The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-02-17
"cAseY" AND HIS OUTFIT.
From His Perch He Looks Down on the
Car Driver and Private Coachman.

/ grow rlcn. Inc earnings OF the aver
age hanson are between five and six
dollars a night, for the night is re-
garded as d more profitable time by a
cabman than the day. There are more
public cabmen who begin work at six
IN the evening than at six in the morn
ing. The bulk of the cab business dur
ing the day is done by the stables on
calls Ladies going shopping send to
the stable where they have an account
for a cab, instead OF picking up cal
on the street, and men who use a cab
during the day are more likely 10 get it
/ through hotel or club which has ar
raDgements with regular stables.
The stray cabman makes his money
at night. He goes on his stand at six
o'clock and stays IN the street until
morning The street car and elevated
road service is not SO good at night, and
/ there are many men who will ride
| around in a cab in the evening after
dinner who would never squander
money on such an extravaganza in the
sober daytime.
a few of the ca bnen own their own
horses and cabs, but most of them work
on wages for cab owner or hire their
cabs by the night The regular rate
/ paid by driver for horse and cab
| from six o'clock in the evening until
1 six in the morning is two dollars and
| fifty cents, which entities the cabman
/ to keep all the money he makes. He IS
! expected to hire the cab at least six
days of the week. The cabmen who
are or wages get ten dollars week, or
| less than the pay of street car driver,
and they have twelve hours of continu
| Gus out-of-door exposure. 1t does not
cost much for cabman to go into bust
/ ness for himself. If he has not horse
! he can buy cab and hire horse by
the night for one dollar and fifty cents,
! if the owner of the horse is confident
that the Beast will not be abused. A
second hand hanson cab can be bought
for fifty or seveuty-fve dollars, and
second hand harness can be got for
twenty-five dollars more. So many
people now have private hansoms that
| from time to time there is thrown on
the market one of those vehicles which
is too worn out for private use, but
which makes good public cab. The
cabmen pick these up at sales, together
with harness, whip and robes A cab
driver would rather spend money on
good horse than on good cab. He can
get horse that he can drive about for
seventy-fve or eighty dollars, but if he
can afford it he will pay twice that
amount The saving comes in the ease
with which the better horse can be
kept and the increase in earnings from
the making of better time on distance
trips There is a cabman on the Thirty
third street stand who could go from
there to Morris park inside of an hour
and half, with the result that during
the race he had fare there and back
every day at a stiff ten dollar rate.
1t is close thing whether the men
who hire their cal at two dollars and
half night or the men who work for
ten dollars week make the more
money. There is no way of keeping an
accurate check on the men who are
paid by the week. They are expected
to make something over their pay, and
how much depends on themselves and
their customers Their employer ex-
poets them to turn in an average of
five or six dollars a night If they
have one eight dollar night and the
next a three dollar night there would
be little to spare, but a succession Of
several eight dollar nights would be
equivalent to an increase in wages
It Is no uncommon thing for a man
on one of these night stands to get from
H. ~
There is a story of the driver of one
hanson who got fare one night who
employed him steadily for week with
out any hours off, on the claimants
part The driver fed his horse on the
street and took maps himself in the cab.
His customer got enough sleep himself
at the various places at which he
stopped, but the cabman was always
on duty.
The prices of the ca bmen differ The
night men have an advantage over the
day men, for the night fares will aver
age more money than a day fare. The
day business is series of distance trips
to railroad stations, ferries, and offices,
while the night business is usua,y on
time at the hour rate.
Custom has made the driver OF four
wheels charge a little more than the
driver of hansoms- A hanson can
easily be hired at the even rate of q
dollar the first hour and a dollar for
every succeeding hour, while the four
wheels wants a dollar and half for
the first hour. There is no difference
made in the ordinances of the common
council between the two wheels and
the four wheels Indeed. when the
hack ordinances were passed hanson
cab was a rarity.
There is a constant feud between the
cabmen and the private coachmen and
the street-car drivers The cabman
considers himself as the superior Of
both the private coachman and the
sSreet-car driver. The cabman does not
wear livery, and the amount and ar
rangement of the hair he wears on his
face depends on himself and nature
and not on the commands OF his en-
Dloyer. A collision does less financial
damage to a public cab than private
carriage, so the cabman insists on the
right of way. Above all he looks down
on the street-car driver
What would be doing with driving
a street care" said one Of the cabmcn
on the Thirtv-.hird street stand who
had over twenty years experience +
Those fellows have 10 run on q sched-
ule and keep on time. II they are q
minute late of they gs and there Is no
telling when they viii get back -
work again and what thev are going to
eat in the meantime NIy wages are
ten dollars a week with seven days
work from six 70 SIX, and 7 an a good
deal better OF than those fellows 4
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