New-York tribune., 1906-12-10

NOBLE HACK DRIVERS OF BOTH SEXES
No profession among the lower ranks OF en-
ployment seems TO offer greater attraction 20
impoverished members OF the titled classes than
that OF cab driver In London in Berlin, IN
Vienna, especially IN St Petersburg, numbers Of
broken down nobls:nen 10 be found plying the
calling Of a hackman. Indeed in Moscow, as
well as IL St Petersburg. when the traveller upon
arriving at the railroad depot halls a drosky he
IS as likely 10 find that his driver is a
Prince GaltZin Prince Troubetzkoi a Prince
Gargarine or Prince DolgorOuki. But it is at
Paris that Of birth and Of culture abound
among the knights Of the order Of St Fiacre-
That is to say, among the cabnnen; and now that
the French authorities have announced that they
are willing 10 grant licenses as drivers of cabs
10 women, about dozen authentic countesses and
marchionesses have applied for leave TO drive
iacres.
'Fiacre'' IS the name Of the canonized Scotch
prince OF the blood who lies buried in the MeaUx
Cathedral. When hackney carriages were first IN
troduced in Paris. in 1850 the stables and Office
OF the enterprisng company owning the concern
were established in a building in the Rue St Mar
tin which, having been previously used as a hos
pital. was decorated with gigantic mural painting
OF ST. F1acre Il is due 10 this that this very
day all cabs are designated iacres.
Just in the same way that all Paris cab horses
addressed by their drivers as Cocotte to the
German hackman his horse is usually Lise. no
matter which fits sex, in the way
the hack drivers nicknamed Colignon. It is not
appeIlation, however, which they relish, and as
they apt TO resent IT, it is well be some
distance before applying II TO them It generally
marks the termination OF a controversy between
the hack driver and his fare. and when the latter
has sssailed the driver Colignon he feels that
he has got for all the bad driving imperti-
nences and overcharges 10 which he has been sub
jected.
Colignon, II must be added. cabman who
during the reign OF Napoleon III was gUillotined
for numbering and robbing scores Of his fares in
the deserted bystreets OF the city and IN the dark
side avenues Of the BoIs de Boulogne.
IN Paris the profession Of cocher de facTe may
be said absorb IN a measure the overflow Of the
seminaries. and hence II happens that the aston
ished fare IS occasionally dunfounded by the cor
rect manner IN which his cabby renders the trans
Of the Latin inscriptions the public build
fngs and churcAes, interlards his witty and
intelligent remarks with apt Greek quotation.
OF the broken down nobIemen who welded the
whip hack drivers in Paris the Marquis Tregaiu
de Treguillec and the Comte de Chevronay. belong
ing TO the ancient families OF Brittany and
Savoy. respectively. perhaps among the best
known: while the Marquis de Lez de Guet Gouraud.
who has just died. piled MS trade cabman at
ST. German a Laye. in the suburbs of Paris. OF
the women Of rank who have applied for licenses
70 act as hack drivers may mention the Comtesse
du Pin de Ia Guerivere Her title is a genuine
one II figures in the "Annuairs HeraldiqUe.
which is one Of the standard works the subject
os French titles, and there the family motto is
given, appropriately enough, as "Ftdem per1grtnus
testor' MARQUISE DE FONTENOY