Chapter I: Front Matter

OMNIBUSES AND CABS

OMNIBUSES AND CABS

_THEIR ORIGIN AND HISTORY_

BY

HENRY CHARLES MOORE

_WITH THIRTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS_

LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LD.

1902

NOTE

It is with great pleasure that I acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. George A. Glover, who kindly placed at my disposal much valuable information concerning the early history of omnibuses and cabs, and several rare pictures, which are now reproduced for the first time.

I desire, also, to thank Mr. G. A. Thrupp, the venerable author of “The History of the Art of Coach-Building,” for permitting me to have access to his interesting collection of illustrations of vehicles, and to reproduce several engravings dealing with the subject of this book. For a similar courtesy I am greatly indebted to the Worshipful Company of Coach Makers and Coach-Harness Makers.

H. C. M.

LONDON,
_August 23, 1901_.

CONTENTS

PART I--OMNIBUSES

CHAPTER I

PAGE

_Carrosses a cinq sous_ invented--Inauguration ceremony--M.
Laffitte’s omnibuses--The origin of the word “omnibus”
as applied to coaches 3

CHAPTER II

George Shillibeer introduces omnibuses into England--The first
omnibus route--Shillibeer’s conductors defraud him--His
plans for preventing fraud--An omnibus library--Shopkeepers
complain of omnibus obstruction 10

CHAPTER III

Shillibeer runs omnibuses in opposition to a railway--Extraordinary
action of the Stamp and Taxes Office--Shillibeer
is ruined--He appeals to the Government for compensation--Government
promises not fulfilled--Shillibeer becomes
an undertaker 28

CHAPTER IV

Introduction of steam omnibuses--The “Autopsy,” the “Era,”
and the “Automaton”--Steam omnibuses a failure 36

CHAPTER V

Some old omnibus names--Story of the “Royal Blues”--Omnibus
racing--Complaints against conductors--Passengers’
behaviour--The well-conducted conductor--The ill-conducted
conductor--The “equirotal omnibus” 46

CHAPTER VI

Twopenny fares introduced--The first omnibus with
advertisements--Penny fares tried--Omnibus improvements--Longitudinal
seats objected to by the police--Omnibus
associations--Newspapers on the “Favorites”--Foreigners
in omnibuses--Fat and thin passengers--Thomas Tilling
starts the “Times” omnibuses--Mr. Tilling at the Derby--Tilling’s
gallery of photographs 62

CHAPTER VII

Compagnie Générale des Omnibus de Londres formed--The
London General Omnibus Company starts work--Businesses
purchased by the Company--It offers a prize of £100
for the best design of an omnibus--The knife-board
omnibus introduced--Correspondence system tried--Packets
of tickets sold--Yellow wheels--The L.G.O.C. becomes
an English Limited Liability Company--The first board of
directors--Present position of the Company--The Omnibus:
a satire--The Omnibus: a play 79

CHAPTER VIII

The opening of Holborn Viaduct--An omnibus is the first
vehicle to cross it--“Viaduct Tommy”--Skid-men 95

CHAPTER IX

A new Company--The London and District Omnibus Company,
Limited--The London Road Car Company, Limited--Its
first omnibuses--The garden seats--The flag and its
meaning--Foreigners’ idea of it--The ticket system--The great
strike--The London Co-operative Omnibus Company--Mr.
Jenkins and advertisements--The Street Traffic Bill--Outside
lamps 100

CHAPTER X

The Motor Traction Company’s omnibus--An electric omnibus--The
Central London Railway--The London County
Council omnibuses--The “corridor ’bus”--The latest omnibus
struggle--Present omnibus routes 119

CHAPTER XI

“Jumpers”--“Spots”--Some curious passengers--Conductors
and coachmen--The Rothschild Christmas-boxes--Mr. Morris
Abrahams and the Omnibus Men’s Superannuation Fund--Horses--Cost
of omnibuses--Night in an omnibus yard 137

CHAPTER XII

Pirate omnibuses--Their history and tricks 164

PART II--CABS

CHAPTER I

The introduction of hackney-coaches--“The world run on
wheels”--The first hackney-coach stand and the oldest
cab rank in England--Sedan chairs introduced--Charles I.
and Charles II. prohibit hackney-coaches--Hackney-coaches
and the Plague--William Congreve--Threatened strike of
hackney-coachmen--Hackney-chariots introduced--Prince
of Wales drives a hackney-coach--Licences--Funeral
coaches ply for hire in the streets--A pedometer for hackney-coaches
suggested--Dickens on hackney-coaches--Origin of
the word “hackney” 181

CHAPTER II

Cabs introduced into England--Restrictions placed upon them--A
comical-looking cab--Dickens on cabs--Hackney-coachmen
wish to become cabmen--The cab business a
monopoly--Restrictions are removed--_The Cab_ paper--The
Boulnois cab invented--The “minibus”--The “duobus”--Bilking--A
peer’s joke 205

CHAPTER III

Hansom invents a cab--Chapman designs and patents the
present hansom--Francis Moore’s vehicles--The Hansom
patent infringed--Litigation a failure--Pirate cabs called
“shofuls”--The “Clarence” or four-wheeler introduced--An
unpleasant fare--The decoration of cabs--Cabmen compelled
to wear badges--The “Tribus”--The “Curricle Tribus”--The
“Quartobus” 216

CHAPTER IV

A strike--Cabmen’s revenge on Members of Parliament--Cab
radius altered--Cabmen object to knocking at doors--The
King of Cabmen--Nicknames--A lady feared by cabmen--The
kilometric reckoner--Lord John Russell and “Palace
Yard Jack”--Cab fares altered--A strike against the introduction
of lamps--Another strike--The Cab-drivers’ Benevolent
Association--The London Cabmen’s Mission--The
Hackney Carriage Proprietors’ Provident Institution--The
Cabmen’s Shelter Fund 231

CHAPTER V

Cab show at Alexandra Palace--Forder’s cab--The strike of
1894--Cabmen become organ-grinders--The Asquith award--Boycotting
the railway stations--The “Bilking Act” 249

CHAPTER VI

Gentlemen cabmen--An applicant’s nerve--The doctor-cabby--John
Cockram--A drunken cabman’s horse 258