Evening star., 1960-09-28

their entire left leg turns numb
from the hip down.
The temporary cure is hot
and cold packs and rest, but as
drivers put it, What good is
that when you start all over
again the next day?"
In good week, Mr.. Jewell,
who lives at 726 North Abing-
ton street, Arlington, crosses
around $100. In the slack sea-
son after Congress adjournS,
there are $50 weeks. He aver
ages perhaps $75 a week over
the year, or a little better than |
81 an hour.
But that isn't all profit. He
pays $3.50 a week in auto insur-
ance, a rate rejecting the haz-
ards of his job, and $40 a week |.
for gas and oil. To take the
burden off his bad right foot,
Mr.. Jewell now owns a IS Plym-
outh with automatic tranSmis-
sion and uses his left foor for
relief.
Cuts Mileage
It's more comfortable than
standard shifting, but he finds
a drawback: These push-but-
ton jobs get 10 miles a gallon. |
A stick model gets II to IA"
Mr.. Jewell belongs to the .
United Hackers of D. c., a trade |
association headed by Erwin
Dollar. 1t represents several |
hundred individual drivers and |
seeks to better condition. Mr..
Dollar says the group plans to
ask for an increase in zone |
rates. He frankly admits there
is resistance among some driv-
erS to taxi meters as a means
of higher income.
Mr.. JEWELS precarious and
roller coaster earnings mean e
hand-to-mouth life. Right now
he's paying 10 per cent interest
on 5000 he had to borrow last
month to fix the transmission. |
Another headache is the
youthful part time drivers.
They're no trouble in daylight, |
but after dark they swarm into
the downtown Zone /, where
profitable short runs are found.
Often they'll race and cut in
ahead of Mr.. Jewell to pick up |
a fare, or jockey for outside
position to a red light, await
ing passengers.
Of all his tribulationS, one
thing that battles Mr.. Jewell is
the fare structure. Recently
he answered a call and drove
a woman passenger from Sew
enth and D streets S.W. Gin
Zone II across the Fourteenth
Street Bridge to Alexandria. .
BY law, the fare came to $3.50, (
for a trip slightly less than 4
miles. Yet a passenger board
ing from the same corner and .
riding to the corner of Georgia
and Alaska avenues NV. pays
only $1.25-for nearly double
the mileage.
I'll give 'em so cents if
they'll forget me and call an
other cab," says Mr.. Jewell. |
TITS worth it to avoid the trip"
MOOnlighters Busy
For another segment of
Washington'S taxi drivers, con-
slider Roger A. Hallman of IA
Crittenden street NE. Although .
he has been a licensed hacker
since 1889, Mr.. Hallman holds
down a full-time job in the |
Executive Office Building. What
few fares he carries are strict |
ly "moonlighting," the indus
try phrase for a second job.
Mr.. Hallman, So, makes no
secret of the fact that his
Government job comes first.
If I'm on my day off end
headed for the hardware store
I'll pick up a passenger" he
explains. But it's at my own
convenience" He figures he puts
IN six to eight hours week
hacking, makes around $40 at
it, and admits his car expenses
exceed the income, since he
uses it for pleasure too.
Mr.. Hallman is typical of a
vast number of drivers here.
There are an estimated 10000
licensed cabbies, about a third
more than the number of taxis.
Obviously some renew their
license each year as a kind of
job insurance without ever US
ing it.
Capt. Joseph v. Osterman.
who heads the Districts public
vehicles unit, says about 5000
of the 10000 are part-time
drivers.
He is persuaded that most
of the cab drivers in this city
are pretty damned respectable
people-a lot of them working
their way through college" One
of the reasons is the screening
they get. Not only must they
pass testing on a reaction