Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-11
THE cADMEN OF PARIS
REMARKABLE ECCENTRICITIES
OF THE PUBLIC DRIVERS.
Hatred of the Bourgeois the Dom
inant Principle in the Makeup
of French Jehus.
Rowland strong. IN Harper.s Weekly.

Rowland Strong. IN Harpers Weekly.
Among Anglo-Saxons there is gen.
eral and instructive desire to do business
on the basis OF an entente cordiale. In
Paris the hailing of a cabman Is looked
on by both parties to the transaction as
| an implied declaration OF war. The cab
man takes your measure, and You take
| his number IF you are wise). At once he
will give you reason to remark that he
has rooted and premeditated objection
to drive you where you wish 10 so. Per-
haps he prefers the opera quarter because
it is central, or. should the weather be
fine. his heart Is probably set upon driving
in the Bots. while you may have business
at the bourse. He explains his views on
the subject selfishly and rudeIy. A for
eigner aIighted recently from the Calais
train at the Northern railway station IN
Paris, and ordered a typical Partisan CAD
man, bloated, pale and absinthe-soakeo,
to drive him to the Rue Blomet, which -
| a street In the relatively distant Waugh
rard quarter. 'Peut on haotter la Rno
Blomet?" els it possible to tnhabit the
Rue Blomet.) exclaimed the ragged RUE
fan on an epiGrammatic note of diS0ain
which would nave done honor TO Beau
| Brummel. But II Ia when the Paris oAA>.
man has once started on his course y
warpath in the strict sense OF the tef1ns
| that he proves to what q limitiess extern
| he Is the enemy of mankind. His hatred
| Of the 'bourgeois,' the man In en0
| street" in spite of. and indeed because OF
his being q potential client, Ii expreseoo
| at every yard. He constantly tries TO run
| him down. which makes strangers to Paris
accuse the Paris cabman OF driving badly
while in point Of fact he IL not driving AZ
| all, but playing with miraculous Skill
game of his own which suggests cannon
| billiards in the hands OF q worlds cham
pion. But 1t is not with the public alone
| that he is at war. On all other cabmen
whose path he crosses, on omnibus
drivers. motorcar men, bicyclists, private
and tsotto voce) the police. he heaps dead
| ly insults, the least outrageous OF winch
are Ours C'Bearr) and "Fourneau:
c'Ovenr') the latter containing q suotie
double meaning. intelligfble only 70 tnose
who have Paris ''argot" or slang at their
| finger ends. and too long to explain
| The claimants wild career through the
streets, the constant waving and slasning
of his pitiless whip. his madcap nurtle-
ments and collisions, the frenxied gesticu-
lations which he exchanges with his
| fare" the panic-stricken flight OF the
agonized women whose lives ne na1 en-.
dangered, the ugly PUSHES which the pub
| lie occasionally make at him with g. view
| to lynching him, the sprawlings and fall
| ings Of his maddened, hysterical. starr-
| ing horse contribute as much as any
thing to the spasmodic intensity. the cleo
| trio blue-flre diablerie which are charac-
| All that can be said in mitigation OF the
Paris cabman's methods fs that he mas
them in the blood" Every Partisan land
the cabman Is no exception) has the soui
! OF a dictator and the spirit OF an artist
| To exercise autocratic power and, failing
| this to enjoy the maximum or personal
| freedom from all restraint, moral or so
| cial, liz the goal at which he fs ever aim
| ing, openly or secretly. Watch a Paris
| cabman for instance, on wet day. or
| on some festival occasion, such as the
l. New Year, when there Is big demand
| for his services. With what naughty
disdain does he drive along the streets.
deaf to every appeal. refusing every fare.
rejoicing In the discomfort and inconver-
| fence he is causing. triumphant In tie
| thought that at last he has the bour-
geois'' at his feet. that the clientele
which he detests and which detests him
| is now a Inundated. bemuddled or be-
| draggled mob of supplicants waiting on
| his will, whom he can enrage to boiling
| point with his sneers and his silence. or
| lash with his sarcasms az cruelty 40 No
| beats his horse Cheerfully does he sacA
rifice half days earnings to the enjoy
ment of this exquisite revenge, for al
| least he can say to his hungry wife aud
| children, when he gets home. "Jei vecu."
They may not have dined-but he has
| lived. 1t is because the Partisan recog.
| nizes In himself certain community OF
| sentiment with the cabman in this atth
| tude toward life that he toierates him.
| though he does not forgive him.