There are carriage-stands on
every side and in every principal street, and unoccupied vehicles may be
seen driven at a snail's pace, with their drivers keenly on the lookout
for a possible fare. Yet, with all this provision, it is occasionally
very difficult to secure a carriage in Paris. On a sunny Sunday
afternoon, on the day of the Grand Prix de Paris, or during the
prevalence of a sudden storm carriages are as scarce in Paris as they
are in New York. Yet their number increases daily, thanks to the law of
1866, by virtue of which any coachman who can pass an examination as to
his knowledge of driving and acquaintance with the streets of Paris can,
if he likes, purchase a vehicle of the regulation style, have his number
painted on it and set up for himself as a public cabman, subject always
in the matter of pace, charges, etc. to the police laws regulating all
such details.
It has taken two hundred and thirty years to bring the cab-system of
Paris to the point of perfection to which it has now attained. In 1617
the only public means of locomotion was afforded by a company which let
out sedan-chairs. In 1640 a certain Nicholas Sauvage, agent for the
stage-coaches of Amiens, formed the plan of establishing carriages,
harnessed and ready for use at certain designated points, for the
accommodation of the public. These vehicles were christened _fiacres_,
but the reason for their receiving this appellation remains unknown.
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