St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-15

ago. they have become very popular. Walk
up and down Pennsylvania avenue at any
hour OF the day or night and you will see
dozens and scores and perhaps hundreds of
them patrolling up and down the avenue
watching for customers. There are a few
that are assigned to ''hack stands" in vari-
GUS parts OF the city, but the large proper
ton OF them move slowly up and down the
avenue watching for customers. Like
"Poor Joe," they are always obliged to
''move on" for there is city ordinance
which will not allow them to stand upon
the street except at the designated hack
stands, so there is always line of them
MOVING SLOWLY UP AND DOWN
the avenue near the sidewalk, and if you
want to go quickly to any part of the city
you have only to hail a driver, and for a
quarter you 60 flying to any point inside
the city limits. The number and variety of
cabs in Washington are something remarka-
BILE. In a few hours walk you will see
perhaps dozen different sorts of vehicles
of this class for hire. They may be di-
vided. however, into two general classes,
the hanson" cab and the ''herdic' cab.
These two classes refer to the twe-wheeled
vehicles. Of course there are large num-
bers of vehicles on four wheels, but the
u6SISudtiOu CdU SG6IlS 10 dDDlY altO-
gether to those on two wheels.
There has been great effort in the past
few years." said the manager of one Of
these cab systems here, talking to your cor
respondent, ito make vehicles on two
wheels which should meet all the require
ments of ordinary vehicles, and yet be
CHEAP AND EASILY HANDLED.
The result has been great variety Of
%xr,a CO.,
dozen notifications of the 'herdic' cab and
which, as you know, is the old London
street cab"
''Are these cabs used as much in other
cities as in Washington"
mo; not nearly so much. The streets
of Washington are especially fitted for
them. These two-wheeled vehicles are
very bad on the horses, except on very
smooth streets. The vehicle which has two
wheels. of course, is more affected by rough
roads, and when one of the wheels strikes
an obstacle the effect is felt by the horse.
The result is that cabs are horse killers.
Take the first lot of hanson cabs that came
to this town. The owners put good horses
into them-horses that cost 5000 or $500
but it was not six months until the horses
were worn out and broken down. Expert
ence has taught us that with the best cab
we can get horse does not last more
than year. The vehicle having but two
wheels, part of the weight necessarily
comes on the horses back. and this with
the difficulty that l spoke Of in rough
streets, makes them very bad for horses.
They are so popular with the public that
they are
DRIVING OUT THE HACKS
and four-wheeled vehicles of that class
very rapidly. 1t is only couple of years
or so that they have been in use here, but the
number is still increasing, and their popu-
larity increases also. 1t will only be q
short time when nearly or quite all the old
four-wheeled vehicles will disappear from
the hack stands"
SIS there any truth in the published state
ment that hanson cabs are to be adopted in
some cities for private use ?"
Every little, if any. There are a few
doctors in New York who have them for
their private use, but that is about all Oc-
casionally some one may have private cab
handsomely finished and fitted for private
use, but they are very few. They are bet
ter fitted for use in Washington than in any
other city of the country"
The various kinds of cabs and two
wheeled vehicles brought to the surface in
the efforts to improve upon these two gen.
eral classes produces very interesting lot
of vehicles. There are some of the herdic
cabs with sort of bay window attachment
in the rear which adds something to the
capacity and comfort of the vehicle. Then
there are the hanson cabs with brougham
fronts In some of the hansoms you muss
OPEN AND CLOSE THE DOORS
yourself. In others, the driver. who sits at
the top of the vehicle, opens and shuts them
himself by the simple use ofaan ingenious
lever. In the herdc you find little bog
similar to the ticket box in bob-tailed car,