bell-strap

But Falkenberg was no marvel of a horseman, for all his leg; he clutched the bell-strap first, then slithered forward and hung on with both arms round the horse's neck.

Wanderers Knut Hamsun 1905

I heard this among the men of the city horse-cars, where the conductor is often call’d a “snatcher” (i.e. because his characteristic duty is to constantly pull or snatch the bell-strap, to stop or go on.)

Slang in America. November Boughs 1892

The conductor had halted his car for the girls to get off, but, as he remarked with a vicious jerk at his bell-strap, he could not keep his car standing there while a woman was asking about the folks, and the horses started up and left Lemuel behind.

The Minister's Charge William Dean Howells 1878

I heard this among the men of the city horse-cars, where the conductor is often call'd a "snatcher" (i.e. because his characteristic duty is to constantly pull or snatch the bell-strap, to stop or go on.)

November Boughs ; from Complete Poetry and Collected Prose 1855

I heard this among the men of the city horse-cars, where the conductor is often call'd a "snatcher" (i.e. because his characteristic duty is to constantly pull or snatch the bell-strap, to stop or go on.)

Complete Prose Works Specimen Days and Collect, November Boughs and Goodbye My Fancy Walt Whitman 1855

But Falkenberg was no marvel of a horseman, for all his leg; he clutched the bell-strap first, then slithered forward and hung on with both arms round the horse’s neck.

Under the Autumn Star 2003