The million-peopled city
Garwood, John
1853
Their subsequent Introduction in London.
"Messrs. Bradshaw and Rotch, however, did manage, in , to obtain licenses for 12 cabriolets, starting them at 8d. a mile, the hackney-coach fare being Is. The number was subsequently increased to 50, and then to 100, and in less than 9 years after the first cab placed in the streets of London, all restriction as to their number was abolished. The form of a cab first in use was that of a hooded chaise, the leather head or hood being raised or lowered at pleasure. In wet windy weather, however, it was found, when raised, to present so great a resistance to the progress of the horse, that the hood was abolished. In these cabs, the driver sat inside, the vehicle being made large enough to hold 2 persons and the cabman. The next kind had a detached seat for the driver, alongside his fare. On the third sort the driver occupied the roof, the door opening at the back. . . The ' covered cab,' carrying 2 inside, with the driver on a box in front, was next introduced, and it was a safer con- veyance, having 4 wheels, the preceding cabs having had but 2. The Clarences, carrying 4 inside, came next; and almost at the same time with them, the Hansoms. | |
. . . There are now no cabs in use but the last two men- tioned." [1] | |
Footnotes: [1] "Labour and the Poor," Letter lxxii., " Morning Chronicle," October 3,1850. |