Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1887 edition. Excerpt: ...of one, anti-social feelings of the most malignant character are engendered; and in the necessity which such persons consider themselves to be placed, of compensating themselves for the waste of their time and the risks of the competition, an almost wolfish rapacity to prey upon the necessities of the public is also engendered. Economy In Car Service. In the cab service it is suggested that by competition for the field instead of within the field, a service equal to the present might be obtained at foorpence per mile, and that at the present legal fare of sixpence per mile a service approaching in condition that of private carriages could be secured. In this question, it is argued, there are elements involved which might be referred to the moralist as well as to the politician; for the wasted time commonly involves sin, bad feeling, and demoralization, as well as suffering, the suffering in the cab and omnibus service extending to the lower animals which minister to our convenience. The cab horses, driven mercilessly, are returned heated to their stands, there to remain exposed for hours to cold and wet, with often variation to their suffering by being taken to the foul, confined stables of the small owners, stables which are often the centres of disease. The cab horses, in their wretched condition, are thus soon worn out. The drivers, too, suffer; their lodgings are on a piece with those of their horses, and their exposure to wet and cold, in frequent alternation, is equally injurious. Hence, economical service, if properly applied, would be found to be an aid to beneficence. There is also, continues our essayist, in an eloquent passage, another element involved in this question. There can be no doubt that good, well-ventilated, and warm...