New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-07-03

| TO the Edftor OF The Trf6unc
SIR: For the past twenty years and more there
has been a demand for cheap carriages or cabs IN
New-York City. and there ha been several at
! tempts to meet tho public want but every enter
prise with that object in view has speedily come to
| grief either from known or unknown causes. Some
OF the movements have been undertaken with
view TO making money by neglectng to give the
| ptoposed relief and tho projectors have been IN
duced to turn their attention to other fields OF IN
dustry by of satisfactory arrangements WIN
| the prUpIetors OF existing means OF transport IN
other and moro honest movements the projectors
| have been men of small capital, and II they sue
| ceeded in starting o line of cheap carriages II was
not large enough to attract atteOtion ana be known
| to the public before its owner was forced to sue
oumb for want OF funds to conduct his enterprise.
In one at least the carriages were perSlstenty
run into and smashed" by the owners or drivers
| of her vehicles, and somo of the latter gentry
openly avowed their determination to break up the
| new ENTERPRISE by breaking up the cabs on which it
| WAS founded. The owner unable to secure the
puni.hrnent of the Offenders, as they were OF the
class vino voted early and often rs possible on
election days, and were answering in their ale
| glance to the Democracy. The police generally
looked the other way during one oil the collisions,
| and Whenever an arrest was made tho arrested
voter was speedily released. Times have changed
mewIiat, and probably the founder OF cheap
cab system in Ncw-York would be protected in his
enterprise better than Of yore, but he should
remember the Cromwelan injunction, I1ust IN
God and keep your powder dry" He would meet
the hostility of the whole race OF owners and
drivers as tnoy stand to-day, and some of them
might not be over scrupulous about the means they
used TO crush him. His first should be to
make his carriages strong enough to withstand the
shocks of rival vehicles and his drivers. while
polite to customers should he yersed in the tenets
of muscular Christianity, and able to make physical
argument with their opponents. Pubic opinion
would be with the new against the old, and the
police would soon he compelled to side with public
opinion.
1t is the object of this letter to show the differ
ence between cab and carriage rates in New-fork
and those of London, Paris aud other cities on the
opposite shore of the Atlantic. For convenience of
calculation the shillings of England and the francs,
marks Lire and other currencies of the Continent
will be converted into American money nearly
as possible AMI fractions of cents will be omitted.
Twenty-Five cents will be considered the equIva-
lent of the shilling or mark, and 20 cents that OF
the franc and Ira. Russian, Danish and other cur
| rencies will undergo a proportional asslpiation.
| The word cab" will be uniformly used to desig-
| nate a vehicle with two seats, while carriage"
may DO understood to mean one OF four seats.
Where local distinctions exist in vehicles they will
| be shown by names familiar to New-Yorkers or by
| further explanation.
| FARES IN NEw-YORK AND EUROPEAN CITIES con
TRAsTED
The official ordinance of the City Of New-York,
approved by the Mayor May ,. 1880 authorizes
charge of III for conveying one or more passengers
any distance not exceeding two miles, and an addi-
tonal charge of 80 cents for every additional mile.
Secton > of the ordinance reclteS that certain
other sections are for one. two, three or our pei
sons and there is nowhere in the ordinance any
distinction between carriages and cabs Section II
distinctly states that for the of carriage
cab by the hour, with the privilege of going from
place to place and stopping often and as long as
nav DO required the charge will be ! per hour and
for each succeeding half hour OF part thereof 30
cents additional Briefly put. the legal rates tor
cabs aud carriages in New-York 30 cents mile
and 30 cents half hour with no fare less than 81
In London the cab rate is % cents tor any dis
lance under two miles. and - cents for each addi
tional mile; just one-iOurth the rate in New York
The cab rate by tho hour in London is G2 cents, and
that of the carfiage-known to the Londoner as
"growler"-s 80 cents. The first hour in each in
stance must be paid III full but the additional time
is by periods of fifteen minutes instead OF by the
half hour as in New York. These rates hold good
only for radins of four miles from Charing Cross
beyond hat radius q special bargain must be made
for distances while the rate for the first hour is 81
cents with rs cents for each additional fifteen
Minutes A driver by distance may refuse tO 20
more than SIX miles. or by time more than one hour,
without stopping and he may decline service be-
tween : D. IN. and a. IN. The London cab is the
hanson" of which several specimens have been
seen in New-York. The carriage or GROWER can
carry four persons inside and fifth the driver.
but the insiders will he much cramped for space.
and the vehicle is usually anything but swell in
appearance. baggage 10 / cents extra for each
pieco thar goes the outside the cabs cannot
carry much beside their passengers, and single
persops with trunks and other mpedmenta must
patronize the grower" The hanson " is better
horsed than the GROWER" AMI when hired by
distance il must traveI at the rate OF six les an
hour, while forr miles an hour is the regulation
speed of the ponderous concern.
In Paris the rates for cabs from a. IN to mid
night are 30 cents for course anywhere within tue
Notifications. and an additional cents to the
driver as pourbOre which custom has male obliga
tory By time it is 80 cents for the first hour and
cents pourboiro with 10 cents for each additional
fifteen minutes. Outside tho Notifications the time
rates increas, about 30 per cent, and ii carriage is
taken inside and discharged outside. the driver is
emitted 10 be paid for the time Of returning to his
station. Carriages 10 cents n course and 80
cents an hour with pourbores the same rs for cabs
Between midnight and g a. cabs are - cents !
course or 30 cents an hour AMI carriages 30 cents
aud - cents respectively with pJHr5OireS rs at |
other timei The a-nIght vehicles generally |
those thai have passed into the sere and yellow |
l.af while their drivers often indicate thar they /
are wasting their substance bv rOtOus living. |
Their patrons are not usually Of squeamsh sort. |
aud sInc Paris no! retre early the rOiiure he
Huit lee i've good deal OF patronage at the aug |
mcutcd rates.
Comparing his own city with London and Paris,
the New Yorker Will realize the high price he pays
FOR vchicuar locomotiOn But let ~ 60 further |
and look AT other Continental cities. and find |
ourselves faring not worse but batter Observe
.ome " the tlI.is from The official schednle; to