The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-07-11
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

9eHt AToh Aonaon Dy the Associated Press telling how the taxieab driver of the great English metropolis was the best hated man in 1t
 I read it with Joy, for 1t showed to me that at least one American reporter in England was willing to get out of the rut of the war news and tell about something which touched the daily lives of thousands of Londoners and in such breezy way as to make one visualize the scene.
 l call it fine bit of reporting, the dialogue between the taxcab driver and his fare. And the comments from the side line were so apt and true as to make it stand out as real and not a faked in- cdent. The taxicab driver it seems won out because his passenger weakened on account of having to keep an appoint ment
 l witnessed a similar scene more than quarter of a century ago. It was be- fore the advent of the automobile. It took place in Paris, and was typically a French episode from start to finish, and could not by any possible means have happened outside of the great city on the banks of the Seine. It was staged on the Place de la Concorde.
 There had been an exhibition of some kind which had drawn thousands of Par isians to the heart of Paris. I was on my way home when I saw an excited crowd of wildly gestculating Frenchmen. I thought possibly 1t was near politi- cal riot, for it was in the day of the Boulanger excitement when it was easy to start something.
 
 Any way I have always been used to admit that I am curious, otherwise I | woudl not be in the newspaper game, for a man without curiosity who seeks to be reporter. is foredoomed to failure. A sense of news is demanded along with the determination to be always on the lookout for something worth writing about to happen.
 !, I was soon in the midst of the gath
 
 entered a cab and asked to be driven 1 to the other side of Paris, and the cab man had refused to carry them, although l they had rendered him the pnoper fare I For awhile it was duel of words be- | tween cabby and an irate old gentleman and an outraged Frenchwoman It wasn't long, however, before the wrangling of fhn t~ir, ntf ot0 passers by
 | I arrived after the matter had been 1 taken out of the hands of the passen- gers and was being handled by the crowd That is, the cabman and his fares were being asked for a statement It is need less to say that they were willing wit nesses and the only trouble was to keep the three from stating their side at one the case, the crowd decided against the cab driver and informed him he must make the trip, as the tariff showed the old couple were within their rights in de- manding it.
 He swore he would not budge, and folded his arms over his breast after placing his whip in it's socket The old man and his wife settled themselves comfortably and for few minutes it looked as if it was going to be an en- durance test, but all the time the num- Der of people drawing nigh was being greatly augmented. It was a tense sit uation and I was greatly interested in who would win out. My sympathy, however, was entirely on the side of the plucky man and woman who were stand ing up for their rights against a cab man.
 The crowd waited patiently for ten or fifteen minutes, and then some one sug- gested as the driver did not seem to care about using his horse it might be a good idea to unhitch him and drive him down to the Seine for drink "Cabby" didn't seem alarmed at the suggestion, but when dozen or more began to un- hitch his steed, he vis4bly weakened and said he would make the journey. By this time the temper of those who had witnessed the incident was aroused, and for fear that he would drive the old couple couple of blocks and then make them get out. two stout fellows volunteer ed to join themselves to the party and see to it that the man and his wife who had fought for their rights should be deposited at their homes.
 1 The passing of the cab driver from Paris will remove one of the most pie tLresque figures from the great French , capital. They were a continual source of study and amusement to me. Their dress, the appearance of their cabs the condition of their horses never failed tc ) attract me, but the cabmen themselves
 were the real source of my joy It never failed to amuse me to try to decide
 which one of them had acquired the red
 dest nose, or the rosiest cheeks. I usec
 to figure on whether it was more trouble to color meerscham pipe than to ge the proper vermillion tint for "cabby, :
 and as to the ratio of smokes required tc
 offset the number of bottles of win,
 used up in the process, | never arrived
 at a satisfactory conclusion. and beins Texpert at figures. gave it up. .
 I'll never forget seeing the famou. Mime. Jude in "Le Fiacre IF" (This number may be wrong, but it will dol Now Judic was in her prime and a yer,
 great artist who had Paris in an uproal
 over her diablerie. for she was credited with having done all kinds of risqus , things. I may he doing the actress ar injustice. but as she was born in. 1S5O ant
 if she is still living she is too old t, 1 c. As.-<