CHARACTER READING

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2722, 17 March 1916, Page 2

CHARACTER READING

NECESSARY ACCOMPLISHMENT I<'oß THE TAXI-DRIVER. "People aro very quick to blame the' cabman, for passing yne likely fare and choosing another," said a London taxidriver to a "Daily News" representative, not long ago, "but they make 110 allowance- for tne taximan's ability to judgo a faro's character. "I am no less patriotic than any other driver—see my in this neighbourhood, where more than 75 per ccnt. of our fares are men in uniform, I am bound iji my own interest to decide immediately whether the fare will pay the cost of the journey. And I am never (vrong in my judgment." , Asked whether, in view of the increased patronage of men in uniform, the taxi-driver inclined to ft preference for officers, the' man at the wheel replied with a very emphatic negative. "Officers? With all due respect, they are often less generous than the private soldier. Only J ihe other day the union took action against an officer who was discovered to have been a regular 'bilker,' and Vhei} the casejjvas referred to tlm "War Office we wel'e told that nothing could he done if the sum involved was v under thirty shillings." "The Daily News" inquirer ventured to suggest that a course of character reading shftuld find a place in the tuition of every wmild-be motor-driver. "Sure," was the ,I'cady reply,, "knowledge of human nature to us drivers is every bit as impotant as knowledge of London. Fareß hate to whistle for their taxicabs. But so does the taximan hate to whistle, for his money."