New-York tribune., 1912-01-14
Devious Are the Ways by
Which the Crafty Driver
Increases the Meagre
Salary Given Him by
His Employer.
BY stephen Reynolds.

kkA TO. IT'S nothin' like it used TO be,
"a frankly admitted the taXicab
chauffeur. as he sat summing him
self upon the front seat OF his movable an
nihiator Of time. distance and bank ac-
counts still" he added. "a wise driver
can knock out pretty fair livin in spite
Of the Bureau Of Inspection and its sleuths. "
What are some of the favorite methods
OF robbine the public nowadays since the
meters are inspected and sealed?' the
writer asked
There's half dozen ways of beatn' the
riders, even now" was the reply, as the
speaker III a cigarette with a wary eye
on the starter. Under the old system, when
we had the stars on the rear wheels and
there was no inspection, there were a hun
dred WAYS of beatin the riders. II was a
pipe then. but. even now, II amt so bad so
long as a guy don't get too coarse i'm his
work Take friend Of mine--what he did
the other night. for instance-he's just
after takin' a party home from the the
atre up to Riverside Drive, and there's
81 50 on his clock He tells the party that
it's g 50. and as the light in front OF his
clock is burnin' low, the party pays it after
a bit of a growl. That makes the driver
a dollar 10 the good. besides the 20 cents
change that the rider didn't wait for
But that amt all. for just as my friend
was about 10 throw up his flag and drive
of a guy comes out OF the same apart
ment house. woman was with him, and
they size up pretty swell. The guy steps
up 70 the car and asks II it's engaged,
Ny friend tells him that the car is free.
and then the guy and his lady step aboard
and ask 20 be driven to the st. Regis They
never noticed that the flag was down and
that there was s. so on the clock
MY friend rips across town 10 Central
Park West, and through 59th street TO the
avenue, leavln' the flag just IT was. BY
the time he pulls up at the ST. Regis the
clock shows "a TO- instead Of 81 90. The swell
makes a kick but my friend shows him
the clock. It's been inspected and sealed
and the figures show up as plain as day
with the lamp turned up. A five-doilar
note IS nothin' TO people who stay at the
ST. Regis; so rather than raise row about
II and keep his lady waitin', the guy hands
over the Eve, and don't even wait for the
20 cents change OF course. the driver
turns in $40 10 the company. That's regis
tered against him on the back of the clock
But he collects for the two rides, and then
fakes up his day card so as TO make it
look like one call The 50 that he takes
in makes him 81 30 to the good"
But suppose the first passenger insisted
upon looking at the amount registereu
upon the face Of the clock?"
He'd have seen that IL was 81 80 instead
Of s. So Then If he had time he'd have
given the driver a call down. Mostly they
haven't got time. especially when they nave
women aitbs'em; they don't like 10 seem
chespa Then. Of course. the driver would
have bcgged The guys pardon for the ms
take, and would have claimed that he took
the figure Y for a o on account OF the
bum light"
Suppose the second party had retuseo
20 pay, what would have happened!
That's easy enough answered he d
have either split the difference with the
Dassengcf. or driven him 10 police stauoh
and siyen him a receipt for his rare % %
long "a his clock was inspected ana tne e'.s
seal on his meter. the driver didn't nave 70
worry."