3-077-978 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sketches of London Cabs and Cabmen: a cabmen's shelter, 1890. 'A wise and kindly movement, which deserves greater public support, has been fifteen years in progress, to organise the institution of "Cabmen's Shelters," with wholesome refreshments sold at a fair price, and with a little supply of books and papers to read, at the cab-ranks where these men are detained in numbers sufficient to make it worth while...Everybody has seen the "Cabmen's Shelters," of which there are different models and sizes; but those of later construction are decidedly ornamental to the streets, being elegant in design, and often prettily decorated...There is room for eight or ten persons to sit comfortably at table, while the attendant in charge has his separate compartment and kitchen at the end...the cost of creating a "Shelter," some £200, is defrayed by generous donations and subscriptions to the "Cabmen's Shelter Fund,"...one likes to hear that in connection with the "shelters" they are forming " clubs," of provident design...for allowances in case of sickness or death, and for the purchase of rugs, capes, whips, and other needful articles of equipment, as well as for wholesome recreation'. From "Illustrated London News", 1890.