Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-20
o1p-r1ME N1GHTL1NERs.
They Have About Passed Away and
It's Just as Well

.vbat has become Of the old night
,-,on ,nor,red a visitor to the city one
dow this week. He had not been here be-
fore since the inauguration of President
HAYES. Prior to 1877 he had been In the
habit of making semi-monthly trips here
as the agent of New YORK es.aoi's, SIM
and had enjoyed some amusing, put ex,
nensive experiences with the men VINO mad
charge of public vehicles at night;
I'VE have them no more, salo the po-
liceman who was addressed Dy she s sra, :.
keeping I'D with the times in the matter OF
her conveyances. Years ago any Klnd OF
an old dtlapidated vehicle could be used
character Of the steed so long as the
humane agents kept hands or. An entirely
different condition of AFFAIRS exists now
Every vehicle that is used has to pass IN
spection and If the horses and harness do
not make the outfit come up to the stand
ard the inspector has something to say
II have noticed the great Improvement,
the stranger admitted, land have been
wondering how 1t was brought about. L
have also noticed that there has been a
great change in the prices charged. When
was here years ago pald anywhere
from 81 to S. for ride of any length,
and now a quarter or fifty cents is all that
the cabbies ask When l had ridden more
than mile in a conveyance and was told
that my bill was 30 cents l could hardly
believe I was in Washington and asked the
l was not mistaken in the city and the
policeman's explanation settled the mat
ter and gave me an Idea of the reasons for
the great change.
Some Of the older members of the police
force recall the. days when the might
liners" had an easy thing in this city
with people who patronized the drivers Of
the broken-down vehicles.
when the old carriages hacks were
In such condition that they were not fit
for use In the daytime said one Of the
older members Of the force to Star re-
porter, they were brought out for night
use and were good for many years of
service on the night line The charges
made by some of the drivers bordered on
highway robbery but were made in such
way that there was no chance for a
prosecution. 1t a common thing for
a stranger who wanted to be driven to a
hotel near a depot to be given ride
practically all over the city in order that
he might be charged from IS to $40 for the
trip. The stranger seldom registered an
objection because 1t was not until the next
day that he knew of how he had been
robbed and 1t was then too late to get
hts money returned.
'In those days" the policeman added,
there were no rates established by law.
and jehu was at liberty to fix his own
charges. Then too people did not mind
paying more than they do now because
horse car lines. The few lines that were
| in existence would take passengers only
on the principal business streets, and
strangers coming to the city did not care
| to be landed many squares from their des-
| tination. / can recall many cases in which
| passengers gave the drivers tips which
| amounted to more than the hire would now
| Drivers were not so particular In those
| days as they are and their vehicles
| could be used for passengers or freight
| 1.-The character of the freight" the no.
| liceman said, did not disturb the drivers
| a particle. They were willing to haul any
| thing II they could only get the price
| Many times the drivers and passengers
found themselves on a social equality, and
| made q night Of 1t. Policemen who were
| on duty during the midnight trick were
| never surprised to find that the passenger
| and driver had changed places. but fine
| fare had to be paid just the same. re-.
| call one occasion when there were two o.
| cupants Of vehicle, one q resurrectionis.
| and the other corpse. The feet of the
| corpse were protruding from the vehicle
| and attracted attention. An officer who
| was attracted to the vehicle Thought the
| feet were those Of an intoxicated man. and
he proceeded to give the usual tan with
| his club. The usual drawing back did NOT
| follow and when the man with the cl,,+
| realized what he was up against he nearly
| tainted. He soon recovered from the shock
however, and escorted tho vehicle. driver
and the live and dead passengers to the
station. 1t turned out that the vehicle
had been used In trip to local ceme-
| terry. and the man who accompanied the
corpse was put away for few months"