THE LONDON 'BUSMAN.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10016, 12 April 1910, Page 3

THE LONDON 'BUSMAN.

What with the all-conquering march of the motor omnibus and the extension of the tube system, the occupation of the driver of the oldfashioned London 'bus is all but gone. Soon hs will be numbered among the Bow street runners, the link-men, and other picturesque necessities of a by-gone day and generation —a merely vivid memory of the past. Mr Pett Ridge, who knows his London 'bus driver better, probably, thau do most other citizens of the great metropolis, views his passing with regret—a sentiment which, however, he has managed to clothe with a wealth of racy reminiscence, giving those of us who have been compelled to view this quaint character very much from afar, a capital idea of the personal characteristics of members of the ancient and honourable caHmg. The London 'busman's capacity to judge to the width of a hair a safe opening through the swirls of traffic for his JumDering cart, has ever excited the admiring amazement of Mr Pett Ridge. No less remarkable has he come to realise this Jehu's infinite capacity for doing many things at one and the same time. "A gale may be blowing, 1 the horses requiring special attention, his left eye engaged on the reflection of the omnibus in shop windows, a passenger enquiring who won the Derby in 1884, constables issuing directions with the right arm, a fare hailing hirn from the pavement, and amid all these distractions, he can strike one wooden matchp hold it in the curve of his hand, and the tobacco is well alight.'' According to this ssme eminent authority, tlie London 'busman can engago intelligently in conversation with no fewer than four lady passengers at one time; his hat is affixed to his head at a definitelydecided, rakish angle, and not all the windß from the four comers of the earth, nor wild horses either, avail to disturb its poise. The world of London is an open book to the 'bus driver. He cherishes no illusions, and knows the exact importance of everybody and everything. The inquisitive lady passenger, who demands to know who lives in that building, what does the flag mean, why there are so many tea shops, what is the name of the theatre on the right, etc,, etc., is answered with the same imperturbable good temper, and from the same book of worldly knowledge, as are employed to soothe and amuse a frightened child taking its first 'bus ride. It is pathetic to .think that, now the parting of the way has been reached, when the old 'bus drivers are about to throw the ribbons to the waiting ostler for the last time, their pension fund is unequal to the demands being nude upon it. But London is responding nandsomely to the call and there is every reason to hope that the last trip of the hardy old voyagers will not have the workhouse, as its terminus.