On February 6, 1875, the first shelter for London cabmen was opened in Acacia Road, St. John’s Wood, by the Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, M.P., Vice-President of the Society. Among the crowd which had assembled to witness the ceremony were some thirty or forty cabmen who came, as representatives of their class, to do honour to the occasion. By the end of the year the Society had placed thirteen shelters in various parts of the Metropolis, and, at the present time, it possesses forty-three, a dozen of which are open day and night. Many of these were presented to the Society; the one in Palace Yard, Westminster, by members of both Houses of Parliament, and those at Pont Street, Belgrave Square, St. George’s Square, S.W., Clapham Common, Kensington Crescent, Royal Crescent, Uxbridge Road, Piccadilly, Warwick Road, Maida Vale, and the one near the Oratory, Brompton Road, by residents in those neighbourhoods. The shelter at Portland Road Station was presented by the residents of Richmond. The remainder were either erected by the Fund or presented to it by various individuals. The entire cost of the new shelter now being erected in the Haymarket has been defrayed by Sir Squire Bancroft.
The forty-three shelters maintained by the Society are used daily by nearly four thousand cabmen. The attendants in charge of the various shelters make their living by selling provisions to the frequenters, and cooking, at a charge of one penny, any food they may bring in.
Every shelter is divided into two compartments—a mess-room and a small kitchen. The mess-rooms are supplied with newspapers, and some of them possess small libraries.
In the mess-rooms the following rules are displayed:—
1. This Shelter is the property of the Cabmen’s Shelter Fund and is for the use of CAB-DRIVERS solely.
2. The Drivers of the FIRST TWO CABS on the rank are not to enter the Shelter.
3. No bad language, card-playing, betting, or gambling allowed.
4. The Attendant in charge is authorised to sell Tea, Coffee, and Bread and Butter to the Drivers using the Shelter only, at prices as per Tariff.
5. The Attendant is instructed to see that the above Rules are strictly kept.
Any complaints as to attendance, quality of refreshments sold, etc., etc., must be made to the Hon. Sec., and will be at once attended to.