Page:Omnibuses and Cabs.djvu/170

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150
Omnibuses and Cabs

for a living. Many others have died in the workhouse.

As a wit the omnibus driver is greatly overrated. There is nothing spontaneous about his witticisms, and all drivers let off exactly the same jokes. These are three from their stock:—

When a coal cart is in front of them: "Now then, short weight, hurry up!"

When another omnibus remains at a point longer than usual: "Got a bit of freehold there?"

When they are driving home to the stables about midnight, and some would-be passenger hails them : "Not to-night, sir. We have the rest of the evening to ourselves."

But it must be admitted that omnibus drivers have the knack of delivering their remarks in a way that makes a stranger imagine that they are uttering them for the first time. And that is an art.

At Christmas time there is a great demand among 'busmen for Rothschild's racing colours. The drivers attach them to their whips and the conductors adorn their bell-pulls with them, as a slight acknowledgment of the welcome Christmas-