Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-11-07
A TITLED CABMAN.
Earl OF Shrewsbury ard Talbot Has a
Tremendous Bus.ress.

''S"SH~ouS 6uS'r eSS.
| There are $4,000 cabs in Tondo, ord
nearly all of them belong to one man
ana hobleman at that, for the
premier earl of England, he of Shrews-
Jury ana Talbot, has vast income
from the cab business of the largest
city IN the world. The earl gives his
pet hobby as the ''cab trade" and he
Is so fond OF cabs that he frequently
drives them. and, although he is a man
OF vast wealth, he seeks his fares as
eagerly along the Strand and Picca-
! Oily as any coster cabby that ever
, cracked a whip.
| 1t is impossible for any one who has
visited London to think of that city
without a background of hanson cabs
looming up through the fog and smoke
that still cling to his memory, for cabs
are as much part of the gloomy old
city as Westminster Abbey or the Par
/ Lament House.
Next to bowling along on the top Of
| a bus there is nothing that the Lon
! don streets have to offer quite so de-
| lightful as a ride in an easy riding ham
| som. The smooth motion. the sense of
| freedom that the wide view before one
| affords, and the spice of danger ever
present as the daring Jehu of the cab
| graZes hubs and horses with splendid
skill, go 10 make up the keen enjoy
| ment of cab drive over the asphalt
pavement.
J The wise person picks Shrewsbury
and Talbot hanSOmS every time, for
, they are strictly up to date-rubber
...ae- ID 11o,,
holstery and ivory fittings. These
| things marked a revolution in cabs
! when the young earl started out to run
his cab company He was the very
| first person to introduce rubber tired
CT; BIS in London and Paris. The horses
attached to his cabs are well grOOmed
and clean limbed and the harness
black and with shining brass mount
| ingS, not to mention that the Shrews-
| bury and Talbot cabbes are obse-
| q,lious and smart in silk hats and but
, tCnholes.
! All these Injuries cost are no more
! than the inconvenience Of a shabby
ca b, and as there is such an army of
abs in London why may not one take
his pick of the best there are?
| Aside from the enjoyment to be de-
rived from a dash over asphalt pave
ments in a London hanson. few peo-
| pie realize what these two-wheeled
| chariOts mean to the great city, for the
| London cab constitutes a mighty in
| stitution that is highly commendable
| for the utility and comfort it affords at
, a wonderfully low price.
| The cab industry is in the hands OF
f, a large number of men, about four
thousand. many of whom own three or
four cabs which they let out. and are
| known by the title of "mushers."
The first large cab company of any
note was that of the Earl Of Shrews-
bury and Talbot, founded i'm 1883. his
stables at Tixall accommodating $50
horses with their grooms. The finest
cabs in London belong to this COM
| pany.
The London Imperial Cab Company.
recent enterprise, has undertaken the
management of about five hundred
, cabs Of an improved pattern. The
company has large depot off Grays
Inn Road, with stables. sheds, snoelis
FORCES, harness rooms and painting
and repairing shops. At Chelsea too'
it has built model stapie' three
stories nigh, 1aSHioHeu Ill SfNeAA
about a court. where the cabs stand.
Before a cab is allowed to go on the
street three payments have to be maze
five shillings for drivers license.
e. for hackney carriage license, paid
nv the owner to the police AUTHORITIES
at Scotland Yard. and Is shillings Tor
carriage duty, also paid by the owner
to the inland revenue.
BEFORE, however, the owner can get
bic license his vehicle must be seen and
;nsnected by the police. Clerkenweil
police Station is the chief centre, and
here. on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Saturdays. there is an official In at
+endence to examine cabs and issue the
two number plates, one to be fastened
~, tho inside and the other, the larger
ona TO be fastened outside at the
back. ,
every cab is examined and licensed
once wear. AS check on possible
nag,;pence the back plate has device
~ n as well as a number. This year
!, is the royal arms. next year 1t Will
- :. crown and the year after the royal
or,,s again; so that a police omciaI
80 toll at a glance how matters stand
~; tb cab under suspicion.-Bostoh /
Herald.
Tho he Beers syndicate has increased |
Al