The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1910-02-18
THE CABMEM OF PARIS
Hailing One Is the Same as a
Declaration of War.
THEY ARE INSOLENT ROGUES
Sneses and Caustie Advice Are Show.
cred Upon Those Who Engage Them.
On Wet or Festal Days the cabbies
Spurn Those Who Want to Ride.

cred Upon Those Who Engage Them.
On Wet Or Festal Days the cabbies
Spurn Those Who Want to Ride.
Among Arglo-Saxons there Is a gen.
eral and instructive desire to do busi-
ness on the basis Of an entente cor
dale. In Paris the hailing Of 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 il
you are wise. At once he will give
you a reason to remark that he has
rooted and premeditated objection to
drive you where you wish to go. Per
haps he prefers the opera quarter be-
cause it is central. or should the wealth
er be fine his heart is probably set
upon driving in the Bois, 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 aud ordered 4
typical Partisan cabman. bloated. pale
and absinth soaked. to drive him TO
the Rue Blomet, which is a street in
the relatively distant VaugirLrd quar-
ter. "Peut on habiter la Rue Blomet?"
els it possible to inhabit the Rue
Blomet?D exclaimed the ragged ruff
fian in an epigrammatic note of dis
dain which would have done honor to
Beau Brummei.
But it 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 a limitless ex-
tent lie is the enemy OF mankind. His
hatred Of the bourgeois" the man in
the street" in spite of and indeed be-
cause of his being potential client,
is expressed at every yard. He con-
stantly tries to run him down. which b
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 world s
champion.
But it is not with the public alone
that be 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 tSOttO voce, the police he
heaps deadly insults. the least oUtra-
SeouS of which are Ours c'BearrO
and 'Fourneau" c'Oven!1. the latter
containing subtle double meaning.
Paris "argot" or slang at their finger
ends and too long to explain.
The cabman's wild career through
the streets. the constant waverinS aud
slashing of his pitiless whip. his mad
cap hurtlements and collisions. the
frenZied gesticulations which he ex-
changes with his fare" the panic
stricken flight 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.
All that can be said in mitigation OF
the Paris cabman's method is that
''he has them in the blood" Every
Partisan (and 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 Paris cabman, for instance
on a wet day or on some festival oc
casion. such as the New Year, wher
there is q 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 the bour
geois'' at his feet; that the clientele
which he detests and which detest.
him is now a humiliated, bemuddlet
or bedraggled mob Of supplicant:
waiting on his will. whom he can en-
rage to boiling point with his sneer!
and his silence or lash with his sar
casms as cruelty as he beats his horse
Cheerfully does he sacrifice half
days earnings to the enjoyment o.
this exquisite revenge. for at least h,
can say to his hungry wife and chill
dren when he gets home. "J'ai vecu
They may not have dined, but he ha.
lived.
1t is because the Partisan recognize
in himself a certain community O.
sentiment with the cabman in this at
titude toward life that he tolerate!
him. though he does not forgive him
-Haxper'S Weekly