Bianconi first increased the accommodation of these cars so as to
carry four persons on each side instead of three, drawn by two
horses. But as the two horses could quite as easily carry two
additional passengers, another piece was added to the car so as
to carry five passengers. Then another four-wheeled car was
built, drawn by three horses, so as to carry six passengers on
each side. And lastly, a fourth horse was used, and the car was
further enlarged, so as to accommodate seven, and eventually
eight passengers on each side, with one on the box, which made a
total accommodation for seventeen passengers. The largest and
heaviest of the long cars, on four wheels, was called "Finn
MacCoul's," after Ossian's Giant; the fast cars, of a light
build, on two wheels, were called "Faugh-a-ballagh," or "clear
the way"; while the intermediate cars were named "Massey
Dawsons," after a popular Tory squire.
When Bianconi's system was complete, he had about a hundred
vehicles at work; a hundred and forty stations for changing
horses, where from one to eight grooms were employed; about a
hundred drivers, thirteen hundred horses, performing an average
distance of three thousand eight hundred miles daily; passing
through twenty-three counties, and visiting no fewer than a
hundred and twenty of the principal towns and cities in the south
and west and midland counties of Ireland.
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