◆ SpookStack

27 a mi. ~ LiSE’S: R =>: ie r 4 0 cite Tet hake & Resale 2 AAS eater THEMCAPITAL’S CABBIES -~ <7 a aa Sine Y ee i “DON'T KILL AMERICANS BY CARELESS TALK. ; 3-- NEVER DISCUSS MILITARY OR NAVAL INFORMATION “a “a? IN A PUBLIC VEHICLE. DON‘T TALKI" 2... -~**: Anyone who has ridden in Washi taxicabs has seen chis sticker “76° 3 Roe pasted to the back of the driver's seat. But practically everyone. .* wait ee es ows that this “DON'T TALK*" rule applies in practice only to |* leew | the back seat. For Washingson-cebdrivers are the most lavish con- 2 =) 7 **)+ we versationalists in che U.S. From che time 2 visitor to Washing.“ 3 2° ton is jammed into a Gve-passenger cab with six other ,on tS __ til che time he seaches his destination, he gets a fluent dissertation “ o0 politics and the war, buresucrats and Negroes, military strategy 7-2 __ Although cach cabby has his own opinions, many of them are “S> - extraordinarily well informed on the most recent manipulations of *m.'** Capicol Hill, Most of the cabbies’ politica! information and rumors ee ss comes from talkative pairs of politicians, but a fot of ic comes from fertile wBige co oe rate Congressmen sad Senators on their way home from che Hill. - Pade Oe .t Aber a particularly stormy session on the Boor of the House, s Coa a0" ji" E gtessman is only coo gisd to pour his posc-mortems into the willing ~ ee ere me 7 - Cabbies like co talk sbout military strategy too, and sone of them have radical proposals to belp win the war. Said one che other day 7 =" a pre . * Those U-Boags sure are 3 menace, You koow, I’ve had an idea for 4-28 eed beating those U-Boats. Americans have put across some prety big SS ere es er Geaining projects, TVA, and all chat stuff, Why oot drain the At 74: * en nde Coe lantic a, see? Then there woulda’t be any more subs. Hell, we 5 OS FAL TR yee could drive all che stuff over in trucks, It'd be simple.” - ior : a Few cabbies have such fantastic proposals. But most of them Jay = % eae claim to having had a ““job™ (passengers are always called ““jobs") ¢-* 7 who was 2 genera} or an admiral and who gave them the low-down oa she best serategical move in any given situation. Apparently - “y Washington is crammed with calkacive generals and admirals who © = have any number of unorthodox plans for the attack on Europe. thousands of transport planes into Germany one night, and land a. ; whole army in Berlin by parachute. Or, send WAC onto the Coo-' 3” sinent in the Grst assaulc wave on the theory that, for one reason or ~ another, Nazi soldiers woulda’r drive them back into the sea: - oY yg The cabbies also like to talk abour the boreaucrats, snd some of -~*: them have their owa nsmes for the various alphabetical agencics. : _ OPA means “Office of Piddling Around.” WPB stands for “Wh Production is Bad.” And che ODT, which legislstes wartime use , _ taxicabs as well as buses and crucks, bas been affectionaccly. dubhed ; > Dice for Discouraging Taxicabs.” To the cabbies che namie "bo- +.” Teawctat™ has become a form of insult. Whea a pedestrian pays 10’: attention ro a light and crosses in front of craffic, he is 2 “damned ry a rs Paoe £8 cn Sag GTi ot Naa eee eS ne ee, Saris Se SE den't wanl to shew np In ‘My Day’ 3 ee oe ee ee nS Ee Me i pa at - yer, The cabbies have definite likes and dislikes. Most of chem } ; papers; dislike and pedes- Fmpathy With the Administration's attirude ia x Soe cab Set ont a yell onc day when a Negro Gsiver cat ia front of him ata i and added:""I'd have our and climbed all over bim, but I don’t want to show up in “My for the cabbies like to talk sbour business. Bus} cy zee} Sic . FA C4 +g on A hea Sa So Ald 3. fn) a gt La te ste ae :