Carriages without horses shall go,
And accidents fill the world with woe.
Old Mother Shipton has been vindicated insofar as this part of her prophecy is
concerned. Of course, it is now generally believed that the verse, of which t^ie foregoing is only a part, was a hoax to the extent that the predictions were circulated after
most of the predicted things had come to pass.
But it must be admitted that the author of the introductory lines anticipated present-
day traffic problems. The comic sketch here shown appeared in 1828 shortly after the
advent of steam carriages which was nearly four centuries after Mother Shipton is
supposed to have lived. The artist was himself something of a seer because he attempted to show how the streets would some day be clogged by horseless carriages.
California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960
