Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1881-06-24
Besgars.
besgars.
THE TRICKS AND DEVICES OF THE CITY MEN
DICANT.


seed in their hair are frequent to reuun-
dancy in the may streets of the metro
polls, word or two concerning the
naughty methods to which some New
Workers resort, to capture the nncon-
sidered shekels scattered through tns
pockets of their new store-clothes may
serve the double purpose OF warning the
wicked and initiating the innocent INTO
the arcana Of city life. A perfect knowl.
edge OF city life is utterly destructive oi
its picturesuueness and sentimentallty
and while description of what really
exists may destroy seeming that Is not
altogether unpleasant to M occasional
visitor, it will prevent imposition which
frequent practice develops into a verita-
BILE nuisance Now. there Is nothing IN
the world that fellows with hayseed IN
their hair so delight in as peep behind
the scenes s-in fact, they are fonder OF 1t
than those old gentlemen who have no
hair in which to accommodate hayseed ;
so, flattering their desire, they must not
object if the view from the coulisses is
not as charming us the one from the front.
To the seamv side OF street life they are
to be introduced in this story, and II they
depart from the investigation with many
broken ideals they can have them all
mended again by subscribing for year
TO a blood and thunder family story pa
per, wherein newsboys and boOtblacks
are romantic heroes and little flower girls
the natural daughters of lordly villains
and heartless millionaires.
It's n good thing to have Your glue
ready before you break the chair you sit
upon. The perusal of the facts herein
contained NAV somewhat lessen the mys-
terious interest and curious satisfaction
which country folk find, who are accus-
toned to stroll through the busy city,
pitying picturesque poverty and accept
ing as gospel truth highly wrought and
ornamental tales of suffering. In 90
cases out of 100 the street mendicant Is
fraud, and the more dilapidated his as
pect the more cause 10 suspect hIm. No
actor is more expert III the matter of make
up than some of these unsophistlcated-
looking beggars, whose limping often
moves susceptible hearts to ridiculous
charity. Worthy poverty is too stricken
to parade itself. Like charity, it is mod
est and must be sought ont. The more
frequented the highway the less likeli-
hood of finding there worthy beggar.
These that line the crowded avenues Of
New York are i'll what they consider a
legitimate business. Many of them have
been born of professional beggars and
trained in their craft, which they consider
quite as honorable as keeping apple
stands and selling small wares. If the
truth be told they look down on those who
engage in these pursuits as commonplace
mortals who, having no wit, are forced to
the prosy expedient of peddling.
1t might be inferred by the general
reader from the little pleasantly about
the country folks that the beggars of New
York derive their main support from
those unused To- city IL but such an
Inference Is not justified by the facts at
hand. 1t is universally tue that the
poor and working classes of great cities
are the most sympathetic and charitable,
and open handed New York emphasizes
this axiom The statuesque beggar is
not to be seen on Broadway or Fifth av-
enue, where fashion and wealth air their
luxury the approach to some great fac
tory or shop is the coigne of vantage for
the knowing professional, and his hours
of seeking are at early morning and be-
tween G and o'clock i'll the evening.
| Twenty we'll dressed ladies, with plethoric
pocket-books ostentatiously displayed,
will pass beggar by, indifferent to his
whining call for aims, but it is not lost on
the tired shop girl or factory hand, who
stops to tumble in the soiled pocket of
/ her irock for Il copper to drop into power
tvs gaurt hand This is not a pretty
speech, but a positive fact, and if the
poor forget the poor the poor might die.
1t is to be regretted that professional beg
gars are benefited by this kindness of
heart, but if only few worthy ones are
! succereJ. IT is better than if the whole
sum thus devoted were directed to or
ganized charity, TO have a large percent
age detained for salaries and administra-
tive expenses.
Who are these begsars and how do they
live? A majority of them are foreigners,
and they all manage to live more comfort
able than some Of the shop girls who as
sist them In order to get some idea of II
beggar's revenue, take, for instance. one
who elects to do his begging on Four
tcenth street. somewhere between Broad
way and Sixth avenue 1t 10 fair pre-
sumption that 10000 people during the
day pass him there. Now, if he gets a
penny from one out Of every so people
who pass him, he has 81 for his hard
work. You may object that one out OF
| 80 is liberal allowance, and granting
you that, you must accept the other horn
Of the dilemma by admitting that 1t is
only one person out OF 80 whose charity
! is measured by one cent, and ~ for gen
eral purposes this presumption that the
| beggar gets 81 for Il days work (?) is
! competent How many weary-looking
women who stop to drop valued copper
in the beggar's hat work from 4 o'clock
| on Monday morning until & o'clock Satur
| day night for 81 and less As many Us
read this article know dozens of them.
The writer has seen Il beggar, whose face
is well known ON Sixth avenue, night
after night riotously drunk i'll dingy
cabaret on Bleecker street, where he goes
to study low life after nightfall, and for
one worthy beggar whose acquaintance
he has made he has found 10 dissolute
dogs. These chaps do not scruple to
augh at the gullibility Of their patrons
| and often entertain their loafer acquaint
ances with jocular descriptions of how II
lady looked full of pity on hearing some
| humping lie and banded ont a quarter,
or how, on hearing of his suppositious
moribund wife and starving children. took
down his fictitious address and accom-
panied her donation with the announce
ment that she would call there and get
something for the little ones. There Is Il
| wide discretion to be exercised iii the Civ
ing of aims on the highway, and what
has been here said about majority of
street beegars has happy exceptions,
which, however. only prove the rule.
To particularize all the frauds one en-
counters on the streets would be n work
Of pages, but there are few that are suf-
ficiently interesting TO claim particular
mention. There is to he met every after
noon and evening ON Sixth avenue, some
where between Thirty-fourth street and
Reservoir park, a little colored boy, as
handsome and natty little fellow as one
would wish to STE, who fnr the past SIX
months has been making II handsome in
come for his lazy parents by begging. He
is too chubby looking to attempt the pov-
erty plea, so his ingenious progenltors
have instructed him 10 beg on his own ac-
count on the plea that the day is his birth
day and he wants To buy something for
himself He is such n bright intelligent
little fellow that no one refuses HIM, and
he goes on from man to man and from
woman to woman with his little story
about the birthday, gathering in the
nickles and pennies III plenty. He is not,
ill fact, more than eight years Of age, but
II the young VILLAIN Il birthdays succeed
as RAPIDLY i'll the future as he has alleged
they did during the past winter he'll be n
Methusaleh before the summer is over,
There is youth who began about De
cember last at the Park place station Of
the IL" railroad TO offer, after p. H.,
to shine the boots Of every passer by for
one cent For long time he did pro
fitable business, not III shining boots but
III gathering pennies and five cent pieces
for charity's sake. When questioned as
To- why ho was 80 far below the market
price IN shines, he used to tell II pitiable
story Of being robbed by other boys of
the money he made during the day, and
of now being anxious To get enough to
buy coffee and cakes with "lt's lntc, "
he used to say, 'and there amt no rich
people out, no got to shine cheap" lie
usually got n dot and was not required TO
| Il. Il. .t....a g