Mr Boulnois’ cab was followed by a larger sort invented by Mr Harvey, and at last, about 1836, came the brougham cab to hold two persons; this was rather smaller than that afterwards built for Lord Brougham, and of plainer outline, with straight fore pillar. From this we derive our present clarence cab on four wheels, which we may pronounce as the lightest of all four-wheeled close cabs, but it is certainly anything but satisfactory. It carries, it is true, a large quantity of luggage on the roof, besides six persons, and runs along faster than the cabs of most other cities, but it is abominably noisy, and very rough in motion, uneasy and uncomfortable. Whoever will produce an improved four-wheel cab will deserve the thanks of his countrymen. The first step to this, I consider, would be the authorisation by law of two classes of fares. Let the present cab remain at the present fare, but allow a first-class cab to charge a higher fare, and appoint a proper person or persons to inspect the cabs, and to license the first-class cabs to charge a higher fare. The second step would be to insist on the first-class cabs having patent or mail axles, and covered glass frames to lessen the rattle, and to adopt a regulating spring, which would assist in carrying a heavy load. Regulating springs can easily be made; they are unsightly on a private carriage; but this would be no objection in a public conveyance. It might be in the form of a buffer in the centre of the elliptical spring, or a second elliptic within the first, but the ingenuity of our spring makers would soon surmount the difficulty if the proper authority insisted upon the attempt.
The Hansom patent safety cab is an immense improvement upon the old high two-wheeled cab. We owe the invention to a Mr Hansom, the architect of the Birmingham Town Hall. The safety consisted in the arrangement of the framework at the nearest part to the ground, so as to prevent an upset if the cab tilted up or down. It has since been improved by Mr Evans, of Liverpool; Mr Marston, of Birmingham; and others, until the recently built hansoms are really convenient, easy, and comfortable conveyances, and receive the patronage of many ladies in preference to the four-wheelers.