THE LONDON CABMEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9022, 7 April 1888, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE LONDON CABMEN.

cabmen's shelter.

NOBLE LORDS IN THE HACK BUSINESS.

London, February 12. men work harder in |Li London than the " cabbies," .jr' and, with the exception of a jjl few months in summer, the work is of the most disagreeable kind. Think of I the romances, the meetings, the partings, and even the crimes that the cabman in a measure participates in ; and yet life makes but little impression upon him. Your arrival to him is the same as your departure. You are nothing but the fare. Who you are and what you are is equally unimportant to him. Still, though this large army of men are treated as automatons, they are, nevertheless, human beings ; for somewhere in that vast metropolis, over which the "cabby" is doomed day and night perpetually to wander, he has a home, and perhaps a wife and children to greet him on his return. The cabman's home is usually a humble one. If he is single, the chances are he has a bed over the stable or somewhere in the neighbourhood, while his meals aro procured at the coffee-houses, the " pubs," or cooked and eaten in the famous cabmen's shelters, which are becoming eo numerous in London. These shelters are a eort of cabmen's club, where, in hie intervals of leisure or in bad weather —and he gets a good deal of it in London—cabby takes comfort and finds shelter. At one end is a little restaurant; at the other a little reading-room. Hero all but the first two cabmen in the ranks can sit and read or smoke, and have the food they may bring with them cooked. The attendant must cook for the drivers anything brought in by them, the charge for which is Jjd. In some of these shelters between 100 and 200 men are served daily. Many of them are open day and night. The American cooking stove doee an infinite variety of work. Pork chops, pig's

A OROWLEB.

fry, scraps of beef and mutton, liver, bacon, sausages, and ham are fried on ifc; herringe are broiled, sprats are baked in the oven, and egga, potatoes, and greens aro boiled. A real good feed can be obtained for 4d, and a swell dinner for 6d. Of course, the service is unconventional—a plate, a cup and saucer, knife and fork, a general salt and mustard pot. Tableclothe and napkins are dispensed with. In this way many of the cabmen live, for more than 3000 per day patronise the shelters for meals. Last year 14,200 licenses* were issued from Scotland Yard to hackney drivers, 4528 to omnibus drivers, and 6337 to conductors, making a total of 25,065 persons occupied in conveying passengers from one part of that great city to the other. A man cannot become a " cabby" without possessing a license and certain qualifications. Many people think anyone who chooses can drive a cab, provided he pays for it. This ie not so. The would-be cabby has first to provide himself with a couple of testimonials. These he takes to Scotland Yard, and, providing the authorities Consider them satisfactory, he is shown a large map of London, two places are pointed out to him, and he is asked which ie the shortest way from one to the other. A dozen or more questions of this kind are put, until his knowledge of every dietricfc in London ie tested, and then, all having gone well, he pays hie ss, is handed hie badge and license, and a book containing the rules and regulations of the road, together with a smaller book as to certain observances with regard to property left in the vehicle. Many people wonder why they have no baggage and street express, suoh as we have all over the United States. The reaeon is this:—The street life of London is so admirably managed that every hansom cab, or "growler, is in itself an " express waggon," oil * email, but euifi-

cient scale. But, although there is no need of baggage express in London, it needs a messenger boy system more than anything else. Of the 14,200 hackney carriage licenses issued Dot more than 12,000 are in

THE 'ANSOM.

use. But this is a large number.. Allowing 20 feefc for each horse and cab, it would make a stand reaching nearly 46 miles. The cab-drivers of London, with their families and those dependent upon them, alone comprise a town of 50,000 inhabitants, while, if we add the omnibue drivers and conductors and their families, we should have a city of 100,000 persons. This gives some idea of the importance of the cab and omnibus to London and the number of persons engaged in the occupation as drivers and conductors, to say nothing of the thousands employed in the stables and indirectly. While the practical London cabman laments over the influx of outsiders into his ranks, the small cab proprietors are greatly exercised over the advent of several noble lords in the business as proprietors of cabs. This entree of the aristocracy may be explained as in part a fad and in part a hope

of gain. Some thought it would be a cheap way to keep a large stable. However this may be, several of the House of Peers have gone into the business. Among those whose names appear are Lord Shrewsbury, England's premier earl, and the Marquis of Ailesbury. To these many more might be added Some idea of the price paid per day by the cabbies to the proprietors for their vehicles may be had from the following:—From January to April, 16s ; from April to October, ) Ss ; from October to December, 20s. It is next to impossible to estimate the earnings of a London cabman. He is interested in creating the idea that he pays an enormous price for the cab, and makes next to nothing, while the proprietor is interested in spreading the idea that his receipts per day are about 10s or 12s, to keep others from going into the business. Lent is the most unprofitable period of the year. Then the cabman is virtually doing nothing, and considers himself lucky if he clears 4s a day. The number of hours a cabman works

depends upon circumstances. Sometimes he will stay out only for twelve hours, at other times fifteen or sixteen hours. The greater number of the cabmen of the metropolis do not turn out until about noon. The morning seems to be a bad time for work. Not one cab in a dozen gets a fare before 12 o'clock, except it be trom one of the railroad depots. The afternoon may be profitable, but it is not until after 5 o'clock that business is anything like brisk. The reputation the " cabby" has for charging strangers exorbitantly is strangely at variance with the record of honesty we find at Scotland Yard. Out of 30,000 articles left last year in hackney carriages 20,813 were deposited by the drivers at Scotland Yard. This is a good percentage when one takes into consideration that some of the articles may have been appropriated by subsequent passengers without the knowledge of the drivers. The average hansom cab costs £62 to be built and completely fitted up ; the " growler" from £87 to £100; and the natural lifetime of each cab is fifteen years, during which time it is safe to quote that another £37 has to be laid out in periodical accounts for breakages, varnishing, and painting.—San Francisco Chronicle.