Taxi Rates

Seasoned travelers continued serene and unstirred when informed last week that the Municipal Council of Paris has at length sanctioned an increase of 25% in Parisian daytime taxi fares and has stepped up the night rates by 150%. The travelers reflected: 1) That the day rates are so ridiculously low that to increase them by one-fourth will not seriously inconvenience foreigners. 2) That the night rates have long ago become a mockery, the drivers simply holding out for what they can get. Early in the evening they often inform prospective fares that they are on the way to their own dinners--and wait to be bribed. After midnight they usually demand a sum based on the appearance of those who hail them. A quietly dressed Parisian and his wife may get home for almost the day tariff. A silken-caped, silk-hatted Argentine millionaire with his hatless ermine-caped mistress may be held up until he almost buys the cab.