Cheyenne transporter. [volume] (Darlington, Indian Terr.) 1879-1886, 1884-11-05
The Professional Collector.

business house in an interior town and
asked for contribution to help sup
port the striking miners of the Hook
ing valley, of Ohio. He said the men
were destitute, and any contribution,
whether in old clothes or money, would
be acceptable. The merchant who
was addressed thought he saw some
thing familiar in the countenance of
the collector, and he decided to in
vestigate, SO he invited the man intO
an adjacent saloon. and after a few
drinks had warmed tie collector up,
the merchant said, Il have seen you
before. Were you not canvassing for
the flood sufferers last yearP" The
man admitted that he was, when the
merchant asked, ''Are YOU not a
professional canvasser? Don't you
canvass for sufferers, Just to make a liv-
ing for yourself?" The man finally
admitted that he did, and after taking
another drink he was induced to tell
his story, as follows
"Well," said he, after draining the
last drop in the glass, Il see you are
onto me, and | might is we'll own up
and jump the town. The fact is
belong to a family of four brothers
who make soliciting for charity a
business. We commenced soliciting
for drouth sufferers in Kansas, years
ago, and it paid SO well that we have
kept in the business, working any
racket that will appeal to the sympa-
thies of the people. For five years off
and on we have solicited aid for Kan
sas sufferers, on one pretext or
another either drouth, grasshoppers,
prairie fires or something. Kansas
has been godsend to us. Two years
we worked the people of the east for
the grasshOpper sufferers of Mime
sofa, and floods, cyclones, etc, have
kept us in business ever since. 1t
pays very well. We take what we
can get, preferring money, but not
kicking at anything. If we get old
clothes that are not good enough to
sell at second hand stores, we throw
them away, or give them to some poor
family near where we get them. We
sent some clothes to Minnesota few
years ago, but anything that was good
enough to sell we sold, and the money
we put down in our sock. 1t is as
easy business as | know of, and
and my brothers have accumulated Il
competency. We have farms, and
money at interest. We are just put
ting in our time during the dull season
on this Hooking valley coal miners
racket, because we read in the papers
that there was much suffering there,
and people who read of it think we
are right from the scene of the suffer-
ing, and most people give something
right off without asking any questions.
We worked the country for Kansas
until the people of Kansas kicked.
They said it was wrong to give the
people of the country to understand
that Kansas was always suffering,
when such was not the case, and they
threatened to have us arrested as
frauds, so we let up on poor Kansas.
We are just worrying along now until
next year, when we expect the cholera
here, and it will be easy to raise all
the money we want. We tried to
raise some money for cholera sufferers
In France, but people told us that
France could take care of the few
sufferers, but to wait till the cholera
got here, and there would be some
sense in asking subscriptions. So
about next April we expect good
business.
The business man was so indignant
at the fraud that he was preparing to
kick the collector out of the saloon
and send policeman after him, when
one of the brothers came in and called
the drunken collector out, and they
went around a corner and were lost
in the crOWd,-Pec6'S Sun.