Salt Lake Tribune | 1911-02-05 | Page 15 | Flipping the Meter New Taxicab Fraud

FLIPPING THE METER NEW TAXICAB FRAUD By Associated Press. NEW YORK, Feb. 4. Tho mystery of 'flipping tho motor, " known only to initiated chauffeurs, has boen unwittingly unwit-tingly explained by an offender adept to tho chief of the city bureau of licenses, and as a result lie has set departmental de-partmental machinery in motion which will compel the taxicab companios to take down 400 meters with permission to assemblo them again only when they havo been so altered that crooked chauffeurs cannot swindlo tho public by their aid. While Chief Oliver was riding in a tnHeab the othor night, ho saw tho chauffeur jiggle the flag above tho meter, me-ter, whereupon tho hand on tho dial jumped from $2 to $fi.40. Tho aston- ished chief investigated and learned that the practice Has been general among tho unscrupulous experts and is known as "flipping tho motor."