Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1910-01-07

about as dangerous to fight with the
driver, for though he does not use his
pistol or slugshot, wreck may result
from the struggle. Assaults are often
committed on Kidnapped girls by ac-
completes of the driver while the car is
going at high speed. There are disre-
putable roadhouses frequented by chauf-
fenrs for their nefarious purposes.
Jamson, the hold-up man who raided
Tannenholz's jewelrv store on Lexing
ton avenue some months ago, had as an
accomplice an unknown chauffeur, who
led the pursuers a wild chase lodging
elevated road pillars and flying around
street corners.
Chauffeurs are inclined to be though"
as class. They are young, unmarried
and dissipated Some of them add to
their incomes by acting as touts for
gambling and disorderly houses. They
get percentage of what their passen-
gers lose or spend in such places. The
rake-off from the losses Of liberal GUS
toner may amount to $25 or $50, and in
consideration of this gain the chauffeur
may save the passenger several dollars
worth of waiting fare at the expense of
the company by stopping the taxicab
clock. The same quid pro quo is prac-
ticed when a passenger invites the
driver of public vehicle to take drink
in saloon the red flag goes down dur
ing the wait.
A new feature of the saloon and dis
orderly house business is the operation
of private taxicabs to bring customers
to the premises and to take them home
after debauch The chauffeur and
the bartender jointly drum up trade.
Cards are given out advertising the adj
vantages of the saloon-disorderly house,
whence drunken customers are safely
bundled home in an automobile. There
is a special low rate for regular patrons,
and sometimes no charge at all, for the
proprietor figures that it makes little
difference whether he takes the Gus
!
over the bar or as fare on the machine.
Ifnothing worse happens to drunken
passenger in a taXicab he is likely to be
"short- changed" by the chauffeur
Failure to give tip results in profanity
and abuse. Empty pocketbooks, canes
and umbrellas left in cabs are turned
over to the lost property department
of the company, but much money and
many jewels have way of vanishing
completely. Some chauifeurs are most
dihgent in searching their vehicles after
each passenger to see whether anything
of value has been left. They meet
many disappointments, and then again
they get their reward.
The taXicab chauffeur has several
ways of cheating the company as well
as the passenger He may keep for
himself the % cents charged for each
piece of baggage carried on top of the
machine There is no clock or register
for baggage, and the only fear is of the
company "spotter. a driver might
realize 81 or so in a day from this graft.
Sometimes chauffeur offers to give a
customer 50 ride for $l50. The red
flag is kept down during the trip so that
the meter does not register. The pas
senger saves half dollar and the chauf-
feur pockets the entire fare for himself.
The record of distance covered does not
betray this transaction, for the company
figures on getting cash for only half the
mileage, allowing the rest for empty re-
turn trips.
During the taXicab strike driver
who had been away two days brought ir
$50. 1t was found he had been to STAN.
ford, Conn, and back, and the minimum
fare would have amounted to $40 Al
the same time another chauffeur report
ed that he was taking Police Inspector
Walsh out every day in his machine, a.
he was told to do by the company. The
inspector said afterward that he went
out just once, for half an hour. The
rest of the time the chauffeur was oper
ating the machine for his own benefit
This driver was eighteen years old
married, crap gambler and allowed hi.
wife to go hungry. He was finally ar
rested and sent to Jail for selling a spare
tire on the company machine.
METER IRREGULARITIES.
There are some four thousand com
pany taxicabs in New York, and foui
hundred taXicabs operated for hire by
their owners. There is only 20 per cent
of incentive for the chauffeur of the
company machine to tamper with his
meter that being the proportion OF
earnings which goes to him as pay
while the proprietary driver has full
inducement to make the meter register
falsely. When the new law for taxicat
inspection goes into effect in January
some interesting figures may be obtained
on meter irregularity. The location OF
the meter on the rear wheel gives false