The San Francisco call., 1910-09-04
etiquette OF The
PUBLIC TAXICAB
Miss Rose StahI Explains What
IS Deemed Proper Way TO
Use Them
Gives Views For Those Who
Have Adopted Latest Model
OF Conveyance

Etiquette, Of whatever kind. has ex-
listed since time began, and the devel-
apment Of ideas and the establishment
ot customs have brought about conse-
q-ent changes in the rules that govern
manners. Ia every department of con-
Duct some law is laid down that directs
proper way TO do q thing. At the
-anle general code Of etiquette pre-
tAoes the use of the salad fork when.
me entree course is served: another sef
'i rules gives the gentleman his cues
a. walking with a lady on the
et-eFe and the personal decorum of a
traveller upon railroad train is fash
l9ned after long line of pFecedents
mat point to the right thing 10 do un-
Ger each and every circumstance.
In the old DAYS Of the coach and four
etiquette played lis important part in
the coaching parties. When cities were
built and the hackney coach came into
vogue the code Of manners was modi-
ned TO suit the situation. The auto
brought its set OF rules and they OBJ
tain today. while all the world and the
cartoonists speculate in thousands of
ways az what viii constitute bad man
ners and what viii give evidence of
correct breeding when the avenues of
transit viii fashion their crazy courses
through the whriing eddies Of the air.
I'm so simple a proposition as the
proper conduct in the use of a taxicab
oh an afternoon In bis city. a recent
discussion revealed a surprising ignor-
ance among the ladies Of a well known
tiu5 as 10 what was right and what
wrong i'm entering or leaving the
meter governed taxi. Miss Rose Stahl,
the leading lady of James Forbes COM
adT, The Chorus Lady who was elect
cd 10 membership in the organization
upon her return from her London en-
81 cement. explained what. she consid-
erred rhe ins and outs Of the methods
lsdN should observe.
As we all know, America is not the
heme Of the taNicab, said Miss Stahl
iu an interview yesterday. 1T first
saw the light Of day In Paris and Lon
don and was Immediately accepted hN
the ladies Of those cities as quite the
proper ching But being novelty,
more or less. tie ladies began to use
Aem with no regard for the etiquette
should govern those Of us who are
-e ont 70 spend our afternoons calling
upon friends or shopping in the down
town districts.
T was 4 agreeably surprised to note
that my sisters in New York and the
other large cities Of the United States.
where the taxicah has come to stay,
know what 10 do and when TO do II
when it comes 20 riding in the nervous
little machines.
TIP ON ENTERING
ITO my way of doing the thing the
proper way is to enter the cab with as
little ostentation as possible. This
gives ease and grace and creates the
minimum amount of notice from the
curious. who are bound TO stand by
and witness the performance
Upon alighting do not look about
you. I'D and down the street, TO see if
sou are noticed Step quickly to the
meter. read 1t and ascertain the amount
Of the fee you owe, pay il and be gone.
Now there is Just one thing more.
The eternal question of the tip inter
5ects itself I have become a slave to
the zip habit, but have regulated the
system in my indulgence. L follow the
old rule, and the only proper one, of
giving the chauffeur not more than 10
per cent Of the cost of hire for the
time in which the machine has been
fn use This is a custom that should be
observed with iron clad frmness, and
it viii no doubt save many embarrass-
ing situations"
CONFUSION Is CERTAIN
1T seems peculiar. doesn't it, that so
trivial a thing Is the entrance of a lady
into a taxicab should foster such
corfysion of ideas as seems TO exist,
bur certain"
Miss Stahl then rang up Franklin 12S
for an Alec taXicab, and as she was
leaving the hotel said: Now if you
---F1F a7o-e I will exnlafu what