Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

THE CAB INDUSTRY. approach to elegance. If the cab passes the test, a plate is affixed by the Police, bearing a number surmounted by the Royal arms. A sum of £2 a year is paid for this plate, and a further 15s. has to be disbursed for wheel duty. As about eleven thousand hackney carriages are in constant use, it follows that the plate and wheel tax and the drivers’ li- cences drain aboutZ”3 5,000 a year out of the pockets of the Lon- don trade. In the prov- inces merely 327 Photo: CasseiC & Co., Ltd. TESTING CAB DRIVERS. a few shillings are paid for the plate, while the wheel tax does not apply to Ireland at all. The Dublin and Belfast cab trade escape, therefore, al- together an impost which is paid with great reluctance by the English proprietors, their view being that Parliament intended to exempt carriages kept for profit. From the figures just given it will be noticed that the number of cabs regularly plying for hire in the capital is much lower than the number of drivers. While there are fifteen thousand licensed drivers, there are only seven thousand hansoms and four thousand four-wheelers. The excess of cabmen over vehicles is necessary because a fair proportion of men find other occupations at certain seasons. Moreover, the hardships of the life entail a high rate of sickness, so that there is a constant demand for substitutes. A number of owners hold licences though they Photo: Cassell & Co., Ltd. CAB WASHERS AT WORK (THE LONDON IMPROVED CAB COMPANY’S DEPOT).