Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1910-02-19
THE CABMEN OF PARIS
Hailing One Is the Same as a
Declaration of War.
THEY ARE INSoLENT RoeUEs

snssrs and caustlo Advice Are Show
cred Upon Those Who Engage Them
On Wet or Festsl Days the Cables
Spurn Those Who Want to Ride.
Among Anglo-Saxons there is a gen
eral and instructive desire to do bust
ness on the basis of an entente cor
dale. In Paris the haillng OF a cab
man is looked on by both parties to
the transaction as an implied declara-
ton of war. The cabman takes your
measure, and you take his number II
you are wise. At once he will give
you a reason to remark that he has q
rooted and premedltated objection TO
drive you where you wish to go. Per
haps he prefers the opera quarter be-
cause II Is central, or should the wealth
er 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 self
ishly and rudely.
A foreigner alighted recently from
the Calais train at the Northern rail-
way station in Paris and ordered a
typical Partisan cabman, bloated, pale
and absinth soaked, to drive him to
the Rue Blomet. which is a street in
the relatively distant Vaugirard quar-
ter. "Peut on habiter In Rue Blomet"
CTS 1t possible to inhabit the Rue
BlometTo exclaimed the ragged ruff
fan In an epigrammatic note of dis
dain which would have done honor to
Beau Brummel.
But 1t is when the Paris cabman has
once started on his COURSE" a war
path In the strict sense of the term,
that he proves to what limitless ex-
tent he is the enemy Of mankind. His
hatred Of the bourgeois" the IMAM in
the street." In spite OF and indeed be-
cause OF his being a potential client,
is expressed at every yard. He con-
stantly tries to run him down. which
makes strangers to Paris accuse the
Paris cabman Of driving badly. while
in point Of fact he is not driving at
all, but playing with miraculous skill
a game of his own which suggests can
non billiards in the hands of a worlds
champion.
But 1t is not with the public alone
that he is at war. On all other cab
men whose path he crosses. on omni-
bus drivers, motorcar men, bicyclists,
private coachmen, costermongers with
barrows and (sotto voce) the police he
heaps deadly insults. the least outra-
geous of which are "Oursv' CBear!O
and "Fourneau" COvenrO, the latter
containing a subtle double meaning,
Ineligible only to those who have
Paris "argot" or slang at their finger
ends and too long to explain.
The claimants wild career through
the streets, the constant wavering and
slashing of his pitiless whip, his mad
cap hurtlements and collisions, the
frenzied gesticulations which he ex-
changes with his fare" the panic
stricken fight of the agonized women
whose lives he has endangered. the
ugly rushes which the public occasion
ally makes at him with a view to
lynching him, the sprawlings and fall
ings of his maddened. hysterical, starry
ing horse. contribute as much as any
thing to the spasmodic intensity, the
electric blue fire diablerie. which are
characteristic of the general move
ment of Paris.
ALI that can be said in mitigation of
the Paris cabman's method is that
"he has them In the blood" Every
Partisan land the cabman is no excep-
tom has the soul of dictator and
the spirit of an artist. To exercise au-
tocratic power and, failing this. to en-
Joy the maximum of personal freedom
from all restraint, moral or social, is
the goal at which he is ever aiming.
openly or secretly.
Watch a Paris cabman, for instance.
on a wet day or on some festival &C.
CASTOR. such as the New Year, when
there is a 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 Inconvenience
he is causing, triumphant In the
thought that at last he has 1.-The bour-
geois" at his feet; that the clientele |
which he detests and which detests |
him Is now a Inundated, bemuddled !
or bedraggled mob of supplicants
waiting on his will. whom he can en-
rage to boiling point with his sneers |
and his silence or lash with his sar-
casms as cruelty as he beats his horse |
Cheerfully does he sacrifice half a
days earnings to the enjoyment of
this exquisite revenge. for at least he
can say to his hungry wife and chill
dren when he gets home. "J'ai vecu"
They may not have dined, but he has
lived.
1t Is because the Partisan recognizes
In himself a certain community of
sentiment with the cabman In this at
titude toward life that he tolerates
him. though he does not forgive him.
.Harper's Weekly.
Her Only Course.
Lady Anne Lindsay, the author of
ln s.l1 a. /