Washington sentinel., 1898-03-05
L. A -, SENTINEL
The Rise OF Oabs.

fashion first as a private vehicle.
1t was a bright, light, well made
thing on two wheels, was driven bv
it's owner, and carried a little
''tiger" behind. 1t was the tigers
duty to Jump down from ats perch
und deliver his masters card at the
houses he was visiting, and to do
jbther such services. He was gen.
kerally a very diminutive slip Of
fhUmanity, and elderly people still
b aning can remember, as children,
laftching from the windows the
"a !. d efforts Of "Iiger Tim" to reach
l e knocker by jumping. A Jew
nv ibTiolets for private hiring were
wTcensed in London as early as
\ hSos, but it was not until I823-
April a3-that, according to a
newspaper paragraph, "cabriolets
we're, in honor of his majesty's
irthdav, introduced to the public
ais morning" These vehicles
were constructed to hold two per-
sons inside, besides the driver, who
was partitioned of from his fare"
These cabs for English fashion,
all the superhuous syllables in
'cabriolet" were soon docked to
arrive at the convenient cab -
had a body somewhat similar to
the hanson Of to-day, though
rather smaller, while the torepart
OF the head was capable of being
folded. They were at first very
limited in number lowing to the
opposition Of vested interests },
and even as late as 1894, when all
restrictions as to number were re-
moved, they did not reach the total
OF seventy. Need it be said that
they were painted Yellow
The cab, like so many other
civilized things, came from Paris,
where, as the ca6yi0ket de place, il
p began to put the sedan chair and
such like conveniences "out OF
joint as early as the middle Of the
seventeen h century. 1t was in the
FIRST instance, a somewhat primi-
tive affair. II is curious to note
that, while the cAbrolet became
in England a "cab," in Paris it be-
came "fiacre." The name arose
thus. The man who introduced
the vehicle in Paris was one Mich
olas Savage, who lived at the
Hotel St. Fiacre in the Rue St,
Martin. Persons requiring a cab
riolet, therefore, had to send Tor
one 70 the Hotel ST. Fiacre; and
hence the witty Parisians. who love
- christen things, soon transferred
the name OF the saint to the
wheeled machine, which had, as it
were, accidentally been placed un-
der his patronage. l say "his," al
though for anything l know St.
Fiacre may have been a lady.
Since that time, "fiacre" has been
the designation Of all public vehi-
cles in the city OF the Seine. Il
need hardly be said that the cab in
France has undergone many
changes of style and fashion. Can
It be the sainted patronage that has
given the ca6YtOlsE dc place such
vogue that has sent it round the
world, so to speak1 For wherever
men congregate together in cities,
there the cabriolet has presently
established itself-with modihca-
tions. AS early as I67a we read OF
cabriolets, or gigs with hoods,
being introduced into Florence.
Count Gazzardini speaks of one as
IAN affair with curved seat fixed
in two long, bending shafts, placed
in front on the back of horse, and
behind on two wheels"--a capital
description. He says il was
brought from Paris, and soon be-
came 50 popular that in few years
they numbered over a thousand in
the delightful city Of Arno. From
Florence It made its way all over
Italy, becoming the calesso in
Naples and southern Italy gener-
ally.
The cabriolet appears also to be
the original OF the vehicle so well
known to tourists in Norway as
the carriole, driven often for miles
and over lonely and unfrequented
roads by girls. And few more
careful drivers there are than they.
You may feel as safe under their
charge as in a cradle-and almost
as comfortable. Not so. accord
\ ing to all accounts, is the volante,
the hooded gig on two high wheels,
Of Cuba, considered by those
whose blood has passed the ebul-
liant stage Of youth as a most per-
ilous affair, in which with beast
at all mettlesome, the neck is about
as safe as on a flying trapeze.
During the latter halt Of the eight.
eenth century, the cabriolet found
its way to St. Petersburg as the
troitska, whence il seems to have
travelled to Berlin and other Ger.
man cities as the droschke Tor was
il vice ySSSaS). The common street
vehicle Of Berlin, however, is an
open four wheeler, with a hood
that can be raised in bad weather.
Attempts have been made TO ac.
climatic the hanson there, albeit
so far with but little success. Like
gentility and boiled potatoes, the
handsom is an insular development,
and bids fair to remain so, although
il has, / understand, taken a slight
hold in New York.
The hanson is a distinct eVolu-
tion from the eabriolet. The latter
was displaced by cab patented by
Mr.. Boulnois. II was drawn by
two horses, and carried two pas
aannare ona fariuu fba otL.- ~.