hackney coaches, or, in modern parlance, the "busses" and "cabs" of London. The unticketed carriages, on the other hand, comprise the "glass coaches" and "flies," that for a small premium may be converted into one's "own carriage" for the time being. But, besides these, there is another large class of hired conveyances, such as the' 'job carriages,'' which differ from the glass coaches principally in the length of time for which they are engaged. The term oflease for the glass coach rarely exceeds a day, while "the fly" is often taken by the hour; the job carriage, however, is more commonly engaged by the month, and not unfrequently by the year. Hence the latter class of conveyances may be said to partake of the attributes of both public and private carriages. They are public, in so far as they are let to hire for a certain term, and private inasmuch as they are often used by the same party, and by them only, for several years.
