Omnibuses,

Omnibuses, vehicles 'for all,' the well-known public conveyances. So long since as 1662 Blaise Pascal, the author of the Lettres Provinciales, assisted by some noblemen, obtained a patent from the French king for the privilege of running public coaches, containing six persons, each along certain streets of Paris, and preserving its own route, for five sous per passenger. For two years the scheme proved a great success, but the death of Pascal and other causes occasioned its disuse. The first omnibus, built in Paris in 1820, was drawn by three horses, and soon became popular. Paris has also an excellent system of railway buses to contain eight passengers inside; the English railways have recently followed this practice. In England at the beginning of the 19th century stage-coaches were used by business men to reach London from its suburbs. These were succeeded by the omnibuses started in London, July 1829, by Mr Shillibeer, formerly a coachmaker in Paris, and were drawn by three horses, conveying twenty-two persons inside. Smaller and more convenient buses were introduced in 1849, which conveyed twelve passengers inside and two out. Outside seats along the centre of the roof followed in 1857, and the vehicle was subsequently much improved upon by Mr Miller of Hammersmith. Large omnibuses are in use in Glasgow and Manchester and other large towns, and the three-horse omnibus was re-introduced in London on the route from Charing Cross to Portland Road. Many recent improvements have been made in the arrangement of seats outside facing forward, the greater accommodation of the interior, and the lightness of the vehicle. The London General Omnibus Company, founded in 1855, took over 580 omnibuses. In 1891 it had 860 omnibuses, employing 9600 horses and 3000 men. Each bus runs about 12 miles daily. The company build for their own use about 90 or 100 buses annually. The average weight of an omnibus is 30 cwt., and the cost about £150. The more recent London Road Car Company, whose opposition to the older company has resulted in a great reduction of fares, runs 217 buses, and employs 2619 horses. The average charge per mile by bus is less than 1d.