Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-05-30
THE NIGHT LINER,
THE NIGHT LINER.
He Has . Hard Life. but Hc 10 . Necessity
in Warrington.

THE NIGHT LINER.
He Has . Hard Life. but He 10 Necessity
in Washington.
NEWSPAPER MEN HAVE A GOOD EX-
~ cuse for being up late at night Their busi-
mes often requires it. and that fact IL sufficient
explanation for the knowledge of the might
liner" or might hawk" possessed BY . writer
for The STAR
In the first place, for the benefit Of the un-
initiated, it must be promised that . night
liner is hack that roams the street at night in
search OF belated wayfarers and carries them
wherever they want to go for pecuniary con-
sideration. These hacks are of every de-
scription and variety, from Q hanson OF
herdic to coupe or 'Kerridge," but they
all possess this point in common, that they
are invariably old, shabby and dissipated
looking. There is an antiquated minstrel Joke,
30 old that its whiskers are gray, so to speak,
which will bear repetition, because of the ZAP
plication on it," As Jack Bunsby would say. 1t
relates to man who took Q night liner, and
which no human being except the driver
could open after it had been closed, the
hack started OF rapid pace for a distant
point In Georgetown. The old concern was
so dllapidated that in rafting across the street
car track the whole bottom fell out The pas
senger cries to stop were misinterpreted into
request to drive faster, and the poor wretch
had to run all the way over to Georgetown in
side Of the hack. This may be considered
merely an exaggerated illustration Of the shaky
condition OF the average night liner.
SOME KINDS OF PASSENGERS.
Slowly they prowl along near the curbstone,
searching for belated parties Of men and then
when they find one they make tempting offers
OF cheap transportation, and the driver some
times forgets the arrangements that was made
when the journey is finished. Men who are
ION bat" are apt to be generous The only
thing that ever makes them refuse to spend
money is the fact that they haven't got any.
But the general disposition is to hang
expense. For this reason the night liner 8
trade is not such bad one from q
pecuniary point Of view, but it must be hard
life to drive one of these hacks. All night long
1t Is one successive battle with refractory pas
sengers Sometimes, too, a drunken man is
put into night liner by his friends and the
directions are given to drive him to a certain
number. and when the destination is reached
poor cabby finds that his passenger has
entirely collapsed and he has a man who is
dead drunk on his hands Nothing will rouse
him. What is to be done with him? To ring
the bell and wake up the household and hand
him in as though he were a barrel of -four and
rather embarrassing even for q cabman, and 30
he generally drives around with his helpless
burden until he can bring him to and make
MIN understand what is expected Of him.
ALWAYS TROUBLE WITH THE FARE.
Really it is hard to think of any man who has
harder life than q cabman Everybody seems
to think he must necessarily be intending an
overcharge. He is always to be disputed with,
always to be threatened and sometimes he is
even arrested. Whatever you give him,
unless you have had distinct under
standing before you entered his hack, he asks
for more, and whatever he charger you
You declare is too much. Both of you meet on
terms of aggression. You are convinced of the
intention OF the cabman to cheat you and he
IS convinced that you don't intend to give
him his just dues. This life of wrangling
and contention is always for any cabman,
but for the night liner 1t is ten times
worse, for both sides are less careful of
their language and less mindful of the con-
sequences of a row than they are in the day
time. The only consolation that the night
liner has is derived from the good nature which
is usually characteristic of drunken men. II
you offer a night liner his choice between a
sober fare or a drunken fare at 2 o'clock in
the morning he would probably choose the
drunken fare as the more remunerative and
less obstreperous OF the two.
THE BRoKEN-DowN HORSES.
the old hacks about the streets at night? Well,
as q general thing they are pretty shabby
lot. They walk as slowly as snails. They stand
still like rocks and go fast asleep. They have no
spirit and they have lost all self-respect Still,
whep q fare comes along they pick up
their ears and do their best. There "a
an understanding between the driver and the
horses. They don't like to be out all night;
they hate the company they meet, but they
4 N at Twin and
SO they do it without much grumbling under
the circumstances.
To drag a night liner about the streets is Ger
tainly terrible fall for the noblest Of beasts.
the small hours Of the night and utter male
dictions against the slow pace Of the horse that
pulls them ever reflect that perhaps that horse
was a millionaires trotter or carriage horse
once; that he stepped high and swift
to rub him down and soft straw to
lie upon and fond hands to caress him. until he
went to pieces and was sold at auction to iv-
cry stable keeper, from whose hands he passed
into the ignoble occupation that he now plies.
The fall OF Beau Brummel, the pet of royalty and
the nobility, from the high position OF leader
of the dudes of his time to q miserable poverty
stricken mendicant, is fitting parallel
to the downfall Of the sleek, petted roadster
into the miserable, jaded, wretched beast that
pulls the nightliner. Do horses think? Beau
himself in the world of fashion, entertaining
the nobility. Does the oncc-pampered nag
that now supports the shafts of an old PLAYED
out coupe ever make the mistake of suppos-
ing that Pennsylvania avenue is the race track,
and that the careless load of humanity that he
drags along is proud of him or takes any in
terest in him? Whether horses think or not 1t
is a well-known fact that they have extraor-
binary memories, and the memories OF those
that prowl the streets at midnight must be re-
positories OF many bitter regrets and disap-
pointments.
THE HACKS MAY HAVE HISTORIES.
The hacks themselves-what histories they
have. That high, old-fashioned barouche that
barely hangs together and is 80 dreadfully
shabby may have been the property of one OF
the greatest swells in Washington in times gone
by. Possibly Lafayette rode in it and Monroe
and before him Marcia Burns and the gallant
young Van Ness. The subject is too vast. Any body
can conjecture easily enough the history of the
drivers Of night liners and of the passengers
who make use of them, but when it comes to
the horses and the hacks themselves a broad
field opens for the imagination to roam over,
and SO let the subject be left for The STAR J
readers to amplify to suit their own sweet
fancy.
An Apology.
ia.