In summer
the coupes are replaced by light, open, four-seated carriages, with a
hood and with leather curtains, to be used in case of rain; and they are
really pleasant and comfortable vehicles. The horses do not differ much
from the style of cab-horses known all over the world, being thin,
shabby and dismal-looking animals as a general thing, though exceptions
to the rule are not uncommon.
The cabmen of Paris form a distinct class, a separate society, composed
of all sorts of elements--a turbulent, indocile, rebellious set of men,
always in revolt against their employers and against the law, which
holds them with an iron and inflexible grasp. Most of them are
Communists, though many of them are men belonging to the higher classes
of society, whom dissipation, extravagance or misfortune has driven to
this mode of gaining a living. Thus, it is a well-known fact that the
son of a distinguished diplomat, an ambassador to more than one foreign
court, is now a cab-driver, and not a particularly good one. Unfrocked
priests, unsuccessful school-teachers, small bankrupt tradesmen, swell
the ranks, the _personnel_ of which is mainly composed of servants out
of place or of provincials who have come to Paris to seek their fortune.
These last come mostly from Normandy, Auvergne and Savoy; and it has
been noticed that the Savoyards are the most sober and docile of all.
The Parisian cabman is always under the surveillance of the police: a
policeman stationed on every stand watches each cab as it drives off,
and takes its number to guard as far as possible against any overcharge
or peculation.
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