Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-06-25
AN AMATEUR TAGRANT.
A MENOiCANT'S ADVENTURES NTHE
STREETS OF NEW YORK.


erosIty of New Norkers-kno"Iedge OF
Human Mature Filthy PEN. " here Men
sleep Needed Sanitation.
The make up for this excursion occa
stoned >ome little difficulty at first had
never encountered any beggars' fashion
plat,-s, but understood IA general way
that thei costumes were quite diversified
. 10 IH. l. OF three old suits, belonging u
three different individuals were brought
into conjunction, and surnountei by a hat
that bad been on the filibusterIug expedition
from the Fourth ward The variety And
historir interest Of this combination i'm
pressed even my fellow tramIs
ma !e my first pubic appearance a
beggar on Twenty third street THIS thor
| oughfare and Fourte, nth street are the most
popular resorts of begging fraternity of this
. city. There are srtain choice corners on
these ST. eets in special favor. A sort of
/ proprietary claim on these iS maintained by
soue OF the veterans, and the beggar who
| IeT>istsutly intrudts ON this territory can
never expect to en- oy again the full conf
| dence and esteem of his brethren it had
| always seemed to ne that beggars
upon the stage at least were Il well
fed and Joyial set, and with this
| pleasant view of my new confreres,
hghtel an after dinner cigar and
shua Ell along 10 Madison square, Several
! ac luaintanCes came down the steps of the
elevated road station at sixth avenue and
. gave me a cold stare we met | formed
| a hasty resolve to strike them all for u
quarter but they brushed by unceremoni
ously without waiting to hear my story.
/ This rendered il a little harder to approach
the next man He was standing on the
curb-stone Edging up to him in the most
approved mendiCant manner and throwing
ali the pathetic appeal at command inio my
voice l suggested the propriety Of his ad-
vancing poor unfortunate dime. He
looked me over critically a moment and
then, pointing to the cigar unconsciously
held in my outstetched hand, he mildly
observed:
ADVICE FROM A VETERAN.
Young man, if you are to make a sue
cess at Logging you should refrain rom
smoking Havanas during the busine :
hours" Then lie walked away. The point
seemed to lie well taken, there Is certain y
something inconsistent between smoking aud
logging at the same time. lhe grut old
gentleman who was next solicited said that
he was aStonshed at such an exhihition OF
/ cheek on the part OF su an evidently dis
! reputable character, and declared in no un-
/ certain tones that he would have n ar
| rested if | didn't move lively" After sev-
! eral other attempts 1t grew apparent that
| the path even of an amateur beggar was
| not strewn with roses or even with niCkels
But these rebutfs were largely due TO my
beng novice. veteran at the business,
who was plying his trade in the same vi
! cinity was friendly enough TO afford me
/ some points we lounged on the seats in
the S iuare. Now, young feller,' he said,
! condescendingly, you don't understand the
biz Us sidewalk gents must know human
nature ! could told yer none Of them
chaps woulI give yer a red. Yer must
spot the right customers Don't work the
prIm respectable sort OF people. Most
/ they II ever shell out 5 lot of advice
/ Then they'll refer yer u Varsity place, an
all yer Il git there is wood pile, No saw
horse and chopin block fur me 1t never
agreed with my constitution 10 work be
! tween meals when there's plenty to lie
/ picked up in gentlemanly way. When
yer meet young fsller who's Just had din
ner and is a smoking rappy and contented
like, he's a good man to strike And some
times these howlin' swells pan out pretty
we'll Be frank an manly with EN- Tel!
] ell Yer uN III anu yer btIci-
| ally git the cash Sometimes, when they We
got pretty women on their arms, they II set
yer up handsome, SO as not to appear
mean But that's uncertain Always
strike actors and actresses They rarely
give yer the cold shoulder. Then yer want
to git ter know people and keep a list Of
EN- I've got list Of % men who come
through the square every night I'm pretty
sure 10 git somethIn' out Of any of EN-
Got one Wall street chap here who hands
I cut - cents regular every time But I'm
easy on 'em. Don't like to crowd my
friends, yer know"
LOOKING FOR LODGINGS
] could not nerve myself to do any more
direct begging, though doubtless by follow
in; the suggestion made 10y the Old expert
money might have been solicited with sue
ceSS What chiefly surprised me during my
rRmbles about the city that evening was
the readiness with which people offered
money that vas not solicited at all Several
times when | yentured to ask policeman
on the corner what could lie done in the
way Of lodging Tor man without penny
some young fellow standing near by took Il
quarter from his pocket and offered 1t to
me. The policemen were kind and courte
Gus without exception They invariably
said they would provide shelter at the sta
tiOn house if nothing Letter could he founL
While in the vicinity of the imposing
structure of the Young Mems Christian as
socIation it occurred to me to test the Ell =
cacy Of that organization to deal with des
titute cases The assistant secretary, after
making inquiries as to the case, handed me
- cents from his private purse, directing
NE where good lodging for that sum coulI
be found and promised to assist me in secuI
ing work if | would come around again in
the morning In the presence OF such ready
and practical charity a twinge of cons ience
on account OF my false pretenses was
unaVoidab e So much money indeed was
forced upon me during the evening by the
charitably incliL ed, when informed OF my
destitute condition, that in order TO main
tain pennIless status l was obliged to
hand 1t over u some more genuine beggar.
l he original gIvers have of course been
since reimbursed
But where TO lodge for the night was
pulling question 1t seems there Is not a
free bed 10 be had by the way farer in all
this great city, despite its innumerable
,harltable institutions Many of the police
stations, TO be sure, have so-called lodging
rooms, but the bedding consists OF pine
planks looked into several of these A
do en- or two excessively dirty men were
stretched upon the floor or raised platform
or half leaning against the walls in very
prOmiscuous fashion They looked like pigs
III a zen The air was rank and fetid 1t
was impossible to stand this even for the
sake Of experience New York World
Reorganization OF the French Army.
The main features Of Gen Boulangsrs
bill for the reorganization Of the French
army are: First, the sbolition of all ex-
emptions, save those extended to young men
study ing foI liberal careeTs, and they are TO
pay a minimum tax OF ii centimes a day for
three years-at the end of those three years
they are bound TO be incorporated for two
years active service; secondly, the raising
Of the annual contingent TO 1872 men, which
will bring up the peace establishment from
$4,000 10 b,oO men, the period Of service
TO be three years; thirdly, the men not yet
embodied, or on furlough, are to be drilled
once a month; fourthly, thore is to be a
special army for colonial sci vice to be re-
cruited by voluntary enlistment Chicago
Times